New WorldSBK champion Toprak Razgatlioglu has announced that he might consider moving to the MotoGP World Championship in 2023, despite signing a two-year deal to stay on superbikes with Yamaha.
The Turkish rider raised his eyebrows earlier this year when he turned down an offer to join MotoGP with the then Petronas SRT Yamaha team (now WithU RNF Racing) until the end of the 2023 season.
At the time, he said he wanted to focus on becoming Turkey’s first FIM WorldSBK champion, an achievement he might achieve earlier than expected in 2021 when he dethroned Jonathan Rea from the throne of title winners after six seasons.
Now it looks like Razgatlioglu and his manager / mentor Kenan Sofuoglu could go through a change of heart in 2023 instead of 2024.
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“I’ll try the M1 in a few private tests in 2022,” reports GPOne. “These days I’ll be with Cal Crutchlow and I hope to make my MotoGP debut in 2023, although I can now fully focus on WorldSBK for the next season.”
How does Toprak Razgatlioglu fit into Yamaha’s MotoGP future?
It’s no secret that Yamaha is keen to get Razgatlioglu into MotoGP as soon as possible.
Not many MotoGP teams turn to WorldSBK for potential riders in the modern era since the two series were pushed further apart under Dorna’s leadership, but Razgatlioglu is certainly a particular talent that has been successful and based on a more unconventional one Lifted off to the top.
It is thanks to Razgatlioglu, however, that his unique riding style – which has been meticulously refined through the production lines – may not immediately make MotoGP suitable if he takes the leap too fast.
These private tests should or should not confirm that Razgatlioglu is capable of making the jump, and it is clear that Yamaha certainly hopes so.
Where on the team he might be interested in a seat in 2023 is currently only Franco Morbidelli on the factory Yamaha M1, while Iwata will do everything possible to ensure that they win their title, Fabio. holds Quartararo.
What leaves the satellite WithU RNF team. Rumor has it that Razgatlioglu has agreed to be the team’s reserve – with Cal Crutchlow the factory reserve – a role that will certainly have been used in 2021 due to Morbidelli’s injury and Maverick Vinales’ sack.
After 2022, it’s likely that Andrea Dovizioso has only agreed to a 1 + 1 deal (destined for 2022 with a performance-based option for 2023), while the high-profile risk of getting Darryn Binder out of Moto3 means even if he’s a 1st + has 1 contract, there are more exit options for RNF Racing for 2023.
Additionally, there are two other major reasons why Razgatlioglu would be a popular choice for the RNF team in 2023 … first, it will likely come with great support from a Turkish nation behind their first MotoGP rider, and second, he is – unlike Binder – likely to get a factory spec M1 to fight.