Toprak Razgatlioglu shrugged off a lacklustre first official day on track as a ROKiT BMW Motorrad rider for the 2024 WorldSBK season after being unable to go any quicker than tenth due to unfamiliar windy conditions.
The Turk - together with his 22 WorldSBK rivals - were made to contend with blustery conditions and intermittent rain during a disrupted opening day of the season in Friday practice for round one at Phillip Island.
It was a premise Razgatlioglu struggled to get to grips with, describing the BMW M 1000 RR as difficult to turn when it was caught up in the Australian venue’s notorious side-winds.
As such, he was unable to display anything near the pace that had him well below lap record pace during pre-season testing earlier in the week at the same circuit, but the 2021 WorldSBK Champion feels he is generally in the mix at the front in more stable conditions.
“Not really strong because today’s conditions are very different, so everyone just tried one good lap. I did just a 1m 29.4s, the wind is really strong roday.
“The bike is not turning and I am not used to this situation but tenth position I’m not worried about because tomorrow is a different day and I try to do better and improve the bike.
“I think in the race I am fighting for the podium and we are normally strong, but we are lost today because of the wind and it is the first time I am riding the BMW with this and I am fighting.
“I make a mistake in my lap and the bike is feeling heavy with the wind, but tomorrow we will come back tomorrow and the weather is better.”
