What Awaits Toprak Razgatlıoğlu in MotoGP?

MotoGP
Author: Lütfi Mete Odabaşı
Creation: 12 October 2026

A three-time world champion Turkish rider is starting to learn from scratch in MotoGP's brakes, tires, and racing philosophy.

Share This Page

In the 2026 MotoGP season, the biggest star of the Superbike world, Toprak Razgatlioglu, is stepping up to the premier class with Yamaha-backed Prima Pramac Racing, making him the first Turkish rider to compete in MotoGP. So what exactly does this move mean, and what awaits Toprak? Let's put it briefly: A three-time world champion is meeting an entirely different machine, different brakes, different tires, and a whole new racing philosophy. With his first season positioned as a learning year, Toprak's real target is 2027. But the challenges he will face along the way are the kind most WSBK champions in history have failed to overcome. Come on, let's break down this exciting story from start to finish.

Highlights

Toprak has become the first Turkish athlete to race in MotoGP, with Prima Pramac Yamaha in 2026.
He added three world championships to a career that includes 258 races and 173 podiums in WSBK (the most recent with BMW in 2025).
MotoGP machines are roughly 40-50 horsepower more powerful than Superbikes, with minimum weights of 168 kg versus 157 kg.
He will race with the number 7; this was not possible because his beloved number 54 belongs to Fermín Aldeguer.
His main target year is 2027: "The first year is a learning year, in 2027 everything..." he says.

Which team and which motorcycle will Toprak race with?

Pramac Yamaha ile MotoGP'ye çıkan Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, istediği 54 yerine YZR-M1 üzerinde 7 numarayla yeni döneme başlıyor.

Toprak Razgatlioglu's new home is Prima Pramac Racing, Yamaha's officially supported satellite team. Throughout the season he will ride a 2026-spec version of the YZR-M1, with the number 7 on his motorcycle. He wanted his beloved number 54, but it could not be used because that number belongs to Gresini rider Fermín Aldeguer. Among his teammates is the experienced Australian Jack Miller; Miller has secured the second seat against Miguel Oliveira.

Pramac Yamaha's 2026 motorcycle and livery were unveiled on January 13, 2026 at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena; the Moto2 livery was also showcased at the launch. But the real bombshell is on the technical side: Yamaha is abandoning its long-used inline four-cylinder engine concept and moving to the new M1 with a V4 engine. This means Toprak is stepping not only into a new class, but also right at the start of Yamaha's new engine era. Think of it this way: starting a new school while the school's curriculum has also changed. Two adaptations at once!

Let's also remember that this move is a planned project. Yamaha Motor Racing Director Paolo Pavesio described the transfer as follows:

This is both a 'return home' and a challenge planned with the goal of gradual development over time. Toprak is the most successful rider in Yamaha's Superbike history.
Paolo Pavesio, Yamaha Motor Racing Director

What are the technical differences between Superbike and MotoGP?

Here is the heart of the matter. Superbikes are machines derived from road motorcycles; they are like the racing versions of a motorcycle sold in showrooms. As for MotoGP... The machines there are prototypes built from scratch. So there is no MotoGP bike you can buy; that technology exists only for the track. You can think of it as the difference between a road-going sports car and Formula 1: both have four wheels, but they are worlds apart.

Feature	WorldSBK	MotoGP
Construction	Derived from a road motorcycle	Purpose-built prototype
Power difference	Reference	About 40-50 hp more
Brakes	Steel	Carbon
Minimum weight	168 kg	157 kg
Character	More forgiving	Stiffer and more rigid chassis

Carbon brakes: a small difference over a single lap, a massive one in a race

According to Remy Gardner, a former WSBK-MotoGP switcher, the main characteristic difference between the machines is power and brakes. Although carbon brakes seem to provide a small advantage over a single lap, over a race distance the gap becomes enormous. Working with these brakes, which lack bite when cold and deliver performance as they heat up, is a completely different adaptation process for a rider used to steel brakes. Imagine trying to breathe with the atmosphere instead of an oxygen tank.

Then there is the electronics side: According to industry analyses, electronic systems represent 35-40% of the total cost of a MotoGP motorcycle, roughly €800,000-1,000,000. So the machine's brain is as expensive as its price tag suggests. There are also big differences in the tires; Nicolo Bulega said that moving from WorldSBK to MotoGP is harder than the other way around, pointing to the big differences in tires. Toprak also clearly stated that MotoGP tires are different from Superbike's and that adaptation will take time.

Will Toprak's signature style suit the prototype?

What made Toprak a worldwide legend is his extreme late braking and frequent stoppies - that is, the courage to brake so hard that the front wheel lifts. However, on MotoGP prototypes engine braking slows the rear wheel, and riders have to balance it with the rear brake. The analysts' common take is this: Toprak has to unlearn some things and learn them anew. Moreover, an assessment coming from the Red Bull camp points in the same direction: "The tires are different here, everyone brakes very hard just like he does. It is not easy." So it is possible to keep his signature style, but he needs to translate it into the prototype's language.

Have WSBK champions in history been able to succeed in MotoGP?

Let's be honest: the past is not very merciful. According to MotoGP's own figures, incredibly, only two of the WSBK world champions who moved to MotoGP were able to win a Grand Prix. The best-known example is Ben Spies: after becoming the 2009 WSBK champion he moved to MotoGP and took a single win two years later. Experts say Spies could definitely have won more but pushed too hard. Ruben Xaus, the 2003 WorldSBK runner-up, raced in MotoGP in 2004-2005 and came back with a single podium.

The most successful switcher of the modern era is generally considered to be Cal Crutchlow; he too raced only a single season in WSBK, in 2010, before leaping to MotoGP. So the threshold before Toprak is not just a win, but a historic curse: Breaking the 37-year WorldSBK curse. This is no exaggeration; the fact that names who have been world champions for decades cannot win in the premier class is one of the most interesting statistics in the racing world.

How did Toprak's first tests go?

As a rookie, Toprak earned the right to participate in the shakedown test in Sepang on January 29-31; Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernández joined him in the tests. Jack Miller, meanwhile, used the 2026-spec M1 for the first time at the official Sepang tests on February 3-5. On the first official test day, Toprak finished 18th, 1.294 seconds behind the leader, and completed the test without any issues after 47 laps. At Aragon, the private Yamaha test on November 9-10 presented an interesting picture: on the list, Toprak was the fastest name with a 1:30.0; Jack Miller and Izan Guevara lapped at 1:30.5, and Augusto Fernández at 1:31.3. With this test, Toprak returned to a Yamaha MotoGP motorcycle after an absence of about 2.5 years.

Setting a time of 1:37.662 on his first official lap in Valencia, Toprak also made an unforgettable gesture: he handed out baklava to his teammates. Turkish hospitality at its finest in the premier class! The season began in Thailand, and Toprak summed up his feelings before the first race: "Everything is very different but very nice." After the first 11 races of his debut season, he made a tough assessment; but there is another date that should not be forgotten: Toprak went down in history as the first Turkish rider to score points in MotoGP.

Is the timing luck or a risk?

This is exactly the point the debate revolves around. According to Jack Miller, Toprak was "very unlucky" with the timing of his move to MotoGP; because the switch coincides with Yamaha's weakest period. In its Ducati days, Pramac won the 2023 teams' championship and, in 2024, the riders' championship with Jorge Martin; but it finished its first season with Yamaha in last place with 125 points - even its closest rival, LCR Honda, was 40 points ahead. The Yamaha factory team, meanwhile, could only manage sixth with 269 points. Yamaha management, on the other hand, argues that 2026 is "the right time." In short, one side sees the risk, the other sees the opportunity.

Toprak himself is already managing this expectation game calmly: positioning his first season as a learning year, he has set his real sights on 2027. When a rider says "The first year is a learning year, in 2027 everything...", it means his feet are on the ground. Some experts also point to the necessity of a radical change in riding style; so even if the target is 2027, every step taken this year is laying the bricks for that goal.

This transition also aligns with MotoGP's globalization strategy.

Toprak's step into MotoGP does not coincide with a random moment; the championship itself is in full throttle as it opens up to the world. MotoGP closed the 2025 season with a record-breaking 3.6 million track spectators and introduced its 2026 season campaign under the name "Wired Different." Following Liberty Media's takeover, talk is turning to the goal of carrying the brand into "unexpected places," from fashion and music to airports; The multi-year partnership signed with Two Circles specifically targets global fan growth with a focus on the US. In 2026, MotoGP formed a new alliance with EICMA and is positioning itself as "the pinnacle of racing." A Turkish star being part of this picture both grows MotoGP's fan base in Türkiye and adds a new page to the story of the sport's globalization.

What awaits Toprak in MotoGP: a brief assessment

Let's summarize: Toprak Razgatlıoğlu arrives as a three-time world champion, but there is a completely new machine language to learn. Prototype power, carbon brakes, different tires, engine brake balance, and Yamaha's new V4 era... All of these are equations that must be solved all at once. If you look at history, the numbers are merciless; but the tests where Toprak was the fastest name at Aragon and the fact that he is the first Turkish rider to score points show that this story is worth writing. In my view, the most exciting part is this: while everyone sees 2026 as a question mark, Toprak sees it as a stepping stone. Do you think this learning year will turn into a historic curse being broken in 2027? Let's discuss in the comments!