Let’s find out how the Jerez session went for the Turkish rider that the Iwata manufacturer is holding on to: Morbidelli, whose contract expires at the end of the season, will need important tests to reconfirm himself
April 13, 2023
– jerez (spain)
The goal of Toprak Razgatlioglu in the two days of private testing in Jerez on Yamaha MotoGP it wasn’t looking for time, but riding a lot to understand the M1 and adapt to a bike that was so different from the one used in SBK. The Turkish Superbike 2021 world champion completed 116 laps in total, 53 on the final day, with a personal best of 1’38″860, improving his best round on Monday by 730 thousandths, 1″4 from the fastest lap ( 1’37″4) done by Dani Pedrosa on the KTM. TO Stefan Bradl with the official Honda RC213V the second best time 4 tenths from Pedrosa, third half a second from the leader Cal Crutchow, his support in the garage and on the track for Toprak was very useful, with the first Yamaha M1. Above 1’38” the tester Aprilia Lorenzo Savadori.
truest test
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In the Yamaha box there was a lot of work to make Razgatlioglu “understand” the M1, a very different racing car from the YZF-R1 used in SBK, and to adapt it also to the personal physical characteristics of the Turkish rider, certainly not a jockey, with his 185cm tall and a slim build Valentino Rossi. It’s true, Razgatlioglu had already ridden on the MotoGP M1 after Aragon 2022, but it had been a truncated test, on a wet track, and therefore effectively useless. This time Yamaha, after Razgatlioglu had announced a few days earlier that he hoped to race in MotoGP from 2024, he wanted to understand whether or not the conditions were there to really think about Toprak’s leap into the premier class. Toprak’s 1’38″860 arrived (according to the rider) in… “surplace”. Taking into account the dirty track with little rubber and considering that the objective was not the time attack, taking the FP1s of the GP as a comparison 2022, Toprak would still have conquered P12 just seven tenths off the leader.
smiles in the pits
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Razgatlioglu’s comment after the test was of few words: “I spent two really good days. My goal was to complete as many laps as possible to understand the bike, rather than pushing for a fast time. I learned a lot. The M1 MotoGP requires a completely different riding style compared to the R1 WorldSBK.” Razgatlioglu didn’t make any blunders and didn’t send the team into a tailspin. Furthermore, he didn’t concentrate on the time attack: he put together lap after lap to take measurements and better interpret the M1, much more powerful and faster than the R1 (chassis, aerodynamics, brakes not even related to each other) and with very different from the Pirellis. In the end, a test summarized in the Yamaha box with one word: “constructive”. Serene atmosphere in the team with the team principal Lin Jarwis, usually tense and sparing in compliments, visibly satisfied, with a smile. Ditto the DS Massimo Meregalli, also present and happy. This test in Jerez (Aprilia, Ktm and Honda were also present, which promoted the new frame that was immediately shipped to America for the third round of the championship of the season) has particular value for Yamaha. While working to get the M1 back to winning ways, the manufacturer with the three tuning forks is also busy figuring out who will be teammate in 2024 Fabio Quartararo.
the maximum speeds
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In the previous race in Argentina, Franco Morbidelli he seemed to emerge from the slump of the last two seasons, but he’ll need much more to keep his job, as his contract expires at the end of the season. Not even the sponsor issues (Toprak is linked to Red Bull while Yamaha has a contract with Monster Energy) will have much impact if the rider is really convinced of the bike and the manufacturer is convinced of the rider. Yamaha, head-on in the development of the M1, also needs a “kick” on the rider front, a spur for Quartararo himself. Only first-second row qualifying and podium-worthy race-shows can allow Morbidelli to keep his saddle in Yamaha even after this season. Razgatlioglu is already there. How will it end? The next five races in Europe will be decisive for this too: Jerez (April 30), Le Mans (May 14), Mugello (June 11), Sachsenring (June 18), Assen (June 25). Some say Razgatlioglu isn’t ready for the move to MotoGP. The leap from a SBK bike to a MotoGP bike is never easy. It must be said that, in this case, Razgatlioglu has an advantage, at least on a technical level. The Yamaha MotoGP 4-cylinder engine (this essentially also applies to the Yamaha Sbk 4-cylinder) has a different firing order from that of the competing bikes – the cross-plane – with the limit of a lower power at the top but with the advantage of better traction control in horsepower delivery. The same thrust (theoretically higher) out of corners also allows Yamaha not to lose speed on its opponents, even on the straight. Compared to the last two seasons, Yamaha has closed the gap on top speed. Also in the last GP of Argentina, Quartararo’s Yamaha was competitive even at high speed (334.4 km/h, same speed as Luca Marini’s Ducati), against the 335.3 of Di Giannantonio’s and Zarco’s Ducatis, the 336.2 of the Ducatis of Martin, Bezzecchi, Bagnaia. More or less what had already happened the week before in Portugal, albeit with higher speeds: Quartararo (Yamaha) 346.1 km/h (again like Marini), against the top 348.3 of the Ducatis of Martin, Alex Marquez and Zarco.
ratings
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In Argentina Quartararo was “eliminated” by Nakagami, but then he made a great comeback, with top five lap times, or – analyzing the telemetry – from the podium. Tomorrow is already here, with Razgatlioglu whom Yamaha wants to hold on to for the leap to MotoGP in 2024. Razgatlioglu, an aggressive 26-year-old but with fine riding, an assault lion capable of achieving results, in the meantime could make the leap next season as “support ” by Quartararo for a year of apprenticeship and then, in the future, as a new first Yamaha guide. This time it would not be an elderly and “pumped” MotoGP rider towards Sbk but, on the contrary, a rider like Razagtlioglu, in top form and with a great desire to do well, who moves from derivatives to the premier class with great ambitions. If they’re roses they’ll bloom.
April 13, 2023 – 5:59 pm
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