Toprak Razgatlioglu has consistently improved during his rookie MotoGP season so far in 2026, yet the Pramac ace has actually been the worst rider on the grid in a key area.
Yamaha finally convinced Razgatlioglu to pen his MotoGP debut in the 2026 season, and put the 29-year-old at their satellite squad Pramac on a two-year deal. Razgatlioglu even arrived in MotoGP on the back of winning his third World Superbike title during the 2025 campaign.
Adapting to Michelin’s tyres has been a massive challenge for Razgatlioglu, who always used Pirelli tyres while in the World Superbike Championship. The Turkish star has even admitted that the learning curve he has endured has “destroyed” his motivation at stages this season.
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Sprint Races have been a major weakness for Toprak Razgatlioglu in MotoGP
Still, Yamaha and Pramac saw lots of encouraging signs during the first half of Razgatlioglu’s rookie MotoGP season, but Sprint Races are certainly a weakness that he must address. The Alanya native is, in fact, the worst full-time MotoGP rider in Sprint Races so far this season.
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If Sprint Races were a separate MotoGP championship from Grand Prix results, Razgatlioglu would rank 21st out of the 26 riders to feature at least once this season. Yet of the five riders who would rank below Razgatlioglu, only Maverick Vinales of KTM Tech3 is a full-time rider.
Vinales would rank 23rd in a Sprint championship at the summer break, having also failed to score a point in the shortened race format like Razgatlioglu in 2026. But it also has to be said that Vinales continues to be limited by a shoulder injury that sidelined him for three rounds.
Remove Vinales and his troubles that stretch back to the 2025 German Grand Prix from the equation, and the only riders to perform worse across the first 11 Sprint Races in 2026 than Razgatlioglu offered are Augusto Fernandez, Iker Lecuona, Cal Crutchlow and Michele Pirro.
Pramac saw Razgatlioglu claim his best Sprint performance to date in round nine at Brno, as he finished P11 in the Sprint at the Czech Grand Prix. His next-best Sprint results are P13 at Balaton Park and P14 at Le Mans, but his average Sprint result after 11 rounds is only 16th.
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Now, riding the new-for-2026 V4-engined Yamaha YZR-M1, which is indisputably the worst bike in the field, plays a big part in Razgatlioglu’s woes. Even Razgatlioglu claims he would have more pace on a “better” bike, but he also struggles compared to those with the V4 M1.
Even among only the four Yamaha riders, Razgatlioglu’s record shows Sprint Races are a big weakness for the Turkish racer. Fabio Quartararo’s average Sprint finish so far this term has been P11, Alex Rins has averaged P14.9 and Pramac partner Jack Miller has averaged P15.2.
Razgatlioglu also has the worst finish rate among the Yamaha riders in Sprint Races at 82%, compared to Miller’s 91% while Quartararo and Rins have finished all 11 so far. Razgatlioglu failed to finish the Sprints at COTA (engine issue) and Jerez (crashed into Lorenzo Savadori).
So, while Razgatlioglu is improving as a MotoGP rider, Sprint Races remain a key weakness that the Pramac pilot has to improve after the summer break. It will not be easy, especially as MotoGP goes to some tracks that he has either not raced at for many years (Silverstone and the Red Bull Ring) or never raced at (Motegi, Sepang, Lusail and the Circuit Ricardo Tormo).
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