Pata Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu sat second in the standings after Friday at Donington Park having begun the WorldSBK action in command.

Topping FP1 with a 1’27.805 lap, the reigning champion continued his improvement in the afternoon but fell short of overall leader Jonathan Rea by half second as he struggled with rear grip in the warmer conditions.

Focussed on race pace in the second practice, the Turk hopes overnight changes will allow him to feel more comfortable for Saturday’s qualifying and race one.

“I’m very happy that we come back again to the UK and Donington Park, because I like this track a lot,” Razgatlioglu said after the opening day’s action. “Today we try for a good set-up for the race, but we have to keep working because in FP2 I am not really happy – but P2 was not a bad lap time.

“We need more grip for the rear and after, I’m just riding because you know I enjoy this track! We will try a new set-up, we will see.

“This is just the first day, tomorrow we have FP3 and after we will try again a good set-up for the race. Every race weekend this year we see big improvement, everybody is very fast. Important the race, not Friday – so we are just working for this and I hope tomorrow I am fighting for the victory.”