Marco Bezzecchi
Yamaha are still dealing with the rear instability that Valentino Rossi complained about before his MotoGP retirement. Toprak Razgatlioglu is the latest rider to discover the weakness.
Razgatlioglu joins the Yamaha fold for 2026, riding for satellite team Pramac after replacing Miguel Oliveira. He has predictably found the adjustment to MotoGP machinery in testing tricky after leaving World Superbikes.
Yamaha won the world championship with Fabio Quartararo in 2021, but have slowly declined since. Their last MotoGP victory was at the German GP in the summer of 2022.
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Rossi began his second stint at Yamaha in 2013 and continued riding the M1 until he bowed out of the premier class, though he dropped down to satellite team SRT for his 2021 farewell tour.
Valentino Rossi complained about Yamaha’s endemic rear-end issues
Speaking at the recent pre-season test in Thailand, Razgatlioglu expressed his dismay over the lack of rear grip from the Yamaha motorcycle.
“The biggest problem is the rear tyre, which I still find very difficult to understand,” he said, via GPOne. “It’s the first time in my life I’ve seen a tyre slide on a straight. Once it starts sliding, it never stops.”
As the Italian outlet notes, this has become an endemic problem at Iwata since Rossi brought it ‘to the attention of engineers’ in his last few seasons.
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Indeed, prior to the 2021 season, Rossi said, via Autosport: “We suffer especially under acceleration because I don’t have a lot of rear grip.”
Yamaha may have made their boldest decision in a generation by switching from an inline four engine to a V4, but it still hasn’t altered this fundamental characteristic of the bike. It could be a recurring problem for their new star signing.
Is Toprak Razgatlioglu’s riding position causing his rear sliding?
Razgatlioglu’s unusual riding position means he hasn’t been able to use Yamaha’s rear aero. Doing so would violate the sport’s seat height regulations.
Theoretically, the resulting loss of downforce could be exacerbating his issues with exiting corners.
Francesco Guidotti is confident that Razgatlioglu will thrive in MotoGP eventually due to his ‘unique riding ability’, but it will undoubtedly be difficult to show that talent on this year’s Yamaha.
Alex Rins says Yamaha engineers have been too focused on Quartararo, their lead rider, in recent times, but is optimistic that this will change this year as the Frenchman closes in on a move to Honda.
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