Team manager Paul Denning is relieved that Toprak Razgatlioglu will continue to ride for Yamaha in 2023: But in a year’s time new doors could open in MotoGP
Superbike World Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu will continue to race for Yamaha in the production-based championship next year. This became clear after MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo extended his contract with Yamaha. It remains to be seen what will happen to Razgatlioglu after 2023.
The contract with Yamaha is coming to an end. Manager Kenan Sofuoglu has already announced that he is in talks with other manufacturers (more info). Is there a chance for Razgatlioglu in the Yamaha MotoGP factory team or will the Turk change employers?
For WSBK team manager Paul Denning, it was good news that Razgatlioglu will ride another year for the Yamaha team in 2023. “I honestly didn’t expect him to switch at any point,”
Yamaha cannot offer Toprak Razgatlioglu a place in MotoGP
“Yamaha is a very loyal company. Franco Morbidelli has a contract, even if he is struggling a lot this year. In the past he won some races with Yamaha and finished on the podium. He was a top rider,” commented Paul Denning, who is unfazed by the talk of a Yamaha customer team.
A place in a non-works team was never up for debate for Toprak Razgatlioglu and manager Kenan Sofuoglu anyway. “What I learnt with Kenan and Toprak is that they don’t tell lies. Never. When they say there is interest in MotoGP but only a factory team is considered, it’s not a tactic. It’s not a game,” Paul Denning clarifies.
“They are not interested in another team and in that case they prefer to stay here. Once it was clear that Yamaha had signed the two riders for the factory team, there were no more questions,” the Yamaha WSBK team manager describes the situation.
What happens after the 2023 WSBK season?
Also next year Razgatlioglu will pilot a factory R1. “It is absolutely fantastic for us as a team in every way to have him on the bike next year as well. But I don’t know what opportunities he will have in 2024,” muses Paul Denning.
“From the end of 2023 he is a free rider and can do what he wants. Maybe another manufacturer from MotoGP will knock on the door,” says Paul Denning. More tests with the MotoGP bike would be a start to keeping the exceptional rider at Yamaha, according to Denning.
“I hope he will get more opportunities to show his talent on the M1 next year. Maybe then he will be a candidate for Yamaha for the factory team in the 2024 season,” Denning notes and welcomes the strategy of riding another year in WSBK: “It’s better for him this way, because he enjoys the World Superbike Championship and has more opportunities at the end of 2023. “
