Andrea Dovizioso: “Nobody thought Toprak Razgatlioglu would do what he did”
Andrea Dovizioso says that Toprak Razgatlioglu’s ability to compete with Fabio Quartararo so early in his MotoGP career took everyone by surprise.
Even though he’s not fully settled yet, Dovizioso was impressed by how well the 29-year-old has adapted to the V4 Yamaha YZR-M1 and Michelin tyres. He managed to finish 15th at COTA, just ahead of teammate Jack Miller and also passed Quartararo late in the race to earn his first MotoGP point.
Quartararo noticed Razgatlioglu’s different approach at COTA, suggesting that his background in World Superbikes helps him look after tyres better. Adjusting to Michelin’s compounds has been one of Razgatlioglu’s main hurdles, but he seems to be finding ways around it quickly.
Andrea Dovizioso stunned by Toprak Razgatlioglu outpacing Fabio Quartararo at COTA
Given Yamaha’s switch to the V4 engine, Razgatlioglu’s early results can only be measured against his fellow Yamaha riders. But even with those limitations, what he showed in Texas caught Dovizioso’s attention.
Dovizioso has been a valuable resource for Razgatlioglu during his transition, but even within the team, no one anticipated him being able to match Quartararo this early on. It’s also worth noting that Razgatlioglu was the second-fastest Yamaha rider in qualifying at COTA.
Dovizioso told Moto.it: “Yamaha are going through a somewhat unusual situation, but as we expected. Anyone who’s worked on new projects, with new bikes, knows full well what the difficulties are, and it’s not really a surprise to us.
“Toprak is not riding the bike perfectly because he hasn’t yet adapted to the tyres. He’s not riding the way the tyres ask you to.
“And yet, he’s competing with other winning and very strong Yamaha riders. That’s the surprise. No one expected it in Austin, and he even managed to do better than Fabio, an outrageous talent.”
Quartararo led Yamaha in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix with P16 on the grid while Razgatlioglu followed close behind in P17. Miller took P19 while Rins settled into 21st position. Although 0.192 seconds separated Quartararo from Razgatlioglu on their best laps around COTA, there was just 0.148 between Toprak and Miller.
Miller helped Razgatlioglu adapt quickly to MotoGP racing, along with Dovizioso, who has been working closely behind closed doors since his promotion from World Superbike (WSBK) to Pramac Racing earlier this year.
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