From Superbike victories to second-to-last in MotoGP: Toprak Razgatlioglu's frustration

Friday had been surprising, but the rest of the MotoGP weekend in Goiania was extremely difficult for Razgatlioglu: here is his final assessment.

The third-fastest time in Practice surprised everyone, but no one expected that in Brazil Toprak Razgatlioglu would manage to stay in the top 10 across Qualifying, the Sprint, and the Race. He still has a lot to learn, and the Yamaha M1 is still far from being highly competitive. Fabio Quartararo’s sixth place in the sprint race was something of a miracle.

Starting from the 12th spot on the grid, he finished second-to-last in both races of the MotoGP weekend at the Autódromo Internacional de Goiânia - Ayrton Senna. Track conditions were tricky for everyone, especially on Sunday, so it’s normal that a rookie wasn’t able to shine. Both he and Yamaha need time.

The three-time Superbike World Champion highlighted rear grip issues, a limitation the M1 has carried over since the past years’ inline-four engine version: "The race went better than the sprint, but rear grip is clearly still a problem for us. Right now I’m focusing mainly on the Yamaha riders, because they’re my reference point, and it’s clear that compared to the others we’re still missing a bit of grip, especially on acceleration. I had a lot of spin and the bike didn’t accelerate as it should have. ".

Even though Yamaha needs to work on improving rear grip, Razgatlioglu himself must figure out how to be more effective on corner exit, at least to be in line with Quartararo: "When I was following Fabio - he explains - I noticed that in some sections, especially under braking and in the corners, I could stay with him or even close the gap, but as soon as we started accelerating, he had a clear advantage". Perhaps the Frenchman was better at managing the tires (El Turco is in his first year with Michelins) and also had a different setup.

Toprak also made a mistake in the race that cost him quite a bit of time, but in any case it wouldn’t have significantly improved the outcome of his second Grand Prix as a MotoGP rider: "I made a mistake at Turn 1 and ran wide, after which I lost my reference point and kept riding alone. Obviously I’m not happy with the result, since we’re still at the back, but we learned something, especially regarding the engine brake; now I feel more comfortable under braking."

In World Superbike he was used to winning; now he’s at the back of the field, a reality that’s hard to accept. It’s normal that the Turkish rider of the Prima Pramac Yamaha team is frustrated by the situation and eager to improve. Next weekend MotoGP will be racing in Austin, where he has never competed: it will be another tough challenge for him, still on 0 points in the overall standings. There’s no point piling on too much pressure; he just needs to stay focused on working with his team and try to make a few steps forward.