Friday was a positive day for Toprak Razgatlioglu as he was able to set good lap times after struggling in the early stages.
The opening day of the Italian World Superbike Round was positive for Toprak Razgatlioglu as he made his official debut at the Cremona Circuit.
The Turkish rider was not able to race at the Italian circuit in 2024 due to injuries that he sustained at Magny-Cours. However, he was able to participate today and ended up second on the timesheets, but was behind his title rival Nicolo Bulega.
The two-time World Superbike Champion believes his first day was positive, but he is still searching for more rear grip in the hot conditions.
"We are still working on the bike because we need a really good setup for the race," Razgatlioglu told WorldSBK.com.
"Today we were especially searching for more rear grip, normally I have a planned race simulation. But with the hot conditions, we needed to work on rear grip, we found something on the last run because I set a fast lap time.
"But we need more, because all the Ducati riders are very strong, especially [Nicolo] Bulega. Now it is a bit more positive because we found something, I hope tomorrow we can find something more. It looks like we need it for a good pace.
"I am really enjoying this track, but the hot conditions I am not enjoying because I am spinning a lot. For me it has been a positive day, and tomorrow we will keep working."
With his main priority being more rear grip, Razgatlioglu was questioned whether he is searching for more grip from the electronics or the mechanical side of the bike.
"Both, but mainly mechanical," Razgatlioglu confirmed.
"We tried two or three different rear shocks. I liked one of the shocks, but we need more improvements. Also, we have good data, and everyone is working hard. We can see the data and the sliding, and solving this is very important for me.
"But anyway, I am a little bit happy because we found something. Our first run in Free Practice Two was incredible because I pushed for good lap times, but I was very surprised because the good lap times did not come.
"I came in and on our last run with the used tyres, we found something and we did a good lap time. This was important for me, hopefully, we find more tomorrow."
