Toprak Razgatlioglu’s supervisor Kenan Sofuoglu says “there are groups that need” the Turkish rider in MotoGP subsequent yr, regardless of holding a BMW World Superbike deal to the top of 2025.
The 2025 MotoGP rider market has kicked into life in latest weeks, following Ducati’s bombshell announcement that it could be bringing Marc Marquez into its manufacturing unit workforce.
That begun a sequence response of strikes, beginning with Jorge Martin signing for Aprilia, and has been adopted with Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini penning KTM offers, whereas Marco Bezzecchi additionally strikes to Aprilia.
Elsewhere, it seems possible 2020 world champion Joan Mir will stick with Honda for 2 extra years – as per Autosport reports – and Pramac appears to be edging ever nearer to a Yamaha transfer in 2025.
Within the coming weeks, a lot of the 2025 grid will possible have fallen into place. So, the place does Razgatlioglu match into the equation?
He has simply been WSBK’s greatest draw lately, lastly ending Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki’s stranglehold on the collection in 2021 when he denied the Ulsterman a seventh successive title.
Aligned with Yamaha on the time, rumblings persevered of Razgatlioglu shifting to MotoGP with the Japanese producer.
Toprak Razgatlioglu, BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Group
Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Razgatlioglu examined the M1 at Jerez early final yr and was round a second off the tempo of Yamaha’s check rider Cal Crutchlow on the Spanish Grand Prix venue. It was a major sufficient check for Yamaha’s high brass to be in attendance, however the underwhelming lap occasions – albeit with little time to adapt to the bike – solid some doubts.
Hopes of a 2024 MotoGP transfer had been all however ended when Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis advised the media in Austin final April that, with the marque unlikely to have a satellite tv for pc squad for the next season, it couldn’t change an skilled hand in Franco Morbidelli with a rookie in Razgatlioglu.
In Could of that yr, Razgatlioglu signed a cope with BMW in WSBK, saying on the time: “Whereas there was a chance in MotoGP, I didn’t really feel the identical reference to the MotoGP bike that I’ve with the Superbike.”
Now, in June of 2024, Razgatlioglu’s title has develop into hooked up to MotoGP once more.
“We’ve a two-year cope with BMW and every thing goes very nicely,” his supervisor Sofuoglu advised Autosport’s OTT platform Motorsport.tv. “It is going so nicely that Toprak has began to have critical desires about MotoGP. Toprak’s sturdy efficiency is attracting plenty of curiosity from the MotoGP groups.
“With these two components mixed, Toprak began to say ‘I would like MotoGP now’. The groups additionally need Toprak. Up to now every thing is nice.
“However we’ve got to respect our settlement with BMW. In my conferences with BMW, I advised them that Toprak needs to go to MotoGP after the work he has finished.
“BMW has not but given us a transparent reply. If BMW involves us and says ‘we need to preserve Toprak, we are going to honour our settlement’, we are going to respect that. I do not need to clarify the phrases of the settlement an excessive amount of, we’ve got the chance to depart.
Toprak Razgatlioglu, Pata Yamaha WorldSBK, Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing Group WSBK
Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“Nevertheless, we’ve got by no means been within the mode of ‘let’s break the settlement, let’s go some place else or do different issues’ in any settlement we’ve got made. So if BMW says ‘OK Toprak, we won’t stop you, if you wish to go to MotoGP, you’ll be able to go subsequent yr’, then we are able to go to MotoGP.”
Sofuoglu went on to say that “there are groups that need Toprak. There have been negotiations”.
In latest weeks, Honda has been rumoured to have made a suggestion. That appears unlikely to come back to cross now it has agreed a brand new two-year contract with Mir, whereas Luca Marini and Johann Zarco have already got offers for 2025.
Honda may change course with the second LCR seat, particularly arrange for a Japanese rider, although this has been unshakeably in place since 2018. And at this stage, swapping out Takaaki Nakagami for Razgatlioglu makes little sense for a marque in a rebuilding part.
Razgatlioglu confirmed to Autosport that Yamaha is a producer with which negotiations have been held with. It’s but to announce Fabio Quartararo’s team-mate for subsequent yr on the manufacturing unit squad, although for a lot the identical causes as Honda, Yamaha changing a confirmed grand prix winner in Alex Rins for a rider outdoors of the MotoGP ecosystem doesn’t appear logical.
Ought to Pramac certainly develop into a Yamaha satellite tv for pc accomplice, having a giant title like Razgatlioglu in its workforce colors would reduce the blow of shedding championship chief Jorge Martin and the possibility to struggle for titles subsequent yr leaving Ducati will definitely deliver within the short-term.
Razgatlioglu, understandably, is eager for a MotoGP transfer to occur sooner relatively than later. At 27, whereas not {old} by any stretch of the creativeness, the window is closing for him to make the step over.
With time, there’s little doubt that Razgatlioglu may grow to be a robust grand prix racer. However the stage is such in MotoGP now that point just isn’t one thing any contemporary rider has anymore, not least one with the burden of expectation on their shoulders.
Toprak Razgatlioglu, BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Group
Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Razgatlioglu’s talent on a Superbike has created many spotlight reels throughout his time in WSBK, and he’s now doing one thing that may solely be a superb factor for that collection in the long term.
The Rea/Kawasaki domination years, whereas having sturdy moments, did drag after some time. Ducati’s conquests of the title within the final two years (with Razgatlioglu runner-up on the Yamaha) have gone hand in hand with its domination in MotoGP, the Italian marque annexing trophies on the highest stage. That deserves immense credit score, however competitors is one thing any racing fan craves.
And WSBK this yr has had that in spades. Razgatlioglu at present leads the standings by 21 factors after 4 rounds and 6 race wins, doing so on a BMW package deal that has struggled for numerous years in quite a few high fingers to be anyplace close to as aggressive because the Turkish rider is exhibiting it to be.
MotoGP is having fun with its personal purple patch in 2024. Wanting past this, it’s arduous to see a case the place MotoGP wants Razgatlioglu greater than he needs it.