MotoGP News

Steve English Examines Toprak Razgatlioglu's Switch From Yamaha To BMW In WorldSBK

By Steve English | Mon, 22/05/2023 - 15:04

What motivates a rider? Winning championships, winning races, and making money are three big factors that go into the decision-making process. The news that Toprak Razgatlioglu will leave Yamaha at the end of this season has left more questions than answers about what motivates the Turkish star.

The paddock rumour mill in Catalunya centred on a proposed move to BMW. It’s fairly sure that there will be more than a million reasons why he chose the German manufacturer. Toprak is a unique rider in many ways. His motivation has always been to be a Superbike star, and while he has recently flirted with the prospect of a move to the MotoGP class, the chances of that are limited.

His Yamaha MotoGP test didn’t go as well as he had hoped. Arriving to Jerez to find a bike that, rumour has it, didn’t quite fit his frame left him feeling that the chips were falling against a move to the premier class. That test could have proved crucial to Toprak deciding to leave Yamaha. Having seen that the Japanese manufacturer didn’t back him to the hilt he might have felt slighted. That’s the feeling that led him to leave Kawasaki in 2019 to switch to the blue bikes.

The Suzuka decision

MotoGP/WorldSBK News Round Up: Pol Espargaro Update, Oliveira Out Of Le Mans, Acosta To MotoGP, Bautista Back For 2024

By David Emmett | Thu, 04/05/2023 - 16:10

The motorcycle racing world never stops, and in between the MotoGP test in Jerez and the start of the fourth round of WorldSBK in Barcelona, there have been a couple of interesting items of news to pop up.

On the road to recovery

Let's start with a bit of good news, though in this case, it is still quite relative. On Wednesday, Pol Espargaro posted an update on his recovery on his Instagram page, in English and Spanish. The Tech3 GasGas suffered a number of injuries when he tumbled through the gravel during practice for the opening MotoGP round of 2023, breaking his jaw, and suffering eight fractured bones, including a couple of ribs and vertebrae in his neck and back.

Busman's Holiday – What MotoGP Can Learn From WorldSBK

By David Emmett | Wed, 26/04/2023 - 17:54

For a long time, I was unable to visit my home round of the WorldSBK series. (As an immigrant, I have either 0, 1, or 2 home rounds, depending on your particular perspective or prejudice.) That was because Dorna had the irritating habit of putting the Dutch round of WorldSBK at Assen on the same weekend as the Austin round of MotoGP. Assen is 90 minutes from my house, so I can visit any time I like, but I don't get a lot of opportunities to head to Texas. So I would get on a plane to the US, and rue another lost opportunity.

Opinion: Silly Season Speculation - Finding Space For New Talent In MotoGP's Rider Logjam

By David Emmett | Mon, 10/04/2023 - 15:15

We are two races into the 2023 MotoGP season. Two races which took place under unusual circumstances – the season opener at Portimão was at a track where MotoGP had spent two days testing just a couple of weeks previously, and Argentina is a unique track where they raced in wet weather. So obviously, with the news that Toprak Razgatlioglu is to test the Yamaha MotoGP bike on Monday and Tuesday, it's time for some wild speculation about who might swap seats and who might be dumped for 2024 and beyond.

But first, a caveat. Beyond the signed contracts, this is just speculation on my part. Most of it is what I would do, based around the options on the table right now. A tiny part of it is based on drawing conclusions from talking to various people over the past year or so. Whatever you do after reading this, do not sell your belongings to bet on the outcome. Keep your money firmly in your pocket. Having said that, here we go...

What we know:

There are a few things which are set in stone, or the second best thing, set down in contracts. Contracts always have escape clauses, of course, but those are used very rarely. It is seen as an admission of failure by rider, team, or sometimes both when an escape clause is invoked. Better to sit out the extra year and invest in attracting a better rider. Contracts which are announced as one-year deals are often actually so-called one-plus-one deals, where both sides expect the renewal to be a formality, though it isn't necessarily.

When playing the game of Who Goes Where, first you have to factor in who already has a contract for next season. Of the factory MotoGP seats, 11 are already spoken for in 2024, with Franco Morbidelli the lone rider whose deal ends this season. (Hence the speculation, of course).

Toprak Razgatlioglu To Get Second Test On Yamaha MotoGP Bike - A Prelude To A Switch?

By David Emmett | Sun, 09/04/2023 - 11:28

Toprak Razgatlioglu is to have a second chance to ride the Yamaha M1 MotoGP machine. The Turkish rider is to join Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow at Jerez on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th of April to have two days on the bike.

This will be Razgatlioglu's second test aboard a Yamaha MotoGP machine, after an earlier test last year aboard the M1 at Aragon was disrupted by rain. That test gave him a taste of riding a MotoGP bike, but did not give him enough time to fully understand the different riding style a MotoGP machine requires.

It is, however, a sign that Razgatlioglu is serious about a switch to MotoGP. In an interview last week with Speedweek's Ivo Schützbach, Razgatlioglu stated a desire to race in MotoGP in 2024. "I was WorldSBK champion in 2021, now I am looking at MotoGP. Why shouldn't I try it there?" he told Speedweek.

Dorna Hires Former NBA Executive To Replace Manel Arroyo As Chief Commercial Officer

By David Emmett | Wed, 05/04/2023 - 13:05

Dorna Sports has announced that they have hired former NBA executive Dan Rossomondo to the position of Chief Commercial Officer. The American will replace Manel Arroyo, who stepped down from the post earlier this year. Rossomondo will be in charge of negotiating, managing, and growing the commercial side of the business, including broadcasting rights, sponsorship, and other commercial tie-ins.

The move is a radical break from the past for Dorna. Previously, pretty much all of the senior executive posts were held either by the original group who set up Dorna to take on the commercial rights for grand prix motorcycle racing back in 1992, or by family members. They have rarely fished outside of that talent pool for senior positions, and never outside of Spain, or even Catalonia.

Mandalika WorldSBK Round Up: Steve English On Toprak's Return, Locatelli's Rise, Racing Incidents, And Harsh Words Exchanged

By Steve English | Mon, 13/03/2023 - 23:32

Two rounds into the WorldSBK season and it already feels that the back is broken on the season. After the shortest winter in memory, some team personnel said that they had just a few days off over Christmas, it’s been a hectic time for the paddock. This week will be a rare chance to catch their breath but with tests in Aragon, Montmelo and Assen on the schedule for teams it’s clear that there’s still plenty of work to be done!

After a hard winter, Indonesia should have been a reward for much of the paddock. With the track sitting on the stunning coastline of Lombok it’s a perfect holiday destination. Good weather, nice hotels, white sand and local cuisine makes for a perfect destination. Unfortunately, that postcard image didn’t quite work out for most teams. Food poisoning seemed to affect half the paddock and the weekend became a test of endurance on and off track.

It’s been a long, hard winter and this was the culmination of that for many...

Toprak wins again

Yamaha know the challenge they are facing in 2023; a horde of fast Ducati’s that can be competitive everywhere. For Toprak Razgatlioglu that means he has to be perfect week in and week out. Australia was far from that objective for the Turkish star, and with Alvaro Bautista having claimed five wins from six races it was critical that Toprak would win at least one race in Indonesia.

Phillip Island WorldSBK Round Up: Steve English On How The Five Superbike Factories Fared

By Steve English | Wed, 01/03/2023 - 23:04

A hat-trick of wins for Alvaro Bautista, two Sunday podiums for Michael Ruben Rinaldi and even a double race win in the Supersport class meant that Australia was absolutely perfect for Ducati. With his likely title rivals faltering it was even better for Bautista. Steve English looks back on Round 1 of the Superbike World Championship

Perfect weekend for Bautista and Ducati

Stop the presses: Ducati are a juggernaut! It’s hardly news that Ducati, winners of both MotoGP and WorldSBK titles in 2022, are strong. It was perhaps a little bit startling to see just how strong they were in Phillip Island for the opening round of the Superbike season though. With four bikes inside the top five, they were able to take advantage of Kawasaki’s stuttering start to the campaign and a crash for Toprak Razgatlioglu but even so it was a perfect start to the campaign for them.

With Axel Bassani and Philipp Oettl finishing fourth and fifth in Sunday’s 22 lap finale it was clear just how good the Panigale V4R was working in Australia. It was also likely that Alvaro Bautista would claim a hat-trick of race wins at Round 1 and that Michael Ruben Rinaldi would make progress and be strong, but Bassani and Oettl’s Sundays were very newsworthy.

2023 WorldSBK Calendar Expands To 12 Rounds As Imola Added In Mid-July

By David Emmett | Tue, 28/02/2023 - 12:07

The WorldSBK series has filled in the blank left on last year's provisional calendar. The round which was previously marked TBA (to be announced) has been assigned to the iconic Imola circuit, between Bologna and Misano.

The announcement had been expected, with talk inside the WorldSBK paddock being that Imola would be the extra race. Finalizing the round had taken longer than expected, however. The World Superbike, World Supersport, and WorldSSP300 series will compete in Italy.

This brings the full WorldSBK season up to 12 rounds, starting in Phillip Island and Mandalika and ending in Argentina in mid-October.

The press release from the WorldSBK series appears below:

2023 calendar update: WorldSBK returns to Imola for the first time since 2019