Toprak Razgatlioglu reveals when he thought to “stop racing”
Toprak Razgatlioglu says his difficult MotoGP rookie season reminds him of 2018, when he even considered stopping racing.
Toprak Razgatlioglu sees similarities between his difficult MotoGP rookie season and his first year in the WorldSBK championship in 2018.
The Turkish star began both campaigns struggling to make an impact at the front.
His WorldSBK breakthrough came with a surprise podium at Donington Park, but Razgatlioglu is still chasing a top ten in MotoGP.
“The last time when I'm thinking this was 2018, when I moved to Superbike, the first year with Kawasaki,” he said at the Red Bull Ring.
“It was a really hard season. I'm always finishing 9th, 10th, 12th. At that time, 12th is not so bad, but I just started thinking, ‘I don't have any potential, I have maximum this’.”
Razgatlioglu revealed those struggles became serious enough for him to consider stopping racing.
“In the end, also I'm thinking to stop racing. But when I did the podium, it changed everything, and I start to believe,” he said.
Razgatlioglu went on to win 78 WorldSBK races and three world championships, which has made his MotoGP results even harder to accept.
“Now I feel it’s more hard, because I did three world titles, and last year I did an incredible season again. Then when I move here, I'm finishing 15th, 18th, 12th, my best is 11th,” he explained.
“This is harder for me, because I'm already a winning rider.
“At that time, 2018, when I finished 10th, 12th, it was bad for me, but not like this.”
Razgatlioglu is far from alone in struggling with Yamaha’s new V4 during the final season of 1000cc engines and Michelin tyres.
His mid-race pace has often compared favourably with the best of the M1s, but extracting the full performance from Michelin’s soft rear tyre remains one of his biggest problems.
“Why in the race could I do a good pace with the medium tyre? Because it’s easier riding with the medium tyre, but the soft tyre, I'm not using the real potential,” he said.
“I need to learn this, because still I don’t understand the limit of this tyre. This is the biggest problem.”
Razgatlioglu has seven rounds and 14 races left to achieve his top ten target before returning to Pirelli tyres for the new 850cc MotoGP era.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
