TOPRAK RAZGATLIOGLU SAYS HIS YAMAHA FEELS LIKE A RENTAL BIKE ON MISANO SOFT TYRES

Pramac Yamaha rider Toprak Razgatlioglu admitted that his Misano MotoGP weekend has been defined by a frustrating mismatch between the bike and the soft tyre, describing the sensation as if he were “riding a rental bike.” Speaking on Friday at the San Marino Grand Prix, the three-time World Superbike champion said that while he felt comfortable on the medium compound, the moment he switched to soft rubber the Yamaha stopped behaving the way he expected.

Razgatlioglu explained that his first soft-tyre runs immediately surprised him. “When I try the first soft tyre, I'm surprised because it looks like it's not my bike,” he said. He added: “It looks like I'm riding a rental bike. And I try to ride, try to adapt to this tyre style, because the bike is not stopping; it’s just going wide.”

In his view, the core issue was not simply grip but the bike’s ability to slow and rotate into corners. “The biggest problem is the bike not stopping,” he continued. “When I'm not stopping, I'm not able to turn the corner, I’m just stopping more, and I'm riding like a superbike style because the bike is not stopping with the soft tyre.” He also pointed to how he was forced to change his tyre usage and line selection. “We are pushing the front, and also I'm not using the rear tyre.”

Razgatlioglu said that with the soft tyre he could not follow his normal routine through the corners. “Normally with soft tyre you are always using the exit, but I'm not able to enter the corner. I'm just losing the line. And on exit, it doesn't change.”

The Turkish rider suggested that the team is still working to understand why the behaviour is so different from what he associates with soft tyres. “We are talking with the team. We don't know this problem. Why? Because we try to improve,” he said. He acknowledged that there were signs of improvement elsewhere—“now it looks like we have more grip here. This is good”—but insisted the fundamental problem remained. “But the problem is the bike not stopping.”

Misano was expected to be a stronger outing for Razgatlioglu because of his experience at the circuit. However, his pace on Friday and Saturday did not match those expectations. On Friday he was 0.5s slower than Pramac team-mate Jack Miller, and in qualifying he ended up more than 0.7s behind Yamaha stablemate Alex Rins, finishing at the back of the field.

Despite the difficulties, Razgatlioglu said he arrived with motivation and a positive mindset, noting that his season’s first best free-practice one performance had given him confidence. “I'm really surprised, because I have a good motivation, because the first time this season I did the best FP1, and I'm very positive this time,” he said. He also described how he felt good overall, even if some corners still needed work to unlock a better lap time.

He highlighted a specific expectation versus reality when it came to tyre performance. “I feel really good. But just some corners I need to improve for the good lap time, because with medium tyre today, at the end of the session I did my best lap,” he explained. Razgatlioglu said that his best time came on used tyres, and that the soft compound did not deliver the improvement he expected. “I did this lap time with used tyres. Normally, when I put the soft tyre I'm expecting 1m31s. But in the end I see only 32.0. That is very strange. I don't understand anything.”

With the team still searching for answers and the soft tyre continuing to make the bike feel unstable in braking and corner entry, Razgatlioglu’s Misano challenge has become a question of finding a setup and feel that allows the Yamaha to “stop” properly—so he can turn, hold his line, and translate the grip he senses into consistent lap-time gains.