Stefano Manzi: "Harder, but better. Toprak? He's good publicity for the championship!

Stefano Manzi sixth on the first day of Superbike testing at Jerez. The GYTR GRT Yamaha rider also happily commented on Toprak Razgatlioglu’s first MotoGP outing.

Mixed satisfaction for the reigning Supersport champion: Stefano Manzi finished with the 6th-fastest time on the first day of Superbike testing at Jerez, eight tenths off the leader Andrea Locatelli (PATA Maxus Yamaha). The GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team rookie would have liked to end with a better time, but he also carried out several tests and not all of them gave him the answers he was looking for. There’s still tomorrow to think it over. He also had a quick comment on Toprak Razgatlioglu and his debut with Pramac Yamaha in MotoGP. "He did well; from a champion like that you expect what he did. I’m happy he was fast, it’s also good publicity for the championship!"

A new swingarm is also under evaluation, with comparative tests underway, but various checks were carried out on this first day at the track named after Ángel Nieto. "It went pretty well. I’m not completely satisfied because in the afternoon, doing various tests, we lost the way a bit, the speed," commented Stefano Manzi. "So by the end of the day I didn’t manage to hit the lap time target I’d set for myself this morning. I didn’t shine, but I wasn’t exactly slow either," he joked.

Satisfied, but with work to do. "It’s nice to ride the Superbike and work with the team. Now we have another day; let’s try to move the work forward and regain a bit of speed." How is the step from SSP to Superbike? "Overall, everything is more difficult," Manzi admitted. "In Supersport you also had more margin for error; here you don’t—everyone is super fast. Harder but better." How’s the adaptation to the bike going? "At the moment it doesn’t feel completely mine—these are the first tests—but I think I’m in a category I like more than Supersport."