A few days before the Barcelona round, the World Superbike Championship had two days of testing at the same circuit. Toprak Razgatlioglu posted the second-fastest time, very close to the leader Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati).
The Turkish rider from ROKiT BMW stated to GPOne.com that he is prepared after these two days of testing: ‘It was a good fast lap, I was very close to first place. But overall, I am very satisfied. On Friday, we worked on rear wheel grip, then we did a short race simulation with 11 laps, in which I consistently ran in the 1m41s range. When the bike was finally ready, I mounted two Q tyres and on the second attempt, I did a better lap. I am satisfied, and the team is too; we found the grip that was missing on Thursday, and we are ready to race’.
This test also served to experiment with new components on the M 1000 RR, and Razgatlioglu commented on this: ‘On the last lap, I used the old swingarm but with a different shock absorber and a new fork on the front; we tried various components on Friday. The difference between the old and new swingarm is minimal, but I prefer the old one, although it might just be a psychological effect’.
Admitting that he dreams of winning at the Catalunya circuit, the 2021 champion acknowledged that grip is an aspect that requires work: ‘I have never won here in Barcelona, but it has always been my dream. Grip has always been very poor here, so we will have to refine the tyre’.