Razgatlioglu has been a mainstay on the WSBK grid since his debut in 2018 with the Kawasaki-backed Puccetti squad, with which he took his first wins in the series in 2019.
For 2020, Razgatlioglu moved to Yamaha and ended its title drought dating back to Ben Spies in 2009 when he clinched the championship in 2021 by 13 points from WSBK dominator Jonathan Rea.
Runner-up in 2022, Razgatlioglu currently sits second in 2023 but is already 69 points behind Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista – who has won all but one race so far this season, with the other taken by Razgatlioglu.
On Monday morning Yamaha announced it would be parting ways with Razgatlioglu at the end of the 2023 season, making any MotoGP move look unlikely.
In April, Razgatlioglu tested a Yamaha MotoGP bike at Jerez in an outing attended by the team’s top brass, with the 26-year-old linked to a move to the series in 2024.
Yamaha team boss Lin Jarvis played this down when asked about it at the Americas GP, noting that the Japanese marque is unlikely to have a satellite squad again next year and will need an experienced hand in its factory outfit should Franco Morbidelli be moved on.
In a team statement Razgatlioglu says “there was an opportunity to go to MotoGP” next year, but he “didn’t feel the same connection with the MotoGP bike” that he does with a Superbike.
Source: Autosport