On one fateful day, June 10, 2025, news finally broke that would mark one of the most incredible switches in MotoGP history.
After years of what-ifs and maybes, the door was finally opened: three-time WorldSBK champion Toprak Razgatlioglu will move to the premier class in 2026, representing Pramac Yamaha on a two-year contract.
In the past, the MotoGP and WorldSBK paddocks have worked relatively in tandem. Despite the obvious differences in specifications and regulations, both series have seen multiple riders move between them, stepping across paddocks to try either a brand-new prototype or a production-based bike.
But the switch from WorldSBK to MotoGP presents an entirely different challenge than moving from MotoGP to WorldSBK. Not only do riders who climb the promotional ladder through Moto3 and Moto2 have an advantage, but MotoGP bikes also feature a lighter chassis, very different electronics, and an overall riding feel that makes the transition a tough test.
Riders such as double WorldSBK champions James Toseland and Colin Edwards made the switch, though not to reach the top step of the podium. However, three-time champion Troy Bayliss and fellow Australian Chris Vermeulen both managed to secure MotoGP victories. By far the most successful rider, though, was Coventry’s Cal Crutchlow, who won three races and claimed multiple podiums.
But there is a different sense in the air with Razgatlioglu’s arrival for the forthcoming season. Statistically, there has never been a greater talent to enter MotoGP. Three WorldSBK titles, one of only four riders to achieve the feat, plus 78 wins and 173 podiums from 258 starts.
The Turkish superstar elevated the production-based series throughout the 2020s, after ending Jonathan Rea’s six consecutive Superbike titles in 2021, before going wheel-to-wheel with Alvaro Bautista in 2022 and 2023, before bringing BMW its first two-wheeled title in 2024 and replicating it in 2025.
The stats speak for themselves, and those achievements have reached a new level over the past few years. The switch to MotoGP was arguably being considered earlier, as he tested the Yamaha M1 in 2022 at Aragon, followed by a more extensive test at Jerez in 2023.
However, these tests did not lead to a MotoGP ride in 2023 or 2024, as Yamaha team boss Lin Jarvis was not particularly impressed by the results. Jarvis even stated, “We should have offered Toprak the place in the MotoGP factory team in July 2021.” Although Razgatlioglu wanted to win in WorldSBK first, his move to MotoGP had looked uncertain.
What seemed like the end of a possible MotoGP switch came in May 2023, shortly after his Jerez test, when Razgatlioglu made a career move that surprised many. He chose to leave Yamaha in favour of Bavarian marque BMW for 2024, a team that had never enjoyed consistent success. BMW’s 2023 season had been particularly dismal, with none of its four riders, Garrett Gerloff, Scott Redding, Loris Baz, or Michael van der Mark, earning a single podium.
In a move comparable to Valentino Rossi switching from Honda to the less competitive Yamaha in his pomp, the Turkish rider made a decision that paid off in the Superbike World Championship.
“I say if I stay in WorldSBK, I need a new challenge,” he said when he signed for BMW.
“This is good motivation for me, I’m feeling more than 100% motivated. First, I am happy I have signed with a new team.
“I see people say, ‘this is not a winning bike, this is not easy’. This motivates me more because I listen to some people, and I feel more motivated now because now my dream is that, after the first win, I can just ride.
“It’s possible this is a winning bike. It’s a big dream for me and a big new challenge.”
He went on to dominate, winning 39 races and claiming 59 podiums from 66 starts, securing back-to-back titles. Razgatlioglu’s latest endeavour proved his greatness beyond the Yamaha brand, winning on a new bike and consistently breaking records on a machine that was clearly inferior to the dominant Ducati Panigale.
Simply put, his stocks have never been higher, and a large reason for the MotoGP opportunity was down to Jarvis’ replacement, Paolo Pavesio. Pavesio’s new role as managing director of Yamaha Motor Racing began on 1st January 2025, and the Japanese marque now has four bikes on the grid after Pramac signed on as its satellite but factory-supplied team. Pavesio believed in Razgatlioglu’s capabilities, having played a key part in its WorldSBK and European motorsport strategy.
“We wanted to give Toprak this opportunity,” Pavesio said when he secured the Turkish rider’s signature.
“We believe in his qualities, and we want there to be more and more internal cooperation in Yamaha between MotoGP, Superbike and beyond.
“In my opinion, he deserved to show his talent, since we have seen him in the box for several years and we know what he is capable of doing.
“It is unrealistic to think about winning. The most important thing is his growth path, aiming to take one step at a time and adapt faster and faster to the M1.
“He will not have to be in a hurry; that is the key thing.”
But switching from Yamaha to BMW in WorldSBK, and then from BMW back to Yamaha in MotoGP, is a completely different project altogether. As already mentioned, Razgatlioglu will be on a two-year deal covering the 2026 and 2027 seasons. Realistically, the move offers plenty of opportunity to familiarise himself with the Japanese marque. He will contest a maximum of 44 race weekends, providing 88 starts once Sprint races are factored in.
At face value, that is ample time to adjust and adapt. On top of that, Yamaha’s position in the concessions’ rankings should not be overlooked. But he joins a Yamaha team that is facing a crisis. Despite four riders, the 2025 season saw one podium finish, thanks to Fabio Quartararo’s singular rostrum appearance in Jerez. The Frenchman shone with five pole positions and claimed more than double the points of the nearest Yamaha rider, Jack Miller.
In a way, 2026 could be seen as a wasted year to make the move because 2027 presents an entirely new picture for the sport in general. The 2027 regulations will see the abolishment of the rear height device, smaller engine sizes from 1000cc to 850cc, stricter aero rules and the introduction of Pirelli tyres. Aside from himself and a couple of other riders, the overhaul in regulations opens an entirely different picture of how the grid could shake up both in competitive machinery and who’s on the bike itself.
Its D-category status allows for additional test tyres, increased private testing opportunities, and the freedom to change engines at any point during the season. Provided he stays fit and keeps it on track — a notable strength given his low crash rate in recent years — the Alanya-born star will have no shortage of opportunities to adapt.
But with Yamaha turning a corner on its V4 engine project, which is unlikely to perform at its maximum levels at the start of the 2026 season, Razgatlioglu’s results may be limited. On the flip side, he will be invaluable for the 2027 season by helping Yamaha throughout 2026 as the Iwata team develops its new 2027 bikes.
He has extensive experience with Pirelli tyres from his WorldSBK career, which could be very useful in laying the groundwork for the bike. No team can gather essential data without understanding the tyres, that is, simple bike talk. For now, however, he will likely have to settle for results well below what he has been used to in previous years.
As former WorldSBK champion and TNT Sports pundit Neil Hodgson shared, it could be seen as a damper that the 29-year-old, in the prime of his career, is moving to the worst bike on the grid. He stated: “Sitting here now, he has signed for the wrong manufacturer, because as 2025 has ended, Yamaha are in a little bit of turmoil,” said Hodgson on TNT Sports’ The Breakdown.
“They are developing the new V4 bike, but it’s not where it needs to be and is not as good as the Yamaha hoped it would be. Toprak has that to deal with, and his key strength is his superpower into the braking zone.
“It’s the first part of it where he has this incredible talent to be really aggressive on the brake, almost going from flat out no brake to full brake, and he can control that period. If you do that with a Michelin front slick on a MotoGP bike, it will lock and you will faceplant.
“He needs to learn that, and he knows that, but it is his No.1 strength and you are going to take that away from him, and he’s on a Yamaha. We want him to be good, but it’s a building year for him to understand, learn the tracks and MotoGP in general.
“People that know much better than me have said he is so talented and really adaptable and will figure it out.”
As two-time WorldSBK champion and TNT commentator James Toseland, who has followed Razgatlioglu’s rise through the paddock, points out, there is a lot the rider will have to learn immediately once he hits the tracks.
“It’s 10 circuits that Toprak is going to go to and that he’s never been before,” said Toseland.
“Those 45-minute practice sessions go like that [clicks fingers]. To get up to speed with the likes of Marc Marquez, who’s been on those tracks for the last 15 years, and the rest of the field, multiple world champions that they’ve grown up on, is a very, very difficult job.
“He deserves to go to MotoGP. He’s outgrown this paddock, he’s developed his skills such that he needs to be in the elite class and on the elite bikes. His skills as a rider are above production-level right now, and he needs to be tested on the best bikes in the world.”
These factors are all extremely valid, but MotoGP benefits from having a rider who is essentially the equivalent of Valentino Rossi and Marc Márquez from his homeland, Turkey. His rise to superstardom brings a whole new audience for MotoGP, which plays into the hands of newly acquired owners Liberty Media. It’s a clear new audience and adds a new dynamic to the premier class, and he becomes the first Turkish rider to make the move.
MotoGP’s newest superstar will have all eyes on him as he makes the biggest move of his career so far. Now it’s time to see how he copes with the adaptation.
Discussion about this post