Toprak

Disclaimer : when we all creamed our pants about stoner I said put Rea on a duc/yam/kawa and he dominates the field in likewise manner(09 to 13). So I am probably not that objective.

I do believe, bad reliability aside, that the r1 is the bike to be on, just like the duc in past seasons. I also believe that the Kawasaki team has the best rider lineup and thete would be no reason to believe Toprak is lying when praising the yamaha over the ninja.
That being said, as high as I rate Rea, Toprak IS the real deal. This is the best sbk feud I ever watched and I do hope we see more of that for years to come.
Could Toprak and Johnny be motogp top 10 material? No doubt. But I'm very happily looking forward to a few more seasons for the ages. I love these dudes and hope they end up as teammates

He will be useless just like his mentor.

JPSLotus said:

Everyone is excited about the various prospects in the lower classes of GP, but I think the next great rider coming to GP is Toprak Razgatlioglu. Jonathan Rea is no longer the dominant force he was thanks to Toprak this season. If he winds up winning the WSBK crown, how long before Yamaha decides they want to move him to the premier class? He's the real deal from what I can tell, and I actually rate him higher than more than 50% of the current GP grid.

Do you think we will see him eventually come to GP in the next couple of seasons?

What would your expectations be out of him on a MotoGP bike?

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The thing that has me questioning how good he would do is the fact that Baz came in and took podiums all weekend after not setting the world on fire in the US. He might be good but I will believe it when I see it. Again Baz was all that good in motogp and for him to come in for one weekend and compete doesn't help the cause for Toprak. I think he deserves a shot though.

evo9 said:

He will be useless just like his mentor.

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This made me laugh.

JPSLotus said:

Everyone is excited about the various prospects in the lower classes of GP, but I think the next great rider coming to GP is Toprak Razgatlioglu. Jonathan Rea is no longer the dominant force he was thanks to Toprak this season. If he winds up winning the WSBK crown, how long before Yamaha decides they want to move him to the premier class? He's the real deal from what I can tell, and I actually rate him higher than more than 50% of the current GP grid.

Do you think we will see him eventually come to GP in the next couple of seasons?

What would your expectations be out of him on a MotoGP bike?

Click to expand...

He signed for 2 more years in WSBK so if he fulfills that commitment, he'll be 26/27. Maybe not too late to make the jump but he should do it now....if he wants to and if he is offered a ride.

evo9 said:

He will be useless just like his mentor.

Click to expand...

:lol:


Maybe, but he's already out shined Sofuoglu when it comes to SBK.

propagandhi said:

Disclaimer : when we all creamed our pants about stoner I said put Rea on a duc/yam/kawa and he dominates the field in likewise manner(09 to 13). So I am probably not that objective.

I do believe, bad reliability aside, that the r1 is the bike to be on, just like the duc in past seasons. I also believe that the Kawasaki team has the best rider lineup and thete would be no reason to believe Toprak is lying when praising the yamaha over the ninja.
That being said, as high as I rate Rea, Toprak IS the real deal. This is the best sbk feud I ever watched and I do hope we see more of that for years to come.
Could Toprak and Johnny be motogp top 10 material? No doubt. But I'm very happily looking forward to a few more seasons for the ages. I love these dudes and hope they end up as teammates

Click to expand...

I have been following him in WSBK this year and am impressed as well. Not many mistakes either.

Different than his mentor who could dominate Supersport but failed in WSBK, and was also fairly crazy imo; I can remember Jumkie suggesting they take him away in a padded van after one particularly egregious incident.

Toprak is certainly hot property at the moment and whilst I haven't caught all of the races, I have to say that its been entertaining to see his title fight this year. Apparently all of his DNF's have been mechanical issues or from stuff out of his control. I can only imagine that consistency and competitiveness would be very attractive to race teams.

Its also been very interesting to see how Johnny has been reacting to the pressure as well. Some would say that it hasn't revealed the best characteristics of his personality.

Apparently Toprak has 2022 set in WSBK with the possibility of a MotoGp contract for 2023. I think he definitely has potential and at this rate I'd be surprised if Yamaha aren't lining up a test on a MotoGp bike to see how he reacts to the difference in machinery.

I know he stated he want to win a WSBK title before moving on. I am curious if there is any correlation to mum nature of the 2nd seat coming from Petronas, or whatever they will be called next season, and his nearing of a title this season. Since he is contracted directly through Yamaha, will they spur him onto a GP team if he managed to win it this season in WSBK? Modern contracts are about as genuine as a hookers compliments.

MdubSTYLIE said:

The thing that has me questioning how good he would do is the fact that Baz came in and took podiums all weekend after not setting the world on fire in the US. He might be good but I will believe it when I see it. Again Baz was all that good in motogp and for him to come in for one weekend and compete doesn't help the cause for Toprak. I think he deserves a shot though.

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This is such a good point - the gulf between the categories is huge.

Biaggi went back and won titles.

Bautista went back and was unbeaten for much of the year.

We have seen it time and again that WSBK riders do not transition that well to MGP with only 1 rider coming from WSBK to MGP and winning a race - Spies. Yes, Bayliss also won a race but he had gone WSBK - MGP - WSBK and back for a sole race so not quite the same as was Spies (if I have missed someone with full season WSBK to a race winner - apologies as we have had a lot of winners recently - of course we also have Supersports racers who have won MGP races).

I welcome someone like Toprak trying it but fear that if he leaves it to long the chances may have past by for a good enough ride as if he has signed as suggested than that will be a further 2 years of results against which to judge, and you are only as good as your last result so a bad season could end the option.


Speaking totally personally I so wish DORNA who own both series would implement a pathway to a factory ride (supported or full) for each season's WSBK title winner. We focus on MG3 and MG2 for a pathway but not WSBK and there are plenty of riders than cannot buy into a MG2 or MG3 team so talent may well be missed