Toprak Razgatlioglu has revealed that he reached a low point in his racing career where he considered quitting. In an interview at the Red Bull Ring, the Turkish rider recounted his difficult 2018 WorldSBK debut season with Kawasaki, which mirrors his current MotoGP rookie season with Yamaha.
“The last time I thought about this was in 2018, when I moved to Superbike, my first year with Kawasaki,” Razgatlioglu said. “It was a really hard season. I was always finishing 9th, 10th, 12th. At that time, 12th wasn't so bad, but I started thinking, 'I don't have any potential, this is my maximum'.”
The thought of quitting became serious. “In the end, I was thinking about stopping racing. But when I got on the podium, everything changed, and I started to believe,” he added. A surprise podium at Donington Park became the turning point that transformed his career. Since then, he has achieved 78 WorldSBK wins and three world championships.
However, his WorldSBK success has made his MotoGP results even harder to accept. “Now it feels harder, because I've won three world titles, and last year I had an incredible season. Then when I moved here, I'm finishing 15th, 18th, 12th, my best is 11th,” he explained. “This is harder for me because I'm already a winning rider. Back in 2018, when I finished 10th or 12th, it was bad, but not like this.”
Razgatlioglu is not alone in struggling with the new Yamaha V4 in the final season of 1000cc engines and Michelin tyres. His mid-race pace has often been comparable to the best M1s, but extracting the full performance from Michelin's soft rear tyre remains his biggest problem.
“Why in the race could I do a good pace with the medium tyre? Because it's easier riding with the medium tyre, but with the soft tyre, I'm not using the real potential,” he said. “I need to learn this, because I still don't understand the limit of this tyre. This is the biggest problem.”
With seven rounds and 14 races left, Razgatlioglu is still chasing a top ten finish before returning to Pirelli tyres for the new 850cc MotoGP era. The journey is far from over, and just like in 2018, he is determined to bounce back and prove he can compete at the highest level.
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