Toprak Razgatlioglu, BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
World Superbike champion Toprak Razgatlioglu will get his first taste of MotoGP machinery at Aragon on Monday, when he is expected to ride Yamaha’s new V4 challenger.
As predicted by Autosport, the Turkish rider is switching to MotoGP with the Japanese manufacturer next season, when he will appear for the satellite Pramac team.
The private test will be a low-key prelude to Razgatlioglu’s first public MotoGP appearance eight days later, in the group test at Valencia.
Yamaha is sharing the Aragon circuit with Honda for this test, which began on Sunday whilst the race teams were busy with the Portuguese Grand Prix.
On Sunday, regular Yamaha testers Andrea Dovizioso and Augusto Fernandez were in action at the Spanish track. Like Razgatlioglu, Fernandez also has important work coming up in Valencia, where he will make the third of three 2025 wild card race appearances at next weekend’s grand prix there.
Augusto Fernandez, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Once again, Fernandez will compete with the V4, which will attract plenty of scrutiny following a mediocre showing Malaysia.
Razgatlioglu starting aboard the V4 is a further indication that Yamaha intends to put its eggs in that basket for the 2026 season. This follows its lead racer, Fabio Quartararo, suggesting that was the case last week.
Yamaha is the only MotoGP manufacturer that continues to compete with an inline four-cylinder engine, while the rest use a V4. Two years ago, under pressure from Quartararo, the star rider for the Iwata-based marque, Yamaha began considering changing its engine. This process has involved many engineers from abroad, including Italian engine builder Luca Marmorini, formerly of Ferrari and Aprilia.
Honda’s representative at the Aragon test is its test rider Aleix Espargaro, who was also in development action at Sepang following the Malaysian Grand Prix last month.
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- The Autosport.com Team
Source: Autosport