Toprak tops the tables in WSB
Yamaha ace scores double win in the same week he turned down MotoGP
‘I’ll think about MotoGP after I win WSB’
It felt like all of the pages had been viciously torn out of the World Superbike form book at onington Park last weekend as Yamaha superstar Toprak Razgatlioglu won both long races and seized the series lead after pressuring Jonathan Rea into a crash. Having just turned down a MotoGP opportunity in favour of WSB, the Turk’s laidback attitude around the paddock was almost as impressive as his riding. uite possibly the most naturally gifted rider WSB has seen, Toprak is still some way from reaching his peak as proven by his struggles to adapt to a wet track during Superpole on Saturday. This left him 13th on the grid, making his opening two laps of Race 1 even more amazing as he shot to the front in just two and a half minutes, mastering the Craner Curves’ narrow dry line better than anybody in a magnificent display of poise, feel, confidence and racecraft.
It’s been clear Toprak could become World Superbike Champion ever since his crushing defeat of the opposition in European Superstock 00 in 2015. Even before then his talent was evident in the previous year’s Red Bull Rookies Cup, although the prot g of five-time World Supersport Champion Kenan Sofuoglu often recalls how he didn’t enjoy the media scrutiny, tight schedules and sometimes pompous atmosphere in the MotoGP paddock. This was one of his reasons for turning down a GP ride, mixed into a cocktail of politics, commercialism and personal allegiances. Sofuoglu has a multi-million euro deal with Red Bull and so when Petronas Yamaha a Monster Energy team came knocking to replace the injured Morbidelli at Assen two weeks ago, things got complicated. ne option was a compromise of running no logos from either of the energy drink companies on either rider or machine but an agreement could not be struck and so the idea fell through completely. Toprak is very happy with life in WSB and his potentially far greater financial rewards than with a satellite GP outfit, although he does acknowledge MotoGP is the pinnacle and that the opportunity might not return. But what about the moral dilemma Is it worth compromising his relationship with Red Bull, Sofuoglu and the Turkish President just to ride in MotoGP The gamble would be a huge one for Toprak whose entire life has turned around thanks to Sofuoglu, not least after his stunt riding father Tek Teker ne Wheel Arif Razgatlioglu, a huge celebrity in Turkey, was tragically killed in a 2017 road accident.
“I’ve always said I’ll think about MotoGP after I win WSB but we’ll see,” Toprak told MCN after signing a fresh two-year deal with Pata Yamaha. “People say the MotoGP chance only comes once. I don’t pay attention to what people think. People talk but they don’t understand. They just talk.” Asked specifically how he felt following his onington double, Razgatlioglu smiles: “I feel normal.”
You know a rider is special when out-of-the-ordinary things happen. Some say factions within Kawasaki, for whom he rode in 201 , wanted him out so as to not pose a threat to Jonathan Rea. It meant Toprak accepted an offer from Yamaha despite cynics saying his style wouldn’t suit the R1. Like all the greats, he adapted his style to the bike. Now he’s leading on a Yamaha. And that is an extraordinary turnaround.