Marco Bezzecchi
Alvaro Bautista believes MotoGP are giving Toprak Razgatlioglu a helping hand with seat aero homologation.
On the eve of the Thai Grand Prix kicking off, it was revealed that Yamaha were able to homologate seat aero for Toprak Razgatlioglu’s Yamaha M1.
This was a significant event as there had been fears that due to the height of Razgatlioglu, he would not be able to have the aero as it would breach the maximum height rule for MotoGP bikes.
With the seat aero present on Razgatlioglu’s bike, he will be able to generate more rear downforce and increase his stopping power.
Has Toprak Razgatlioglu made a mistake moving to MotoGP in 2026?
Alvaro Bautista has called MotoGP out over the homologation
Former MotoGP rider, Alvaro Bautista, has fallen victim to rules in motorbike racing before, as he was penalised in World Superbikes for being too light.
After his dominant display in 2023, a minimum weight rule was added, which meant Bautista had to add excess weight to his Ducati, which he believes made him less competitive in 2024 and 2025.
During the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Bautista’s results faded, and Razgatlioglu was able to claim two World Superbike titles on the BMW. The Spaniard has now taken to X to voice his opinion about how Razgatlioglu has avoided a natural penalisation due to his size.
Bautista said, “Well, well… it was clear that to get to MotoGP, you had to have good results… penalising whoever it took to achieve them and now they keep helping… oh well”.
Podiums, wins, titles? What is Toprak’s CEILING in MotoGP? 🤔
Why hasn’t Razgatlioglu been using seat aero?
For the majority of his first pre-season testing as a MotoGP rider, Razgatlioglu was unable to use the seat aero due to rules and regulations.
The reason that Razgatlioglu was unable to use the seat aero was that he sits so low on the Yamaha M1; it is stated in the rules that the seat aero cannot be 150mm higher than the seat base.
It has become a known thing that during his racing career Razgatlioglu has sat very low on the bike, a position which he used during his time in World Superbikes with BMW.
There has been no official announcement as of yet regarding why Razgatlioglu’s seat aero has been homologated, but the Turkish rider will be able to use it during the opening race of the season.
Receive racing news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
