Toprak Razgatlioglu's Sepang MotoGP Test: A Glum Review
MotoGP rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu's first pre-season test on the Yamaha bike ended with a glum assessment. He admitted he'll likely struggle in the initial five races, despite his three-time World Superbike champion status. The test at Sepang circuit was a challenging one, with engine issues causing Yamaha to bench its riders on Wednesday for safety reasons. However, they resumed the test on Thursday with a more cautious approach.
Toprak Razgatlioglu finished the test in 19th place with a time of 1m58.326s, compared to the pacesetter Alex Marquez's 1m56.402s. The main challenge for the Turkish rider was adapting his riding style to MotoGP machinery, which has proven difficult. Razgatlioglu's motivation has dipped as a result, as he finds it hard to see himself in such a low position in the standings, especially after his Superbikes success.
He shared his thoughts on Thursday, stating, 'It's not easy for me to see myself so low in the standings, especially after my time in Superbikes.' He added, 'I followed Alex Marquez this morning and saw him riding very smoothly, but I can't do that. I'll probably struggle in the first five races.'
Razgatlioglu plans to change his suspension set-up to address his turning issues, as he believes he needs help in that area. He explained, 'I've been focused on riding, but I think I'll change the suspension set-up, because I need help turning. I'm riding as always, but the timings aren't right, and that obviously makes my motivation drop.'
The rider also noted the difficulty of riding the bike with the throttle, stating, 'With this bike, you can't turn with the throttle. You have to ride it like a Moto2 bike. That's what Jack [Miller] tells me, but it's very easy to say and not so easy to do.'
Despite his struggles, Razgatlioglu is improving under braking and is working on understanding tire wear. He spent a significant portion of the test riding without the rear wings due to the seat unit's height restrictions. However, he felt better under braking when he used a different seat with the wings attached on the final day of the test.
