Toprak Razgatlioglu enjoyed a productive two-day test of Yamaha’s MotoGP machine at the Jerez circuit across Monday and Tuesday, the Turk lapping only 0.7s away from Yamaha tester Cal Crutchlow.
Razgatlioglu was able to utilise the good conditions that graced the two day Spanish test to complete a total of around 100 laps of the 4.4 kilometre venue, with a reported best effort of 1:38.860s leaving him only 0.7s down on Crutchlow and 1.4s adrift of test leader Dani Pedrosa on his factory KTM.
The 2021 World Superbike champion enthused that he had experienced “two really good days” running the 2023-specification M1, admitting that he focussed on running a consistent pace and learning the bike rather than “pushing for a fast lap time” as he looks to try and secure a move into the premier class for 2024 with the Japanese marque.
Both Yamaha Racing Managing Director Lin Jarvis as well as Yamaha MotoGP Team Manager Massimo Meregalli were on hand to observe Razgatlioglu’s progress, with Jarvis left impressed with how he was able to change his riding style to better suit the higher corner speeds needed to get the best out of a premier class prototype compared to the more stop/start nature of his WSBK R1 bike.
“The cooperation between Cal (Crutchlow) and Toprak (Razgatlioglu) worked very well,” Jarvis told Speedweek.
“I think Toprak enjoyed the time with us, it was two interesting and good days for him, and he was able to get used to the bike much better in Jerez and get a better idea of what MotoGP demands of the riding style.
“Toprak is usually very strong on the brakes, he brakes very late and then fires the bike out of corners.
“MotoGP demands more corner speed so he had to change his riding style to get the most out of the bike.
“Toprak can now process these impressions for a few days before he will compete in the superbike event in Assen the weekend after next.”
No further testing opportunities have yet been communicated by Yamaha, with further outings potentially hinging on the form of current MotoGP race rider Franco Morbidelli and whether the manufacturer feels it needs to move on from the Italian should he fail to build on his encouraging showing in Argentina two weeks ago.
