Kawasaki paid tribute and said goodbye to its departing champion, which is extremely rare and indicates great esteem from the manufacturer for the Turkish rider. This is all the more meritorious since Kawa finds himself very annoyed now that Toprak is leaving when he was supposed to replace Leon Haslam as Johnny Rea's teammate.
Kawasaki bids farewell to Razgatlioglu
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) will leave Kawasaki and its long-term partnership with the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team for the 2020 WorldSBK season.
After entering the paddock as a protégé of WorldSSP legend and compatriot Kenan Sofuoglu, Toprak began his international career in GP, as part of the Rookies' Cup. He won a race there before taking his first opportunity in WorldSBK with Kawasaki on the Bike Service Racing team in 2014. He rode once, in France – and duly won.
Signed by the young and promising Puccetti Racing team full-time for 2015, in the Superstock600 championship on the team's Ninja ZX-6R, Toprak won five races and the championship.
In 2016 and 2017, Puccetti and Razgatlioglu competed in the Superstock 1000 Championship on the Ninja ZX-10R, almost winning it in its second year.
Two podium finishes in his debut season in WorldSBK in 2018 helped him land ninth overall in the championship. This year, Toprak became a race winner, twice at the final French round, and is currently fifth overall.
Manuel Puccetti, team director, said: “At Kawasaki Puccetti Racing we all have a special feeling for Toprak. We took him from his “first day of school” in the STK 600 and grew together as a rider and team. For us, this is incredibly satisfying and we are extremely proud of our five years together as a Kawasaki rider and team. Toprak is a pure talent and an incredible warrior who learned this style of riding from his manager, another Puccetti rider, Kenan Sofuoğlu. Toprak is a very relaxed guy and we are sure he has a good future in WorldSBK. Everyone at Kawasaki Puccetti Racing thanks him for his time with our team and Kawasaki. »
Steve Guttridge, director of Kawasaki Europe Racing, said: “ It has been a pleasure working with Toprak since he was 16, helping him grow and succeed within the Puccetti team on the various Kawasaki Ninja models. His mentor Kenan told me, “This kid is gold, work with him.” Of course we listened to him and he consistently delivered Kawasaki's best results in the Stock categories, and now he concludes his journey with us by making history on the new Ninja ZX-10RRR in the highest category of the World Superbike! »
“Of course we are very sad to see him move on, but we would like to thank Toprak and Kenan for their great achievements with Kawasaki, past and present, and we thank the SBK World Championship format for helping to bring these new young talents in the future of motorcycle racing in general. »
Goodbye Kawa, hello Yam
Yamaha Motor Europe is pleased to announce that it has secured the services of Toprak Razgatlioglu for the 2020 FIM Superbike World Championship. Razgatlioglu, who took his first WorldSBK victory at Magny-Cours this weekend, will be the partner of Michael van der Mark in the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK team.
Razgatlioglu arrived in the WorldSBK paddock in 2015 to compete in the European 600 Superstock Championship, which he won in his first season. He then moved up the ranks to the European 1000 Superstock Championship, where the young Turk competed for the title for two years before moving up to the WorldSBK class in 2018.
Razgatlioglu immediately made his mark in the production premier class, securing two podiums in his debut season with a second place at Donington Park and a third place at the penultimate round in Argentina.
The 22-year-old developed even further in 2019, securing his first top-three finish of the season at the Italian round of WorldSBK in Imola and finishing on the podium at every round since. Razgatlioglu secured his first WorldSBK victory with a brilliant performance in Race 1 at Magny-Cours, which he started from 16th on the grid. The young Turk confirmed this by winning the Superpole sprint race the next day.
Eric de Seynes, President, Yamaha Motor Europe (picture below)
“Toprak Razgatlioglu is the most exciting young rider in WorldSBK and I am both happy and proud that he will be competing with Yamaha in 2020. Considering Toprak's progression this year, which is only his second in WorldSBK, his prodigious talent is obvious, but so is his warrior spirit. »
“As his teammate for next season,
Michael van der Mark, he's a runner who always finds that little extra on race day and is willing to push to the limit to overcome any obstacle. We saw it clearly at Magny-Cours, where he came from the sixth row of the grid to take his first victory in WorldSBK. »
“We have also seen this season that Yamaha has closed the gap to its competitors on track and I look forward to seeing what Toprak can do on our Yamaha YZF-R1 in 2020. With Michael and Toprak, I think we We will have one of the strongest and most dynamic groups of riders on the WorldSBK grid next year. »
Eric de Seynes, President, Yamaha Motor Europe
Photos © Kawasaki Racing and Yamaha Racing
