Marco Bezzecchi
Toprak Razgatlioglu is less than a week away from being able to start some serious work ahead of the 2026 MotoGP season.
His debut in the premier class next year is going to be one of the most highly anticipated in recent history, as the three-time World Superbike champion gets a shot with Pramac.
Lining up alongside the experienced Jack Miller on a Yamaha machine, he’ll get the opportunity to learn all about the championship before a new set of regulations arrives for 2027.
Razgatlioglu’s multi-year deal means that he’s one of the few riders who will not be caught up in the MotoGP rider market melee next year, offering him some form of relief and comfort.
Razgatlioglu was 2.7 seconds slower than Fabio Quartararo was in qualifying at Aragon, after completing his first test for Yamaha.
Razgatlioglu has told Yamaha to ‘improve’ the front end of his bike with the V4 engine on it, and is already getting to work making changes.
READ MORE: Toprak Razgatlioglu’s answer when asked if he could return to World Superbikes after MotoGP
Augusto Fernandez ‘surprised’ by Toprak Razgatlioglu’s data after Yamaha test at Aragon
Despite being quite slow in 2025, Razgatlioglu is ‘not worried’ by Yamaha’s form and is aware of the size of the task on his hands.
He signed up knowing that he wouldn’t be competing for podiums or victories from day one. Quartararo’s results show that.
Razgatlioglu’s ‘dream’ switch was motivated by his father, and his tenure seems to have started on a positive note.
The man with the most experience with Yamaha’s V4 engine has been looking at his data from a test conducted at Aragon recently, and he’s impressed.
Talking to GPOne, Augusto Fernandez revealed how he has been left ‘surprised’ by the Turkish rider’s data.
“To be honest, I think it was a very positive test for him,” he said. “I had the chance to look at his data, his riding style, and it surprised me, but we all know he’s incredibly talented.
“Obviously, riding a MotoGP bike is very different from a superbike, especially because of the tyres, but he’s aware of that.”
READ MORE: Yamaha chief wasn’t ‘bothered’ about signing Toprak Razgatlioglu, until Paolo Pavesio stepped in
How did Toprak Razgatlioglu perform during his first MotoGP test for Yamaha in 2025?
Razgatlioglu has to adapt his braking for MotoGP because the demands of the bike are so different to what he has experienced before.
That’ll be part of his learning curve over the next 12 months, and will really test his adaptability on two wheels.
In Aragon, Razgatlioglu finished his first Yamaha test of 2025 just half a second behind Honda’s Aleix Espargaro.
Considering he was riding the relatively new V4, that’s a solid benchmark and definitely a good start for Razgatlioglu. Now, he can begin to build on his performance.
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