Pramac Yamaha MotoGP rider Toprak Razgatlioglu admits he doesn’t “trust” the Michelin front tyre yet and thinks he needs “to crash to understand the limit” more.
The three-time World Superbike champion will make his MotoGP race debut this weekend when the 2026 season begins at the Thai Grand Prix.
But he comes into it still with a mountain to scale in his understanding of Yamaha MotoGP machinery, following a tough pre-season phase.
Toprak Razgatlioglu ended last weekend’s Buriram test second-to-last and over two seconds off the pace.
Following Jack Miller reveals Razgatlioglu’s big limitation
During the Buriram test, Razgatlioglu took the opportunity to follow Pramac team-mate Jack Miller to try to understand where he is losing out.
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The Turkish rider says his biggest issue right now is a lack of trust in the front tyre, as he isn’t able to lean on it as much as the others can.
“When I was following Jack, I was surprised, because I was losing a lot in the first corner, the first sector in general,” he explained.
“I’m always riding a little bit more calm, I don’t trust the front tyre.
“On braking it’s ok, but when I lean, I don’t know the limit. When I saw Jack at the first corner, he’s leaning a lot.
“Firstly, I’m waiting for his crash, and after when I see he’s turning I’m also surprised.
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“I’m pushing my best, I did a 1m30.7s, but I’m still surprised. Normally, I’m riding more calm in that corner, also in other corners I’m doing a similar thing.”
Razgatlioglu added that he is yet to crash, and maybe he needs to in order to better understand the limits of the front tyre.
“I’m always thinking corner by corner, trying to do my best, but the lap time is not coming and always I’m getting sad,” he said.
“But I know this because when I moved to MotoGP I understood very clearly that the tyres and the bike will be very different, and I need to adapt to this.
“But still I’m not really adapted, especially with the front tyre.
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“On the brakes, I can do hard braking, but when I am leaning, I don’t really trust the front tyre because the other riders lean completely and the bike turns, while I’m leaning and just waiting because I’m already waiting to lose the front tyre.
“Still, I haven’t crashed, but maybe I need to crash to understand the limit.”
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