Yamaha angers Razgatlioglu: even Binder taken aback by the issue

A bitter retirement for the Turkish rider at the recent Assen GP, a truly unexpected situation that prevented him from trying to claim his best result in MotoGP.

Yamaha is experiencing a very difficult 2026, with mostly negative results, but the MotoGP race at the Dutch Grand Prix ended with two M1s in the top 10. Fabio Quartararo finished eighth, while his teammate Alex Rins came home ninth. It could also have been a good opportunity for Toprak Razgatlioglu: starting from the back of the grid, he had climbed to tenth place halfway through the race thanks to a series of overtakes. Unfortunately, a major vibration issue forced him to return to the pits and retire.

A huge disappointment for missing what could have been his best result since moving up to the premier class of Grand Prix motorcycle racing. So far, he has never finished a race in the top 10; his best placing is the eleventh spot achieved at Balaton Park. At Assen, he was decidedly unlucky.

The three-time Superbike world champion had started the race at the TT Circuit very promisingly and didn’t imagine he would at some point be forced to throw in the towel: "I got a good start - reports Crash.net - and I passed many riders. After getting into the top 10 everything was going well, but the left side started to vibrate. I don’t understand why. I spoke with Binder and he told me that seeing my bike, especially in turn 9, the vibration was incredible because it never stopped."

Even Brad Binder was impressed watching from behind Razgatlioglu’s Yamaha M1, as he tried everything to ride around the problem and manage a very complicated situation as best as possible, only to have to give up: "Normally the chattering stops when you touch the throttle - he explains - but this was different and I don’t know the reason. Only on left-hand corners: it wasn’t chattering, it was an incredible hopping. I tried to manage for a few laps, but I kept feeling vibrations and I came back to the pits, because it was impossible to ride like that".

The Prima Pramac team rider was confident he could finish the race at the TT Circuit as the best Yamaha, then came the cold shower that inevitably brought a feeling of frustration and anger: "I was even thinking that if I overtook Quartararo, I’d try to follow Bastianini for a few laps, maybe create a gap, because I felt I had something extra. But when I got to Fabio, the chattering started. I’m really angry, I had started really well".

The Turk definitely needs to work on improving qualifying; he still can’t fully exploit the new soft tire. Starting further up would help him, also because his race pace is often in line with the other Yamaha riders, sometimes even better. Together with the Prima Pramac team, he needs to figure out how to be more incisive on the time attack.

Luckily for him, this will be the last year on Michelin tires; from 2027 there will be Pirellis and a new technical regulation with 850cc engine prototypes and reduced aerodynamics compared to today. The first test at Brno left particularly positive feelings for Razgatlioglu, who is banking heavily on next year to prove he is at MotoGP level. In 2026 he has to suffer; he knew it would be like this.