Toprak Razgatlioglu’s dream: to battle Ducati rider Bulega on a Yamaha

We can only imagine what must be going through the minds of Fabio Quartararo and Toprak Razgatlioglu – both accustomed to victory – as they find themselves lower down the results tables more often this season. In qualifying at the Adriatic, the Frenchman was able to limit the damage with his outstanding pace and secure 13th on the grid for his M1, which was over 6/10 sec faster than the second-fastest Yamaha rider, Jack Miller. The Australian qualified in 18th place on the grid in the 21-rider field, Alex Rins was 20th and Razgatlioglu came last.

In the sprint, Quartararo crashed whilst battling with rookie Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) for 11th place. When the chequered flag fell, only Joan Mir (Honda) finished behind Miller, Razgatlioglu and Rins. Once again, zero points for Yamaha; once again, frustration amongst the riders. And no light at the end of the tunnel in sight.

“In the race, I managed a much better lap time than in qualifying,” said Toprak, who attributed this improvement to the use of the harder rear tyre supplied by official tyre supplier Michelin. “With it, I have more control under braking; with the soft rear tyre, it’s impossible for me to ride like that. We used the sprint race to work on set-up for the long race. In Sunday morning’s warm-up, I’ll try something different with the set-up again – perhaps my pace will be significantly better then. My qualifying was very poor, and my pace in the race wasn’t good either.”

Willkommen zum Rennwochenende in Misano

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Johann Zarco

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Fans

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Streckenposten

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Franco Morbidelli

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Francesco Bagnaia

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Diogo Moreira

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Jorge Martin

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Toprak Razgatlioglu

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Franco Morbidelli

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Raúl Fernández

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Fabio Quartararo

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Luca Marini

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Pedro Acosta

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Jack Miller

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Alex Márquez führt das Feld an

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Enea Bastianini

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Das Bike von Luca Marini

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Fermin Aldeguer

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Fabio Quartararo

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Joan Mir

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Fabio di Giannantonio

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Diogo Moreira

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Pol Espargaró

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Marc Márquez

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Qualifying - Marc Márquez, Marco Bezzecchi & Fermin Aldeguer

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Sieger Marc Márquez

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Sprint - Marco Bezzecchi, Marc Márquez & Jorge Martin

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Willkommen zum Rennwochenende in Misano

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This includes the prospect of facing his old rival Nicolo Bulega in 2027, with whom he fought intense and thrilling battles in 2024 and 2025 – and came out on top in the SBK title race on both occasions. The difference is that Bulega will be riding a factory Ducati for Team VR46, whilst Toprak is under contract with Yamaha for another season.

“If we improve for next year, then perhaps I can battle against him just as I did in Superbikes,” said Razgatlioglu, expressing his dream. “The move to MotoGP is good for him because he has the right riding style for it. Now he’s coming in and has a good package too. Next year will be all new for everyone; I hope we can adapt quickly.”