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2021 Superbike World Champion, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, will be leaving the Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team at the end of the 2023 season. Yamaha and he will amicably end their successful four-year relationship together. The Turkish rider seeks a new challenge for 2024.
Razgatlıoğlu got his Yamaha career off to a stunning start, winning on his debut at Phillip Island in 2020. He then went on to take two more convincing victories in Estoril at the end of the year on his way to fourth in the championship standings.
The 2021 season bore witness to one of the greatest title battles in WorldSBK history, where Razgatlıoğlu faced off with Jonathan Rea for the world championship crown. Ultimately, the Turkish rider reigned supreme. He took 13 victories, 29 podiums and three pole positions to lift the 2021 Superbike World Championship. He ended Rea’s six-year reign as champion and secured Yamaha’s first title in the class since Ben Spies in 2009.
The 2023 season has seen the Turkish rider show incredible consistency and pace. The 26-year-old is currently second in the overall standings. Thus far, he has secured one victory and ten further podiums in the first 12 races.
“I want to say to the whole Yamaha family a very big thank you for the love and respect they have shown me. To win the world championship was my dream when I signed up with Yamaha. And we managed to reach that goal together,” says Razgatlıoğlu.
“For next season I feel I need a new challenge. While there was an opportunity in MotoGP, I didn’t feel the same connection with the MotoGP bike that I have with the superbike. But if I am to stay in WorldSBK then I need a new target, a new ambition.”
“I am sorry to leave Yamaha, both the brand and the people. We have a very good relationship, but change is part of any sport and normal for any professional. So, a big thank you to Yamaha Motor Company, Yamaha Motor Europe, Yamaha Motor Turkiye and the Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team. Especially to my crew, who have all worked so hard for me.”