Editorial Note: American Garrett Gerloff’s time from FP1 made him third-fastest overall on Friday.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Razgatlioglu flew into top spot in Portimao’s combined results
Taking flight and lifting off, the reigning World Champion really was on another level
Friday highlights – WorldSBK
P1 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
Despite missing 10 minutes at the start of FP2 due to brake issues, Razgatlioglu topped the combined results.
He was 0.245s quicker than Michael Ruben Rinaldi with a best time of 1’40.720s.
Razgatlioglu was the fastest rider in Sector 2 and 3 but was the 14th fastest in the final sector.
“For me it’s a very good Friday because we started very strongly. I’m really happy. We tried different setups but now we are ready to race. In FP1, I jumped for 21 meters. For me it’s fun and I’m really happy for this. In FP2, we had brake problems because we used new parts and I felt some vibrations. We changed the disk and finally everything is ok. After, I saw very good lap times with the SC0 tyre and also the used tyre. After that, we tried a race simulation. We tried different tyres and finally we know which tyre is better for the race. Today is a good day. I followed Jonny and I had different tyres but once he saw me, he closed the gas … and then followed me! I saw some sectors where he was fast, and me too. Tomorrow the Superpole will be important for me. In Race 1, I will be fighting for the win again because I love this track. This year I’ll try for three wins.”
P2 – Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
Rinaldi finished second overall after FP2 thanks to his fast lap set in the morning session.
He was the lead Ducati rider on Friday at Portimao with Bautista in fifth.
“This morning was pretty good. This afternoon we worked more to understand which tyre we will use tomorrow and Sunday. I’m pretty happy. We didn’t improve with the new tyre … which is strange. We need to understand how to improve. But apart from that, it was a pretty consistent Friday and I’m pretty happy with the feeling with the bike.”
P3 – Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
Gerloff was third, 0.362s behind Razgatlioglu, with his best time claimed in the morning session.
“Friday was not too bad, it was a decent start. I was happy to be within the top three in the first session for sure. Track conditions were pretty prime. I’m a little bit disappointed because we’re struggling when the track temperature goes up. We made an improvement in the last part of FP2 but it’s just really difficult to get the power to the ground and get the bike to turn when the temperature goes up. This afternoon we were focused on the race pace and race distance. Lap time wasn’t the first concern, but I feel like we could go faster. We have room to improve and that’s what were going to be working on tomorrow.”
P4 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Rea finished in fourth place in the combined standings. He was 0.476s behind Razgatlioglu.
He was the fastest rider in the first sector, but, like Razgatlioglu, he was struggling in the last sector and was the 16th fastest rider in this short sector.
“It was a positive day. We ran through the tyre options to try them all and also understanding the track. I always love riding here. It’s quite challenging as a rider. You have to make a lot of special inputs with the bike, you’re almost massaging it around the circuit because it’s so undulating. Enjoying that challenge and working with the team to find an optimum setup for tomorrow. Tried to do longer runs on tyres to understand where the tyre drop would be and how we can manage that. We achieved the targets for today and look forward now to the Superpole tomorrow to try and qualify on that front row. There’s two options I feel like we can use, both SC0s as the race tyre. I was quite consistent and fast with both, although I didn’t really put a strong lap time, a time attack, together but consistency wasn’t too bad. We’ll just check that to understand the data to understand both FP1 and FP2 where it can be 8-10 degrees difference on track, so it’s hard to compare. We need to see what temperatures we will have tomorrow, understand how the bike behaves on each tyre and make a good choice from there.”
P5 – Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
Bautista improved his overall fastest time in FP2 and worked on race pace with a good run on track.
He was 0.503s under Razgatlioglu’s fastest time but only 0.027s behind Rea.
“Today we just tried to compare both rear tyre from Pirelli. This morning I did almost a race distance with the new compound and the feeling wasn’t to bad and in fact I did my best lap time in Lap 20. But in the afternoon, with the standard SC0 I felt quite good, good pace, good rhythm and good feeling with the bike… even better than in the morning. When I put again the new SC0 and I had a very bad feeling. I don’t know if it was due to this afternoon’s conditions or if the tyre had a problem. It has been positive because we could compare both tyre. The bike set up is quite good and work pretty well from this morning. Now we tried to be focus tomorrow just in one tyre and to fine tune.”
P6 – Iker Lecuona (Team HRC)
Lecuona was sixth at the end of Friday for his first time at Portimao with WorldSBK.
He continued to try and make gains with rear grip, something he spent time testing during a post-Catalunya Round test at MotorLand Aragon.
“It was a really good Friday. With the bike I felt strong, confident… I can’t compare with Jonny and Alvaro. In FP2, Alvaro was behind me and I could feel the difference, and with Jonny in the last lap as well. I feel good because I have very good speed, I go fast, I’m able to go alone so I don’t follow anyone … I have the pace and this is important for everyone. We focus on trying to save the tyre because in the end of races, we struggle a lot with the grip, we dropped a lot and loose everything in the last laps. We’re trying to improve this area on the bike. We found something. We worked very hard in the last test. I felt good today with the bike and we have a constant pace.”
WorldSBK action resumes on Saturday from 09:00 (Local Time), followed by Tissot Superpole at 11:10 and Race 1 at 14:00.
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing:
Top Three on First Day In Portimao for GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team
The GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team returned to action today at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal, with Garrett Gerloff ending the day third fastest on combined times. The Texan’s teammate, Kohta Nozane,endured a difficult day but improved his lap time this afternoon to finish in 22nd position.
Gerloff got off to a flying start in the opening free practice session this morning, with a time of 1’41.082 securing him second place on the timesheet as the fastest of the eight Yamaha R1 bikes on track. Nozane’s time of 1’43.622 was enough to net the Japanese rider 24th place.
Race pace rather than lap times was the focus for both GYTR GRT Yamaha riders in the hotter conditions of FP2 this afternoon, but Nozane managed to improve on his previous best to finish 22nd, while Gerloff ended in ninth.
Both riders will be back on track tomorrow, firstly with FP3 at 09:00 local time. The Tissot Superpole will be at 11:10, with Race 1 starting at 14:00.
Garrett Gerloff: P3 – 1’41.082
“A rollercoaster day for sure. In the morning everything felt pretty good with the bike, and we were quick from the very beginning. Unfortunately, we struggled a little bit more in the afternoon with the higher track temperature, but we leave this evening with some ideas on where we can improve tomorrow.”
Kohta Nozane: P22 – 1’43.329
“To be honest, that was a particularly difficult day. We tried many things to gain more confidence and I made a small improvement, but we’re looking for more. Tomorrow we’ll move forward together with the team, we’ll work hard in the afternoon and in the evening to be faster on Saturday.”
More, from a press release issued by Team HRC:
Race pace the target for Team HRC at Portimão
The Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal is the stage for the last European round of the 2022 Superbike World Championship and Team HRC is keen to exploit the fact it is competing at a track that rookie riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge already know.
Aware that one of the most important setup aspects relates to race-distance consistency and that this track is pretty hard on tyre life, the team spent both sessions working to find steady race pace, rather than outright pace.
The opening practice session ran smoothly this morning in warm, sunny conditions. With previous data to refer to, and with the experience gathered during recent rounds, both sides of the garage were able to make solid progress already during this first phase, with both Xavi and Iker getting into a good rhythm and making the most of the almost ideal conditions. Lapping with similar lap times to each other, Vierge set a best of 1’41.972 to position ninth, with Lecuona finishing right behind him, tenth with a 1’42.099.
The work continued mid-afternoon during FP2. Lecuona immediately shaved a good half second off his previous time and didn’t stop there, making further gains throughout the 45-minute session and demonstrating a certain consistency around the Portuguese track. His best was a 1’41.453, a time that saw him round out day one in sixth place overall. Team-mate Vierge also made a step towards the end of this second session, a 1’41.858 moving him up into twelfth position in the day’s combined standings.
Iker Lecuona 7
“It was a positive Friday for us and I felt strong and confident on my bike. At the same time, when I made a few laps with Alvaro and a final one close to Johnny towards the end of FP1, I could feel that something is still missing. Generally speaking, we’ve found consistent pace, and this is good – we put the focus on the tyre life because we generally struggle at the end of races once the grip drops significantly. So we tried to work to improve this area of the bike and yes, we’ve found something, nothing huge but definitely something that allows us to be more consistent. Looking at the big picture, I feel both good and a bit frustrated because, compared to the top three guys, I’m still losing a little everywhere, which means that we need to keep up the good work and try to close this gap. Looking at what we achieved during the last test and also here today in terms of setup, I feel happy and am looking forward to tomorrow. Our target for qualifying is a place on the first two rows and then, for the race, to try and be consistent throughout and especially in the final stages, and of course to score the best possible result.”
Xavi Vierge 97
“It’s been a good first day for us considering that we’ve worked a lot on race pace, finding quite good feeling over the two sessions. In the final part of FP1 we tried a new tyre but to be honest we expected more. In the end, the feeling wasn’t perfect with this solution, but it was good to try it today because that helped us to understand the direction to take tomorrow. The team has done a very good job and so we can say so far, so good.”
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
WorldSBK Gets Underway Again At Portimao
On the opening day of WorldSBK action at a sun-kissed Portimao circuit Jonathan Rea was the fourth quickest rider in FP2, with his team-mate Alex Lowes seventh.
The eagerly anticipated return of WorldSBK to the 4.592km long Portimao circuit, located close to the Algarve coastline of southern Portugal, started well for both KRT riders.
Rea and Lowes working with regular racing tyres as they each set out to find an effective machine set-up for their riding styles and the heavily undulating Portimao circuit layout.
After recent private tests since the previous round of the championship in Barcelona-Catalunya Rea used that experience with his team to find a platform to work from at Portimao, which has been one of Rea’s favourite and most rewarding circuits. Finding more corner entry traction is his priority on Saturday in FP3, before Superpole qualifying and Race One.
After two sessions on the opening day at Portimao Lowes is looking for improved stopping performance at one of the most intensely undulating and dramatic WorldSBK tracks there is.
Second fastest in the FP2 session in the afternoon Rea would end up fourth overall, while Alex was seventh on the combined timesheets.
Next up for the WorldSBK riders on Saturday 8 October will be a third free practice session, then Superpole Qualifying and a full distance 21-lap Race One.
Jonathan Rea, stated: “We found some positives during some private testing we did last week and we just confirmed some items here. We have found a base set-up but I am struggling a little bit with entry traction – it’s backing in on the rear – so we need to find more entry traction for the first race. I felt my rhythm was good; I just didn’t find that one out-and-out lap time. For day one, I feel we were there or thereabouts.”
Alex Lowes, stated: “Not a bad first day at Portimao but we were struggling to stop the bike a little bit. Now we have clear ideas on what to try tomorrow to improve that and make a step forward. It’s always so much fun to ride here, because of the nature of the circuit, so I’m excited to get into some racing tomorrow.”
Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) ended his first day in Portugal in 17th place, with Leon Haslam (Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) 18th in his return to the WorldSBK paddock. Oliver König (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was 26th today.
More, from a press release issued by Pata Yamaha:
Razgatlıoğlu Flies to Fastest Lap Time in Portimão Friday Free Practice
Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK rider and defending WorldSBK Champion Toprak Razgatlıoğlu topped Friday’s Free Practice with a commanding lap time of 1’40.720, as the ninth round of the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship kicked off at the Algarve International Circuit in Portugal today.
It was a positive result for the Turkish ace, who alongside his #1 Yamaha R1 WorldSBK crew, tested the Pirelli tire options available at this circuit in his search of a race-winning set-up for the weekend. But what really caught everyone’s attention was Razgatlıoğlu’s 21 metre-long “flight” over the crest of Turn 9 on his “in-lap” at the end of FP1!
Teammate Andrea Locatelli was eighth quickest in the combined standings, having set a 1’41.760 lap time in this morning’s Free Practice 1 session before continuing to work on race pace and set-up to manage tyre life during in the hotter temperatures during the afternoon.
With warm, clear weather set to continue throughout the weekend, today’s set-up work could prove crucial in Race 1 at 14:00 (WEST, UTC+1) tomorrow, but not before one final 30-minute Free Practice 3 at 9:00 and the all-important 15-minute Superpole qualifying to determine grid position at 11:10.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu: P1 – 1’40.720
“For me it was a very good Friday because we started really strong. I am happy today, we tried some different set-up combinations and now we are ready to race. After some changes at the start of FP2, I see very good lap time 1’40.7 with SC0 tyre – also not a new tyre, it was used one. I am really happy for this and after we try race simulation with different tyre and finally we know which tyre is better for the race. I love this track and this year, I try my best for three races, three wins. We will see, it’s not easy I know because everyone is very fast but I am coming here for the win. For the jump, I didn’t feel very long flight but we look at the data and I jumped 21 metres! Looks not long, but I think it was very fast! I learned how to jump the R1 when we went to Cadwell Park, for me this is fun after the hard work in the session.”
Andrea Locatelli: P8 – 1’41.760
“I’m happy because the feeling was ok immediately in FP1 and also in FP2, we improved the feeling of the bike a lot. We tried to focus just on riding many laps and to do a long run to understand the bike for the race tomorrow, but the confidence is good and this is important. Tomorrow morning we will try to push hard and do a fast lap to prepare for Superpole. But we have a good base set-up for the afternoon, in the end the position is not so good but I am really happy about the work we did today. I feel good on the bike and we are ready to race.”
More, from a press release issued by Aruba.it Racing Ducati:
Positive start for Rinaldi (P2) and Bautista (P5) in Pirelli Portuguese Round. Bulega ninth in WorldSSP free practice
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team got off to a convincing start in Pirelli Portuguese Round. Michael Rinaldi and Alvaro Bautista finished second and fifth, respectively, in the combined standings.
The Italian rider was the protagonist of an extremely positive Friday. After finishing FP1 with the fastest lap, in FP2 Rinaldi worked with the team to collect data that could prove useful for tyre choice, especially in view of the two long races on Saturday and Sunday.
In the afternoon session, Bautista was able to lower his FP1 time by three-tenths, although the feeling with the softer tyre was not particularly positive.
P2 – Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #21)
FP1 > P1 – 1’40.965
FP2 > P4 – 1’41.296 (+0.576)
“It was a pretty positive Friday. We started this morning on the right foot and in the afternoon we worked a lot in sight of the race. All in all it was a very consistent day and the race pace is positive. The goal for tomorrow is to get a good start and stay with the front group for the whole race.”
P5 – Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #19)
FP1 > P5 – 1’41.512 (+0.547)
FP2 > P3 – 1’41.223 (+0.503)
“We worked a lot on the tyres in both FP1 and FP2. The feeling in the morning was very positive while in the afternoon, probably due to the higher temperature, I wasn’t able to make the most of the softer tyre. Anyway, I am confident ahead of tomorrow”.
WorldSSP
After a good FP1 closed with the fifth time, in FP2 Bulega had to deal with a technical problem that did not allow him to improve.
P9 Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WSSP #11)
FP1 > P6 – 1’44.832 (+0.472)
FP2 > P9 – 1’44.947 (+0.687)
“Unfortunately I could only do a few laps in the afternoon. We can’t let this problem affect us though. Tomorrow I will still give my best first in qualifying and then in the race”.
More, from a press release issued by Team Go Eleven:
PHILIPP GETS THE TOP TEN AT THE END OF PORTIMAO FRIDAY!
Day 1 in Portimao turns out to be positive and strong for Philipp Oettl and Team Go Eleven! The German rider enters the Top Ten of the day at the end of a very fast second session for the WorldSBK protagonists, where the Best Lap of the day stopped half a second from the lap record.
In the first session Philipp found a good feeling with the V4-R, starting from the positive sensations found on Sunday in Barcelona. In Portimao it will be important to manage the tyre for the race distance, so the technicians chose to used just a set tyres. Philipp made all the laps on the 42, managing well the drop of the rear Pirelli. As often happens, the FP 1 standing is not so realistic, as several riders have used the new tyre at the end, improving their Best.
Free Practice 1:
P 1 M. Rinaldi 1.40.965
P 2 G. Gerloff + 0.117
P 3 T. Razgatlioglu + 0.294
…
P 13 P. Oettl + 1.330
In FP 2 Philipp faced the session with the new 624 rear compound, in order to make a comparison to the morning. The asphalt temperature, about 10 degrees warmer than in FP 1, made the Portuguese asphalt more slippery and difficult to analyze. In the last sector, the one of the fast corners, for example, Oettl lost a few tenths compared to the morning. Towards the end of the session, then, the German rider put on a new set of tyres, with which he attacked the time, riding below 42 and entering the Top Ten, two tenths from sixth place. The third sector remains to be solved, a real weak point here at the ups and downs of the Algarve.
Free Practice 2:
P 1 T. Razgatlioglu 1.40.720
P 2 J. Rea + 0.476
P 3 A. Bautista + 0.503
…
P 9 P. Oettl + 1.118
Philipp Oettl (Rider):
“Today it was a solid day! We have a quite consistent pace, which I think it will be really important tomorrow. We have two main areas on which we need to work for tomorrow, but I think we can go in the right direction, as our technical debrief gave us some ideas. I hope my comments will help the team to find the right solutions. I think we are competitive here in Portimao, too, so I am happy today!”
