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Portimao WorldSBK test: Last-lap Razgatlioglu pips Redding

Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu put his final flying lap to good use on the final day of European WorldSBK winter testing to pip Scott Redding for top spot on the Portimao timesheet.

Razgatlioglu was on top at lunch as he worked his way towards a better front-end set up, while continuing to adapt his style to the 2020 R1 Yamaha.

He set quick laps on both of his bikes to finishing top overall, whilst teammate Michael van der Mark was also right up at the sharp end too, placing fourth and looking at tyre conservation ahead of Phillip Island.

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Having led the way on day one at Portimao, Aruba Ducati’s Redding placed at the front again, saving his pace until the final ten minutes to initially deny Loris Baz top spot, before being pipped himself by Turkish star Razgatlioglu.

Redding focused on tyre life and especially grip, with Portimao offering the perfect opportunity to do so ahead of the equally as fast Phillip Island, with the Brit second overall. Teammate Chaz Davies was outside of the top ten in the later afternoon, eventually ending in fifth after a late charge.

At Jerez, he was quick but Ten Kate Yamaha's Loris Baz was a stand-out performer at Portimao, proving that the wet weather pace in the south of Spain was absolutely no fluke. The 26-year-old was right on the money in Portugal and continued his back-to-back testing with the 2019 and 2020 Yamahas. He was third at the end of testing, with fellow Independent Yamaha riders Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha) and his teammate Garrett Gerloff impressing in ninth and tenth respectively.

There were more positives for the HRC team, who continued their work, keeping their cards close to their chest throughout Portuguese testing. Leon Haslam once again led the charge from the Japanese manufacturer, setting a faster lap time than he managed throughout racing action at Portimao last year to go sixth. Alvaro Bautista was less prominent and was down in 15th place ahead of the trip to Australia in a few weeks’ time.

German manufacturer BMW were inside the top five at Portimao on the second day, with Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty enjoying plenty of positives. Sykes was relentless and was continuing to focus on set-up, whilst Laverty enjoyed an incident-free day on day two. Sykes was seventh, whilst Laverty concluded his action in eighth.

Outside of the top ten, there were positives carried forward for Michae Rinaldi (Team Goeleven) in 11th, whilst Leandro Mercado (Motocorsa Racing) was 12th. Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was 13th ahead of Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance), whilst Sandro Cortese (Barni Racing Team) was 16th, having suffered a crash at turn seven this morning and the injured Leon Camier stepped in for a few laps to test his fitness.

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