Toprak Razgatlioglu will continue to compete in the World Superbike Championship in 2023: Is the Turk threatened with a similar fate as Superbike record champion Jonathan Rea?
With the news that Yamaha will only send the two factory bikes to the start in the 2023 MotoGP season, Toprak Razgatlioglu’s dream of switching to the premier class was shattered. Should Yamaha not take any punishment for kicking Franco Morbidelli out the door despite his contract, Razgatlioglu will have no chance of a place in MotoGP.
“I’ll ride here next year as well,” commented Razgatlioglu at the WSBK event in Misano. A place in a possible Yamaha customer team had been ruled out by manager Kenan Sofuoglu anyway. A Yamaha customer team, however, would have left the option of transferring Morbidelli from the factory team to the satellite team, thus creating a place for Razgatlioglu. But that will not happen.
“We have a plan together with Kenan. We will only transfer to a factory team. If we don’t get a place in a factory team, then we will stay here. We have said that again and again. If we are not offered a place in a factory team next year either, then we will stay here,” Razgatlioglu clarifies.
Nevertheless, he will test the Yamaha M1 in June. This test is primarily a reward for winning the Superbike World Championship last year. “I am looking forward to the MotoGP test. But MotoGP is not important for me at the moment. The current WSBK season is very important for me. I want to keep the number 1 position,” Razgatlioglu clarifies.
During the WSBK in Misano, Razgatlioglu was able to talk for a while with MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso. In the current season Dovizioso is piloting an M1 – with manageable success. “I spoke to him about the MotoGP bike. He rides the Yamaha and we talked,” Razgatlioglu said.
Should the MotoGP promotion also fall through for 2024, then the chances of seeing Razgatlioglu in MotoGP diminish. Is a similar fate looming as in the case of Jonathan Rea, who was never given a proper chance in the Grand Prix paddock?
“It’s my dream to achieve in the World Superbike Championship what Johnny did. I want to win a lot of World Championship titles here. Jonathan is a WSBK legend. Maybe in the future I will be a WSBK legend too. My dream is to stay here and win a lot of titles,” Razgatlioglu is open to this career path.
