Razgatlioglu “surprised” with lack of pace

Razgatlioglu fought for victory in both the opening full-distance race and the Superpole contest at the Portuguese venue, losing out on both occasions on the final lap in close duels with Alvaro Bautista and Jonathan Rea respectively.

However, after engaging in an early battle for the lead in Sunday’s final race, the Yamaha rider could no longer contend with either Rea’s Kawasaki or the Ducati of Bautista, finishing more than four seconds adrift of the pair in third.

Razgatlioglu said he had no explanation as to why his rear tyre was sliding less than halfway through the 22-lap contest, having tried to preserve his soft-compound SCX rubber from the very beginning of the race.

“In Race 2 we started good, I was just following my plan,” he said. “I kept the rear tyre for the last laps. But I was very surprised that after 10 laps I was feeling too much spin and on the last corner I would lose a lot of time. 

“On the last corner I was not very good at the exit because the [rear tyre was] spinning. On the [rest of the lap] I was going [closer to the front], but again [at the] same corner I would go backwards.

“I’m not really happy because in this race I was not fighting for the win, I was just fighting for third position. 

“I don’t know, maybe the tyre [was the] problem because Johnny used the same tyre, Alvaro used the same tyre, we [all] used the SCX tyre.“

On the final lap of Sunday’s Superpole race, Razgatlioglu had a major moment going into the chicane as he defended the lead from the chasing Kawasaki of Rea.

Although the error allowed Rea to sneak through and claim the first of his two wins at Estoril, Razgatlioglu was able to save himself from falling off the bike and bag valuable points for second position.

“We train with Kenan on his karting track, it’s a small track and I’m always losing the front there and I try to pick it up!” he told the WSBK website. “Only this time, the bike was a bit heavier! I’m always watching Marc…