Marco Bezzecchi
Toprak Razgatlioglu is gearing up for his rookie MotoGP season with Yamaha Pramac after leaving the World Superbike Championship, with pre-season testing underway.
The three-time WSBK champion has enjoyed three days testing in Sepang this week, as one of just two rookies on the MotoGP grid in 2026 along with reigning Moto2 champion Diogo Moreira at LCR Honda. Yamaha lured Razgatlioglu to MotoGP on a two-year factory contract.
MotoGP teams’ test riders and the factory Yamaha racers, plus Pramac, also took part in the Sepang shakedown. Yamaha are the only manufacturer in concessions Rank D, so could field work riders Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins, plus Pramac pilots Jack Miller and Razgatlioglu.
Razgatlioglu will spend his rookie MotoGP season with Pramac, but a future with the factory Yamaha team may now await in 2027, should he deliver as expected. Quartararo has agreed to join Honda in 2027, with his contract with Yamaha expiring at the end of the 2026 season.
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Iker Lecuona warns Toprak Razgatlioglu that he is entering MotoGP with ‘too many expectations’
Moving to MotoGP is a big challenge for Razgatlioglu, who had spent his career so far in the World Superbike Championship. Razgatlioglu views the riding position on Yamaha’s MotoGP bike as the “biggest difference” from the WSBK bikes he has spent the past eight years on.
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So, the Turkish rider is treating 2026 as a chance to learn ahead of MotoGP introducing new regulations in 2027, with 850cc engines and a ban on ride height devices. But former WSBK rival Iker Lecuona fears Razgatlioglu has set his targets too high for his first MotoGP season.
Lecuona told Mundo Deportivo: “He’s a talented and fast rider, he’s proven that in WorldSBK with both Yamaha and BMW. He’ll do well.
“Personally, I think that when you change teams or championships, you have to be a little more careful with your words. He’s coming in with too many expectations.”
Iker Lecuona fears Toprak Razgatlioglu will crash ‘100% of the time’ with his WSBK braking style
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Ahead of his MotoGP debut, Razgatlioglu has stated that his “biggest target” is to fight Marc Marquez by 2027. The Alanya native is fully aware that he will have a lot to learn at Pramac in 2026, as he adapts to the V4 Yamaha MotoGP bike, ride height devices and Michelin tyres.
Lecuona considers the Michelin tyres that MotoGP uses to be the biggest hurdle that awaits Razgatlioglu in 2026. The former KTM Tech3 MotoGP rider and new Ducati World Superbike pilot believes Razgatlioglu cannot brake with Michelins like he did with Pirelli tyres in WSBK.
He said: “I think he’ll struggle, especially with Michelin. Michelin isn’t a very good fit for his style. With Michelins, you have to stop the bike straight on and enter the corner smoothly.
“In contrast, with Pirellis, you can brake mainly on the entry to the corner and really attack one wheel on the entry, like Toprak did. With Michelins, you can’t do that – you’ll crash one hundred per cent of the time.”
Pirelli is set to replace Michelin as MotoGP’s sole tyre provider in 2027, which is expected to help Razgatlioglu fight nearer the front of the field next year. Razgatlioglu’s braking strength was one of his biggest advantages in World Superbikes, as he could brake exceptionally late.
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