Toprak does it for John Denning
Crescent team mourns company founder as champion scores Aragon podiums
For the second year in succession, Yamaha put on a much-improved showing at Aragon. In 2020, no fewer than six races were staged at MotorLand which, as a bogey circuit for Yamaha, seriously affected their season. Last year, a huge improvement saw Toprak Razgatlioglu seize a podium. Last weekend, the World Champion kick-started 2022 with a trio of third places and some spirited squabbles with Alvaro Bautista, Jonathan Rea and Michael Rinaldi.
With Bautista and Rea already on race-winning form, it’s only a matter of time before Razgatlioglu follows suit despite this having been the first time in three years that the reigning
Champion hasn’t won at Round 1. Tradition was maintained in the sense that, compared to their rivals, the Yamahas struggled in the sweeping corners as well as accelerating onto the back straight.
But the forward-thinking Turk was playing the long game.
“Everybody is fighting for good points,” Razgatlioglu commented. “I could see Rinaldi pushing the tyre and it started to drop, so I pushed harder. Mine was going off too – I could feel it spinning over the last laps. We have tried for a good race setup in every session across the weekend – and we finally found it. Three podiums isn’t bad here!”
Andrea Locatelli managed two fifth places and a rare crash while Garrett Gerloff rued his poor qualifying, the American explaining: “The level of the field is so high that being caught in traffic is a problem – especially on our weakest circuit. The Yamaha is the perfect bike for Assen, so I’m excited for that next time.”
Razgatlioglu’s three rostrums, plus pole position in qualifying, would have been applauded by John Denning. The 81-year-old founder of the modern-day version of Crescent Motorcycles, the organisation running PATA Yamaha, passed away following a short illness on the weekend preceding Aragon.
He will be sorely missed.
‘I could feel the tyre spinning on the last laps’ TOPRAK RAZGATLIOGLU