Toprak Razgatlioglu’s small joy amid Yamaha’s deep crisis

Toprak Razgatlioglu can’t work miracles, but his first point in MotoGP is still a small satisfaction, despite Yamaha’s disaster.

Yamaha is certainly in deep crisis in MotoGP, but there’s a small positive aspect. Toprak Razgatlioglu, Superbike world champion and high-profile rookie with the Prima Pramac Racing team, claimed his first point in his third GP contested in the World Championship. A historic result for the Turkish champion, but alas there’s little to celebrate, given the rather disastrous situation for the Iwata manufacturer. A start to the 2026 season that’s nothing short of terrible, with many, far too many problems on the M1 V4... But perhaps precisely for this reason it’s even more worth highlighting the small joy that arrived for Paolo Campinoti’s team which, sadly, has the worst bike in MotoGP at its disposal. Something that adds value to Razgatlioglu’s result, even if the three-time SBK champion himself doesn’t hide a hint of bitterness about the current situation.

There were no points in Saturday’s Sprint, but this time in Sunday’s race came the final spot in the points. After two 17th places in the previous long races in Thailand and Brazil, here’s the step forward. Toprak Razgatlioglu himself admitted he wanted that first result in MotoGP and that he gave everything to get it—and succeeded. On a track he hadn’t seen since the Rookies Cup in 2013, more than a decade ago, and after years in Superbike, with a production-derived machine that’s a different world compared to a prototype. “A difficult circuit for everyone. I like it a lot, I had fun, but it was tough.” The Turkish champion for Pramac Yamaha commented on his third GP of his era in the premier class of the World Championship.

As mentioned, there’s a small satisfaction. “I pushed really hard and my first point in MotoGP arrived! I’m a bit happy about that, but I was hoping for a better result... I still learned a lot, I spent many laps behind Fabio [Quartararo], I also tried to pass him. In the end I finished 15th, that’s the positive aspect, but on the other hand we still have to improve a lot for the next races in Europe.” In short, a small joy but also the admission that it’s a difficult moment, and not only because of his switch between two totally different championships. Some say Jerez will be the real start of the 2026 championship—will it be a positive note for Yamaha?