Razgatlioglu: “Potential is very high, I need a real win” at Misano

Toprak Razgatlioglu admits that winning the longer format races is his main priority at next month’s Misano WorldSBK round.

Robert Jones

18 May 2023

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Yamaha World Superbike Catalunya 2023

The 2021 WorldSBK champion has been the second best rider for much of the opening four rounds, with only Alvaro Bautista having more success after making a stunning start to his title defence.

For Razgatlioglu, winning in Assen was always expected to be a challenge given it’s a circuit he and Yamaha have failed to win at together despite always being competitive, as was the case to an even larger degree in Catalunya.

However, the Turkish star still managed to demonstrate his talent as he claimed four second place finishes out of those six races.

But after last week’s two-day Misano test where his race pace was phenomenal, Razgatlioglu should be back in the mix for victories.

The same venue as his first win of 2022, Razgatlioglu won the Superpole race but is looking for more this time around.

"For Johnny and Alvaro, they are very strong here," Razgatlioglu told WorldSBK.com. "Rinaldi is also really strong. I hope this year I’m fighting for the win because it looks like the potential is very high in testing.

"I hope we are fighting for the win because last year I did the first win [of the season] in the Superpole Race, but now I’m focused on Race 1 and Race 2, not just Superpole because I need real winning this year."

Razgatlioglu’s pace at the test was so impressive that Bautista immediately pointed to the Yamaha rider as a contender when racing heads there in June.

But Razgatlioglu, who claims he’s back riding his R1 at 100% following Assen and Catalunya, is not focusing too much on the potential of Bautista, but rather his own.

"He’s also really strong here," Razgatlioglu said about Bautista. "Anyway, we did a very good job [day-one] and I’m still strong.

"We will keep fighting. I know that for him it will be a good track but I will fight for the win because, finally, after Assen and Catalunya I am riding the bike at 100%."