Razgatlioglu’s future announcement comes just weeks after he tested a Yamaha MotoGP bike, fuelling speculation that the Turkish rider could be in line for a grand prix move with the Japanese marque.
It was a test attended by Yamaha senior management, though during the Americas Grand Prix weekend Lin Jarvis suggested Razgatlioglu’s signing would be unlikely.
“The biggest problem I would say for us anyway is whether we have a spot, because ideally… we’ve only got two bikes on the grid, I think it’s difficult for us to get a satellite team on the grid next year,” Jarvis said. “So, we will have two spots only and both of those two spots we will need somebody who is going to be fast straight away, and perhaps Toprak will need more time to get up to speed.”
It's unlikely at that stage in early April Jarvis’ comments were linked to Razgatlioglu’s recently announced BMW switch. According to one of Autosport’s German colleagues in the WSBK paddock, no offer had been made by BMW at the time of the Barcelona round in early May.
In a Yamaha press release, Razgatlioglu alluded to “a chance” to go to MotoGP – but didn’t feel like the bike suited as much as a Superbike does, and so he has elected to continue in WSBK with BMW.
Just how big that “chance” was is unclear, and probably unlikely. As Jarvis stated, Yamaha probably won’t have a satellite team in 2024 and will need a plug-in-and-play second rider at its factory squad. That’s a seat currently occupied by Franco Morbidelli, who has struggled since stepping up to the factory squad towards the end of 2021. If it won’t be him, Pramac’s Jorge Martin has been linked.
Source: Autosport