Toprak Razgatlioglu “always sad” over lack of pace amid steep MotoGP learning curve

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Toprak Razgatlioglu has admitted he is “always getting sad” due to his lack of early speed on a MotoGP bike following a challenging end to pre-season testing in Buriram.

Razgatlioglu moved to MotoGP with Pramac Yamaha this year as a three-time World Superbike champion, becoming the first rider to make such a switch between the two categories since Cal Crutchlow in 2011.

His adaptation to MotoGP has proven to be tough so far, with the Turkish rider finishing 21st among 22 riders on the final day of the Buriram test, more than two seconds off the outright pace.

MotoGP prototypes are fundamentally different to road-based WSBK machinery, while the switch from Pirelli to Michelin rubber has added another layer of complexity.

Yamaha’s all-new V4-powered M1, which was slow, unreliable and difficult to ride in testing, has only compounded the challenge.

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Even the Japanese marque’s star rider Fabio Quartararo paid a special visit to the Pramac garage on Sunday, having sensed that the transition had been mentally taxing for the 29-year-old.

Speaking about Quartararo’s visit, Razgatlioglu explained the key areas in which he has been struggling while admitting that the lack of speed had begun to weigh on him.

“We were talking about this year,” the 29-year-old told the media at Buriram. “I’m still learning, and he said, ‘Don’t rush, Yamaha are improving, and also you are trying to adapt [to] the tyres’.

“He said it was also very difficult with the new bike. I’m trying to adapt. He just said, ‘Stay calm, you don’t need to rush, you don’t need to destroy your…’

“I’m always thinking corner by corner, trying to do my best, but lap time is not coming, and I’m always getting sad. But I know this, because when I moved to the MotoGP, I understood that tyres and bikes are completely different, and I need to adapt to this.

“But still, I’m not really adapting, especially the front tyre. Maybe I can do hard braking, but when I am leaning, I’m not really able to trust [the bike] like the other riders.

“The other riders are leaning completely. When the bike starts turning, I’m leaning, but I’m already waiting to lose the front tyre. Still, I’ve not crashed and the bike is in one piece. But maybe I need to crash to understand the limit.”

Razgatlioglu revealed that he aborted a race simulation on Sunday due to a lack of speed, but admitted that longer runs helped him find his rhythm and gain a better understanding of his 2026 package.

“We tried a race simulation, but I didn’t like the set-up,” he explained. “We had two bikes. One bike is a different set-up and the second bike is a different set-up. I don’t like it.

“On lap 10, I came back to the box because I was doing slow lap times. I said, ‘It’s better to come back to the box, because not everything is going fine’.

“After lunch, we start running on used tyres to understand the bike. But also we did a good lap time, because the tyres [had done] like 14 laps. We [normally] do six, seven laps with this tyre, so we did a really good lap time.

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Steve Wobser / Getty Images

“I’m also surprised, because when I’m riding many laps, I start adapting to how the bike has to be ridden, and also try to manage the tyres.”

Razgatlioglu followed his Pramac team-mate Jack Miller on the final day of testing, and was surprised to see how the Australian was able to lean on the bike and maintain trust in his front tyre.

Miller was the fastest Yamaha rider in Buriram testing, finishing a tenth clear of Quartararo and four tenths up on Alex Rins.