Toprak Razgatlioglu has taken full responsibility for a disappointing 20th-place finish in the French MotoGP Practice session. The Pramac Yamaha rider was the slowest of the four Yamaha competitors, trailing his teammate Fabio Quartararo by nearly 0.9 seconds.
Razgatlioglu explained that his primary struggle lies in the adaptation process to the Bugatti Circuit at Le Mans. He admitted he has not yet fully mastered the track's nuances, while simultaneously expressing surprise at the narrow performance gap across the field, with the top 19 riders all separated by less than one second. His technical objective is now focused on breaking into the 1 minute 30 second range in the upcoming sessions.
A critical layer of the analysis is the transition of his riding style from World Superbike (WSBK) to MotoGP. Razgatlioglu acknowledged that he is still fighting the ingrained habits of Superbike racing, particularly in terms of mass management and cornering speed. To rectify this, he spent time following Ai Ogura to better understand MotoGP-specific racing lines and corner entries. Despite some progress, he noted that Ogura maintains a clear advantage in acceleration when opening the throttle, an area where Toprak remains deficient.
The poor performance of Toprak stands in stark contrast to Alex Rins, who delivered a stellar performance to finish sixth. Rins' success in securing a direct entry into Q2 proves that the Yamaha YZR-M1 possesses the inherent pace to compete at the front. This confirms that Toprak's struggles are largely adaptive and psychological rather than a symptom of technical deficiencies in the machinery.
Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo also faced difficulties, finishing 17th. Quartararo stated that his pace was far below expectations compared to his performance during the Jerez tests. He reported an unusual feeling with the bike's behavior and plans to conduct a deep-dive analysis of the data collected by Alex Rins to find a more optimized setup for the weekend.
The current dynamics within the Yamaha garage present a sharp contrast. While Rins is enjoying one of his best days of the season despite his contract ending in 2027, Toprak is facing a steep learning curve. He must undergo a complete evaluation of his riding technique to avoid being trapped at the back of the MotoGP grid, which demands a level of precision and aerodynamic sensitivity vastly different from the production-based bikes of his previous career.
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