“What I saw wasn’t enough” to take Toprak into MotoGP - “Yamaha can’t wait”
The WorldSBK rider had the eyes of two championships on him when he tested the Yamaha M1 MotoGP bike last week, opening the possibility he could claim a major move for next season.
But, ex-WorldSBK racer and MotoGP pundit Crafar was unimpressed with Razgatlioglu’s speed - which Crash.net understand to be 1.0s behind Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow and 1.4s behind KTM test rider Dani Pedrosa.
“Everyone knows what a talent Toprak is,” Crafar said.
“A real talent, natural ability, work ethic.
“But what I saw was not enough to make me, if I was Yamaha, sign him up.
“Traditionally the young guns do not go slower than the ex-riders who are now test riders.
“From my day, I wasn’t slower than the test riders.
“You want something special straight away to sign him up.
“Yamaha have only two riders. They need someone who will jump on immediately.
“I’ve got no doubt Toprak can do the job but he needs time to change tyres, machinery, a way of riding.
“I don’t think Yamaha can wait.”
Were Yamaha impressed by Razgatlioglu?
Managing director Lin Jarvis admitted that their No1 choice for their 2024 rider line-up would be to keep Franco Morbidelli alongside Fabio Quartararo, but only if the former can sustain his bright form from the first three rounds of the season.
“If Franky can continue to perform very well that's better for us right now and [would] automatically guarantee him continuity in the future,” Jarvis said.
What has Razgatlioglu said?
“It’s still a dream but we will see in the future,” he said.
“This is just testing, for me to understand the bike and for Yamaha to see the potential.
“It’s all young riders’ dream to one day, ride a MotoGP bike.
“I’ve done it, enjoyed it but now I come back and do my job again, because for me, WorldSBK is important this season, to fight again for the Championship.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
