Toprak Razgatlioglu in shock, Yamaha agony in Austria: "I thought about retiring

New disappointment for the three-time WorldSBK champion: not even at the Red Bull Ring did he manage to shine with an M1 that continues to be far inferior to the rival bikes.

Toprak Razgatlioglu’s MotoGP debut season is a sort of agony, having stepped up to the top class after years of being used to finishing first or second in the Superbike World Championship. Changing mindset—accepting that at best he can fight for 1-2-3 points—is even harder than adapting to an uncompetitive Yamaha M1 and Michelin tires that are completely different from the Pirellis he used in the production-derived series. So many new variables to deal with and, unfortunately, never the chance to truly showcase his real potential as a rider. Even the Austrian Grand Prix was a washout: last in qualifying, seventeenth in the sprint, and twentieth (second to last) in the race.

The Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP rider was blindsided by the lack of grip on his Yamaha M1 and hadn’t foreseen an immediate drop-off in the race at the Red Bull Ring: "I’m very shocked," reports crash.net, "because from the first five laps I didn’t feel any more grip, I only felt sliding. I’m really angry on the bike, because I’m asking myself: ‘It’s a new tire, how is it possible that there’s no grip at the start?’ We don’t expect something like this. In the end, in the last six laps, I asked myself: ‘How is it possible to finish the race?’ because on the straight and everywhere the bike was sliding continuously."

Razgatlioglu admits it was really difficult to make it to the checkered flag at the Austrian GP: "This was the second-worst race of my life; the other was also this year, in Thailand. I had the same feeling, no grip. Here the tire is the same too, so it’s very strange. The pace was disastrous; at times I thought about coming back into the pits. But I respect Yamaha enough to keep racing."

Admitting he thought about waving the white flag and retiring from the race is a heavy statement and further confirms how much Toprak was struggling. Only his teammate Jack Miller did worse, also dealing with major issues with the Yamaha. Ahead of the Turk was the M1 of Alex Rins, a full 12 seconds up the road. As for Fabio Quartararo, he finished twelfth: after a good start, the 2021 MotoGP champion dropped out of the top 10. Tough times for the Iwata manufacturer, which is banking on the technical regulations and Pirelli tires coming in 2027 to relaunch. Today at the Red Bull Ring there’s an important test with Razgatlioglu himself on track with the 850cc V4 prototype.

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