Toprak Razgatlioglu insider “not watching our Toprak” in early MotoGP adaptation

Toprak Razgatlioglu finally made his first public MotoGP appearance during the post-season test in Valencia on Tuesday (18 November), but one insider to his programme is sure he has a big margin to develop.

Razgatlioglu arrived in Valencia a week on from a two-day test in Aragon where conditions were reportedly poor, and was faced in the morning with a track surface that was damp and patchy after overnight rain, and thus effectively unusable.

In the afternoon things dried up and Razgatlioglu – along with the rest of the MotoGP field – was able to get out on-track for the first time in an official MotoGP session.

He ended the day 18th and 1.3 seconds off the best lap of the day set by Raul Fernandez who had finished second in the Valencia Grand Prix two days before.

It was a performance that was fine enough, by the assessment of Razgatlioglu’s manager Kenan Sofuoglu, but the five-time World Supersport Champion thought that there was plenty more to come from the Pramac Yamaha rider.

“Honestly, when you look at the lap time he’s [Razgatlioglu] around 1.5 seconds slower, but when I watch him I’m not watching like ‘our’ Toprak,” said Sofuoglu, speaking to the MotoGP world feed broadcast during the Valencia test.

“He’s a bit scared because there are not many bikes at the moment, V4s, just one for Toprak. 

“He’s careful at the moment, he’s very scared at the moment. But still he’s there. 

“Probably after a couple of tests we will see the real Toprak: stoppies on the brakes, sliding and pushing harder. 

“At the moment, without pushing – I can see how he rides the bike – he’s doing great.

“There’s a lot to go. I’m very positive about what he’s doing at the moment.”

Sofuoglu’s expectation that Razgatlioglu will brake with the aggressive style he has become known for in World Superbike is contrary to the beliefs of some that Razgatlioglu will be forced to change his approach to fit MotoGP.

But the five-time Supersport World Champion thinks that those who doubt Razgatlioglu’s ability to make his style work in MotoGP will be surprised.

“A lot of people think on a MotoGP bike he can’t [brake like in Superbike], but everyone will see he will do the same things; because, also, before he came to Superbike, no one was riding like him,” Sofuoglu said.

“For sure, he will surprise everyone with what he can do on the bike because he’s always surprising us. 

“Now people see him in the MotoGP paddock he will surprise a lot of people because he has this skill, he understands very much. At the moment, [...] he’s just riding the bike, trying to understand. 

“This is the way you start, we don’t push him to crash or to be in the top of the list, we push him just [to] learn and slow down and be careful not to crash the bike. 

“When the time [comes] we will push him, but at the moment just we are learning a lot of things about these tyres, this bike, and this championship.”

Looking to the 2026 season itself, Sofuoglu was not shy in setting targets for his rider.

“Of course, he is heading to MotoGP for new challenges,” he said.

“There are four Yamaha bikes and we want to be top of the list. 

“It’s a hard challenge because Fabio [Quartararo] is one of the best riders in the paddock and if [Razgatlioglu] can battle with him – this is our target for the first season.”