Toprak Razgatlioglu’s move to MotoGP is “an excitement”, but he will not get “help” from his machinery in his maiden season, the Spaniard thinks.

Razgatlioglu won his third WorldSBK title this year, and is only the third rider in the championship’s history to win titles on two different brands (Yamaha, BMW; James Toseland won with Ducati and Honda, and Troy Bayliss with Ducati and Suzuki). 

He’s won 38 races in the past two seasons and 78 in total, putting him second on the all-time list behind only Jonathan Rea.

But he arrives in MotoGP with the Pramac Yamaha team in a moment where the Japanese brand is struggling. It achieved only one MotoGP podium in 2025 (Fabio Quartararo at Jerez), and is winless since the 2022 German Grand Prix.

For three-time MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, Razgatlioglu’s move is “exciting”, but he will struggle to show his potential in 2026.

“It’s an excitement, an exciting thing, Toprak [Razgatlioglu] in MotoGP,” Jorge Lorenzo told the MotoGP world feed broadcast during the Valencia test on 18 November.

“We are all waiting for him to understand in the first year how he will do. 

Lorenzo added: “Toprak can be one of the best Superbike riders in history, his technique is unbelievable, especially the front brake.

“But I think neither the tyres, neither the Yamaha will help him to show immediately his level.

“Yamaha is very rigid, is very for corner speed.

“Maybe in 2027 with Pirelli, with one year of experience of Toprak, it will be his year. Maybe he will fight for top-five, even a podium, in some races, but not during the [2026 season] he will be there in the front. I don’t believe so.”