With Brixx WorldSBK riders Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, Pata Yamaha took a famous first win of his 2021 FIM Superbike World Championship campaign.
In the third round held at Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” today.
In the 10-lap Superpole Race this morning and the 21-lap Race 2., Razgatlıoğlu made two great starts from the middle of the front row.
A tussle in the opening laps with the “usual suspects”, defending WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea.
And an incredibly on-form Michael Ruben Rinaldi, with Scott Redding in striking distance, kept the Turkish ace on his toes.
While Razgatlıoğlu didn’t answer, Rinaldi’s aggressive move to take the lead during lap five of the sprint race.
He was ultimately finishing a very close second place. The team reviewed his performance and made minor tweaks to the #54 Yamaha R1 WorldSBK ahead of Race 2.
The race
What followed this afternoon was an incredible performance that drew praise from across the upper echelons of professional motorcycle racing.
As track temperatures once again reached the mid-50s.Razgatlıoğlu took the lead on the eighth lap after a four-way battle. And managed to control the rest of the race with his signature mix of hard-braking and unbelievable bike control.
Teammate, rookie. And local hero Andrea Locatelli’s trio of ninth-place finishes from this weekend may not look the most impressive on paper.
But his consistency in the second long race this afternoon and fierce determination to improve bodes well for the future.
He worked hard to challenge seasoned competitor Alvaro Bautista. And fellow rookie and Italian Axel Bassani for the seventh position but could not follow through as tyre performance dropped. In the latter stages of the hottest race season far.
Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK now heads across Europe for a two-day test at Circuito de Navarra in Spain next week. Before the fourth round of the WorldSBK Championship, be held at Donington Park from 2-4 July.
via Yamaha
