How Toprak rides: ‘If the rear wheel isn’t up, I know I need to brake harder the next lap’
Motorcycle News
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu is the most exciting motorcycle racer on Earth right now, so what’s his riding technique and will it work in MotoGP? The Turkish World Superbike genius talks stoppies, breakdancing, riding MotoGP bikes and why he needs engine-brake more than anything
Razgatlıoğlu celebrates his tenth consecutive WSBK win, at July’s Czech round
The most entertaining motorcycle racing combination of 2024 is Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and his BMW M1000RR, because for various technical reasons you don’t see MotoGP bikes getting out of shape anymore.
The 27-year-old Turk, currently recovering from a nasty fall at Magny-Cours, makes magic aboard his M1000RR, locking the front tyre as the rear wheel spins above the asphalt and then diving to the apex of the corner. How is that even possible?
It’s possible because Razgatlıoğlu has lived his whole life in another dimension: breakdancing, acrobatics, gymnastics, stunt riding, racing and everything else. Therefore his inner gyroscope gives him remarkable balance, agility and motor coordination, so he feels natural in positions that are alien to the rest of us.
It really does seem like he operates within alternative laws of physics
Razgatlıoğlu’s skills are so unusual that he demands unusual things from his motorcycle.
When a rider brakes the motorcycle pitches forward, which steepens the steering geometry. Every rider I’ve ever interviewed uses this to help them steer faster into corners. Except Razgatlıoğlu, who prefers the opposite, so it really does seem like he operates within alternative laws of physics.
“If the static chassis rotation is forward [i.e. the bike pitching forward] he’s generally not happy,” says Razgatlıoğlu’s crew chief Phil Marron. “During trail braking he is incredible at modulating front brake pressure to alter how much rear tyre contact he has. He uses this technique to assist the engine-brake to keep the wheels out of line and have the bike turning with brake.”
Razgatlıoğlu won his first WSBK title with Yamaha’s works Crescent squad in 2021, then left the manufacturer at the end of last year to join the factory BMW team. His talent has transformed the German brand’s fortunes in the series. The M1000RR had achieved two victories in the previous three years, while so far this season Razgatlıoğlu has won 15 races, including a record-breaking 13 in a row, which he most likely would’ve bettered at Magny-Cours, but for his crash, which wouldn’t have hurt him but for a dangerously positioned trackside wall.
Razgatlıoğlu on his way to the 2021 WSBK title – front tyre locked on the kerb, rear tyre kicking sideways – out of control but in control
Yamaha
The big question now, of course, is will Razgatlıoğlu move to MotoGP, with or without BMW? His current contract expires at the end of next year, so he could switch championships as early as 2026. And he’s already tested a MotoGP bike, a Yamaha YZR-M1, in 2020 and 2021.
Mat Oxley: How would you describe your riding technique?
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu: My style is especially hard braking. I’m really strong in braking, but this isn’t just my style, it’s also bike set-up, because my bike set-up is always focused on hard braking.
I don’t know why, but many years ago when I watched Kenan Sofuoğlu [Turkey’s five-times World Supersport king and Razgatlıoğlu’s mentor and manager] he was always braking hard, so I think learned a lot from him, so I started trying hard braking.
When I go to a different track or a new track I always try to go to the limit. To understand the brake limit I need to try maybe too hard and miss the line.
Okay, sometimes I make a mistake and go wide but this is always the way I learn to stop the bike – like this I can make really hard braking. But I’m still learning, because everyone learns every day.
Now I’m focused on the electronics side and my bike balance because you need to really feel your bike.
Presumably, if you set up the bike for braking it won’t turn so well or accelerate so well? It’s aways a compromise…
Yes, normally when the front is up when you enter a corner then you get less turning, but for me it’s the opposite. If I feel the front of my bike down and my seat position high, I don’t feel good and the bike isn’t turning.
Razgatlıoğlu tuning his inner gyroscope with Turkish world gymnast champion Ayşe Begüm Onbaşı
Red Bull
When I feel the front more up, I feel more confident, I feel the limit of the front tyre and the bike turns much better. I don’t understand why, but I think this is totally a style thing.
Let’s go back to the beginning – you grew up doing stunts with your dad, which must’ve given you a natural feeling to do things that others can’t…
I remember starting riding pocket bikes when I was six-years-old and doing wheelies. I started stoppies at maybe eight years old. I tried when I was younger but I didn’t have the strength, so I started stoppies at eight, so now they feel normal to me.
When I was eight I also learned how to use the rear brake when I was doing wheelies. My father was a stunt rider but he never used the rear brake – he did long wheelies on the throttle. Then I watched videos and I saw stunt riders using the rear brake, so finally I learned. Now wheelies are very easy for me – on any bike.
You do a lot of gym work and acrobatics, so you feel as happy when you’re upside down as when you’re the right way up?
I can do backflips and I feel easy when I do handstands. I have never stopped doing all these things since I was young. This is how I learned – running, jumping, breakdancing – with my friends. I like finding balance doing these things – I enjoy them and I never stop!
Most engineers, including your crew chief Phil Marron, are stunned when they first see your data, because you lock the front tyre, for a long time, entering every corner…
Doing what others can’t – Razgatlıoğlu leads reigning WSBK champ Alvaro Bautista earlier this year
Dorna/WSBK
If my bike balance is okay, I can understand the limit of everything. When I understand the limit then for me it feels easy to lock the front tyre. This is good because if you can’t feel the limit then it’s easy to crash.
How many fingers do you use on the front brake?
Two fingers.
And what do you feel when the front tyre is locking?
If you feel some front lock you need to understand what’s going on, because this can be a dangerous thing. When I feel this [he mimes the front tyre locking and skidding across the asphalt] I try to brake a little earlier and more calmly the next lap, when I may also try changing my line. I always ride like this – I don’t use the same line every lap. Sometimes I try harder braking, other times I try more corner speed, then I check which is better.
Do you use your right hand like an anti-lock system – modulating brake pressure when the front tyre locks?
Normally when you brake, you keep pressure on the brake lever, then when you feel the lock you release the brake a little bit, then you put pressure again until you feel some lock, then you release the brake a bit again…
I am always very aggressive when I start braking. I don’t like soft braking, this isn’t my style. So my first braking is hard and I check the bike balance – when I feel the rear wheel coming up, I know I’m braking hard. If the rear wheel isn’t up I know I need to brake harder the next lap. And if the rear wheel isn’t up I feel like I’m soft braking and I don’t like that.
Rear wheel in the air on the brakes, just how he likes it
BMW
Racing is all about balance in every way, so when you’re doing stoppies do you use your body to stop the rear of the bike coming around on you?
When I enter corners I only make small stoppies. When I do stoppies in pitlane I use my body like a stunt rider, because when the rear wheel is up for a long time the rear of the bike can turn left or right, so you need to balance it with your body.
Like many riders you dangle your inside leg on the brakes – different riders have different reasons for doing this, so what’s yours?
It’s just psychological for me – it feels good. When I open my leg it’s not for balance, I just feel better and braking feels easier for me.
When I’m braking into a corner I use the foot brake. I only use the thumb rear brake when I’m exiting corners [to reduce wheelies].
How do you like the Pirelli front slick? We have it in Moto2 now and all the riders are, like, wow!
So, do Moto2 riders like the Pirellis? I think they will all love the front but the rear goes off a little early.
In general I like the Pirelli front with the BMW. In hot conditions I use the SC2, the hard tyre, because on the brakes it feels much better, because especially after around ten laps I need good feedback from the front.
The softer SC1 front has more grip, so the bike turns a little better, but after ten laps or so I feel a lot of movement from the tyre. The SC2 feels more stable. A little less grip but that’s no problem for long races.
How much engine-brake do you use?
With crew chief Marron, with whom he’s worked over the past five seasons
BMW
A lot, a lot. This is my biggest thing. When I ride a different bike the first thing I ask for is engine-brake, because this is the most important thing for me. I need the engine to help me stop and I need to feel the engine-brake. When I feel this I can brake hard, this is really important for me. Also in some slow corners I like some rear lock.
To help the bike turn?
No, to stop the bike, because if you don’t lock the rear it’s easy to crash.
Because locking the rear takes some load off the front tyre?
Yes, it’s less stress for the front tyre.
One of the most amazing things about watching you race is seeing you lock the front into a corner, do a stoppie and still make the apex. It looks impossible!
When I brake hard in a straight line the rear comes up, so the bike isn’t really stopping because you can’t push more with the brakes, so I’m not really strong in the first braking. I’m strong when I start leaning [into the corner], that’s when I can really push with the brake and stop the bike.
Yet somehow you still hit the apex…
This is the important thing! This is where I really need engine-brake – not during the first braking, but during the last part, where I cannot use the rear brake a lot. If this feels good, I can do this very well.
If the bike and your technique are so focused on entry, how are you at turning and exiting?
My bike always turns a bit less than the other bikes.
Because of the set-up?
Yes, but even if I try a set-up like the others the bike still won’t turn and it’s even worse than my own set-up, in my opinion. When I feel the front go in and stay in, it’s not a good feeling for me, so it’s not easy for me to ride the bike. When I feel the front of the bike is a bit up, I feel better and I can understand everything.
No bike racer is cooler on the podium than Razgatlıoğlu
BMW
When do you release the front brake – early or late? And do you overlay the front brake and the throttle?
Some corners are different. Sometimes I release the brake and then touch the gas immediately. Other corners I touch the gas, then release the brake after [overlaying throttle and brake]. This year I especially did this in the last two corners at Misano, because the front was chattering there.
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How strong are you with the throttle on the exit?
I don’t open full throttle immediately – I always open the gas slowly. I don’t like this [he mimes taking a handful of throttle]. Maybe everyone in MotoGP goes like this because they use a lot of electronics. I use electronics too, but I’m always focused on rear grip. I always open the gas slowly, then when I feel the grip, I open some more. OK, I use some TC but I don’t trust the electronics like this [he mimes full gas again]. I’m a bit more old-school – the first touch of the throttle is very important, then when I feel grip I open more and when I feel grip again I open more. I always ride like this.
Does the performance of the Pirelli rear drop during races?
Always.
So you have to think about not destroying the tyre?
During the beginning of races I don’t push. If you watch some of the recent races you’ll see that I start pushing later. I start more relaxed, then after I push.
Why do you wait – for the fuel to go down or the tyres to come in?
At the beginning of races, tyre temperature isn’t really high, so if you push immediately in the first two or three laps I think the tyres start to drop earlier [because they’ve been overused before they reach their ideal temperature].
I like racing with used tyres because when we train in Turkey [at Sofuoğlu’s own track] we always ride with used tyres. I like to pick up the bike and try to search for grip, try to find the way.
Training at Sofuoğlu’s track in Turkey – always used tyres and battered motorcycles
Red Bull
Do you like it when people call you the Marc Márquez of WSBK for your skills?
It’s okay, because for me Marc is a really big talent – he won many championships and he’s an unbelievable rider, especially in his control of the motorcycle.
I respect him and we are good friends, so sometimes we talk. He’s a good guy and I’m very happy for him because after some big injuries he was lost and now he’s come back. In my opinion he will be stronger next year – he just needs more time to adapt to the bike.
“All young boys who like bikes have a dream to one day ride a MotoGP bike”
Marc always tries more than 100%. Sometimes the bike isn’t enough but he will try more than the bike! Like last year I always tried more than 100% because the Yamaha was slow on the straights, so I was pushing in all the corners. Okay, I knew the crash limit but MotoGP tyres are different.
I watched this year’s COTA MotoGP race and Marc’s crash [when he lost the front braking into the Turn 11 hairpin) was very strange. Okay, I understand pushing the front but this crash was too easy – this is the front tyre.
I wanted to talk to you about that – if you come to MotoGP will your technique work with Michelin’s (current) front slick?
I think if MotoGP used the Pirelli front the braking point would change a bit, because when you brake with the Pirelli you can understand everything. The other tyre looks a bit difficult.
When I tried the M1 [he tested a Yamaha MotoGP bike in 2020 and 2021] I used a hard front tyre, because it was much better for me, even though there was less turning.
Leading the pack at Barcelona-Catalunya in March, the start of his BMW winning spree
BMW
Currently in MotoGP all the riders have to deal with a lot of front tyre lock when the tyre goes over-pressure – do you think you’ll be good at that?
I don’t know, it’s not easy to say. I need to ride a MotoGP bike with this tyre and adapt to it. I think you need to change your style with this tyre, because it looks like grip at full lean with brakes isn’t so good, especially the front tyre. But we will see in the future… maybe [Laughs].
How did you like riding a MotoGP when you tested Yamaha’s YZR-M1?
The MotoGP bike is fantastic because on the straights the engine and gearbox are unbelievable. The bike is a bit difficult after a superbike, because a superbike is a bit heavier and a soft bike. A MotoGP bike is a bit hard.
Also I didn’t like the seat position on the M1 because it’s very high, so I didn’t enjoy riding the bike because after my superbike it wasn’t easy. Maybe the Ducati [Desmosedici MotoGP bike] is different – the handlebars are up and the seat position is down a bit.
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But anyway, thanks to Yamaha – after my [2021] world championship they gave me the gift of two days on a MotoGP bike.
All young boys who like bikes have a dream to one day ride a MotoGP bike, so this was incredible for me, because when I started the motorcycle life I had a dream to become a world champion, but my dream wasn’t for MotoGP, because it seemed too far, because I come from Turkey.
When I was young I followed Kenan, always thinking MotoGP was too far, but now we are very close [to MotoGP]. I’m very happy for this because we’ve always come step by step.
We will see if I still have a dream for MotoGP in 2026. We will see next year – maybe in 2026 I stay with BMW in World Superbike or maybe I go to MotoGP. Anyway I forget MotoGP now and focus on my job, because this year is very important for me and we are coming step by step.
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