Toprak Razgatlioglu described his Friday practice session at the United States Grand Prix as “very angry” after braking problems prevented him from challenging for a top 10 time.
The Pramac Yamaha rider put on fresh tyres for his final run at the Circuit of the Americas, hoping to improve on his earlier 2m02.373s lap and secure a better starting position.
Razgatlioglu looked competitive early in the lap, losing only a small amount of time while following another rider through the first two sectors. However, he struggled to slow the bike sufficiently for the braking zones at Turns 11 and 12, particularly at the end of the back straight.
He attempted another fast run but encountered the same problem again, forcing him to abandon the lap and ultimately finish 18th on the timesheets, more than 1.4 seconds off the fastest time.
“I am always making a mistake in corners 11 and 12 because the bike is not stopping there,” Razgatlioglu said. “At corner 12, after the back straight, the front tyre was always locking on the brake. This is very strange.”
The Turkish rider believes that, without the braking issues, he had the pace for a stronger result. “If I finish the lap, maybe I will finish in the top 10, or maybe 11th position,” he added.
Razgatlioglu and his team will continue analysing the braking performance in an effort to improve for the remaining sessions.
