Marco Bezzecchi
Toprak Razgatlioglu will face a huge test in 2026 when the double World Superbikes champion moves to MotoGP after signing a factory Yamaha deal to ride for Pramac.
The 28-year-old has finally relented on his long-held demand to join a factory MotoGP outfit for Razgatlioglu to move from the production bike series to the prototype championship. He has also accepted the challenge of moving to MotoGP while Michelin still supplies the tyres.
Razgatlioglu will join Pramac in the 2026 MotoGP season as next year gives him a chance to learn the tracks on the calendar that the Turkish star does not know from World Superbikes. He will also help Yamaha build their bike for the 2027 rules, when Pirelli will make the tyres.
Ben Spies warns Toprak Razgatlioglu he must adapt his braking on Yamaha’s MotoGP bike
Already, ex-Ducati ace Danilo Petrucci has warned Razgatlioglu about adapting to a MotoGP bike at Pramac, having spent his career to date solely on production bikes. His only previous experiences riding MotoGP machinery were Razgatlioglu’s unsatisfactory tests with Yamaha.
One rider who knows the challenge awaiting Razgatlioglu is Ben Spies, who won the World Superbikes title with Yamaha in 2009 before moving to MotoGP as a full-time rider. He had already made four wildcard MotoGP appearances over the 2008 and 2009 seasons, though.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Toprak Razgatlioglu from net worth to nickname
Spies, who won the 2011 Dutch TT at Assen for his sole MotoGP race win, also believes that Razgatlioglu will have to adapt his braking once on a Yamaha YZR-M1 at Pramac. It is one of his greatest assets in World Superbikes, but he will need more cornering speed in MotoGP.
“Toprak will have to acclimatise his riding style,” Spies told Superbike Planet. “The way that he kind of sits on the bike and just a little bit of how he brakes, which is, you know, he’s a demon braker. Getting the bike stopped pointed and stuff like that.
“That’s the other part of it. He’s going to have to manipulate his style a little bit to make the GP bikes work. I’m not saying he can’t do that at all, but it is for sure, he’s so on one side of the spectrum of riding the motorcycle in a very good way.
“But I do think that he’s going to have to pull back a little bit on the way that he rides so extreme. And bump up the corner speed up a little bit and get off of the front brake a little bit sooner and getting the bike rolling, all those kinds of things.”
Yamaha and Pramac know 2026 is a chance for Toprak Razgatlioglu to adapt before MotoGP’s 2027 rules
Razgatlioglu’s ability under braking is often what sets the 2021 and 2024 World Superbikes champion apart from his rivals in the championship. Spies is also far from alone in admiring the Alanya native for it, with Neil Hodgson calling Razgatlioglu ‘very unique’ on the brakes.
Yamaha and Pramac will hope his aggressive approach can transfer over to MotoGP in 2026. But even if the results do not emerge next year, Razgatlioglu’s knowledge of the Pirelli tyres from World Superbikes could help him mould Yamaha’s 850cc bike ready to thrive in 2027.
His results next term will certainly not be the be-all and end-all as Yamaha and Pramac will know the size of the challenge awaiting Razgatlioglu and what is to follow in 2027. What is most important is that the Turkish talent proves he can adapt to the issues like Spies raised.
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