Reigning FIM Superbike World Champion Toprak Razgatlıoğlu completed his first-ever outing on the Yamaha YZR-M1 during a one-day private MotoGP test at the MotorLand Aragón circuit today.
After taking his first WorldSBK victory of the 2022 campaign at Misano, the Turkish rider switched from his Yamaha R1 to the YZR-M1, riding 40 laps of the Teruel venue in sweltering conditions. The long straight between Turns 15 and 16, together with a combination of fast turns and slower sections around the 5.078 km MotorLand Aragón circuit, allowed Razgatlıoğlu to experience all aspects of the Yamaha YZR-M1’s performance.
The 25-year-old began the day with a 12-lap run to build up an understanding of the bike and the Michelin tyres, completing shorter runs thereafter, as the Yamaha MotoGP Test Team made set-up adjustments to the bike based on Razgatlıoğlu’s feedback and analysis of the data.
On hand to help Razgatlıoğlu gain confidence and speed on the Yamaha YZR-M1 was Yamaha MotoGP Test Rider Cal Crutchlow, whose lap times the 2021 WorldSBK champion used as a benchmark during the test.
Unfortunately, the test was cut short due to a heavy rain shower ahead of the late afternoon session, which didn’t allow Razgatlıoğlu the chance to further improve on his promising early pace.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu
“This was my first day on the Yamaha M1 MotoGP bike and it felt completely different to my R1. More horsepower, different electronics, seamless gearbox, all of which is completely new for me. With every lap I learned more, because after the world superbike it’s not so easy to adapt to the MotoGP machine. Fortunately, I had Cal Crutchlow on hand to offer advice and he was able to help me a lot. The bike feels good, especially on the straight where it’s very fast, and it was interesting to experience the carbon brakes. The conditions were really hot today, so we stuck to doing five or six lap runs only after the initial run of 12 laps to get a first feeling for the bike. When I watch the MotoGP bikes on television here at Aragon you can see it is a bit bumpy, and I can feel it here today. It’s not so bad, you have to keep the gas open to ride through the bumps, because if you close then it becomes more unstable. Overall, a very positive test, even if it was cut short by rain this afternoon, which meant I didn’t get quite as many laps in as I’d have liked. I really enjoyed riding the MotoGP bike, so many thanks to Yamaha for allowing me this opportunity.”
