Razgatlioglu and Moreira ahead of Yamaha and Honda big names: will the rookies drive the turnaround?

Toprak Razgatlioglu and Diogo Moreira were respectively the best Yamaha and top Honda in the Sprint in Hungary. Signs for the Japanese MotoGP manufacturers?

Exceptionally bright rookies in the just-finished Sprint at Balaton Park. Toprak Razgatlioglu, the former Superbike star in his first MotoGP season, finished as the top rider for Yamaha. Diogo Moreira, the historic Brazilian Moto2 champion, meanwhile got the better of his colleagues in the factory Honda HRC team, also scoring points. An “embarrassing” situation for the factory project, considering the Pramac Yamaha standard-bearer and the LCR rider have only just arrived in MotoGP and are in two satellite teams. Yet, while Quartararo is growing increasingly discouraged and Mir is wrestling with vibrations, it’s precisely these two who are bringing a small smile to the Japanese brands at the Hungarian GP, the result of encouraging signs seen previously. Perhaps Yamaha and Honda need to go all-in on them to relaunch their respective projects, with an eye on an ever-nearer revolutionary 2027.

We’ve said it multiple times and it’s well known: the three-time Superbike world champion is taking on a huge challenge with the worst bike on the MotoGP grid. It’s tough— the Turkish champion has never hidden the difficulties of the Yamaha M1, in line with the other three riders— but what we saw today is a very interesting sign. Granted, the Pramac rookie has repeatedly said he particularly likes Balaton Park, but he also pointed out that with production-derived bikes everything was perfect, while raising several question marks about his MotoGP debut. Today he finished 13th, outside the points, but stayed ahead of his box mate Jack Miller, Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins, riders with far more experience in the class. It certainly makes you wonder what he could do with a better bike... Maybe Yamaha should bet on him to relaunch its project in the premier class of Grand Prix motorcycle racing?

Rumors of a possible move from LCR to the factory team for next season have already begun, and Lucio Cecchinello has confirmed the possibility. “We’ve been working with Honda for 20 years and we have the same materials, there are no differences between the factory team and LCR,” he told motogp.com. “Of course it’s a more prestigious seat, no doubt. We hope to continue with him, but if Honda decided to have him in the factory team, our relationship wouldn’t change.” Diogo Moreira is certainly making a name for himself; at Balaton Park he delivered fresh confirmation with another direct Q2 and today’s 7th place, his second Sprint in the points and his best overall result after 9th in Catalunya and 10th at Mugello. The Brazilian also arrived in MotoGP with a direct contract with Honda. He could prove to be the ace up their sleeve looking ahead to the 2027 revolution.

If you like the content from our news outlet, you can select it as your preferred source by clicking HERE