Toprak Razgatlioglu admitted he considered retiring from the Austrian Grand Prix after suffering severe grip problems, but chose to finish the race out of respect for Yamaha.
The Pramac Racing rider endured one of his most frustrating MotoGP weekends at the Red Bull Ring, qualifying last on the grid before finishing 20th, more than 46 seconds behind winner Pedro Acosta.
Razgatlioglu said the biggest problem was a lack of rear grip from the Michelin tyre, which became apparent almost immediately rather than only appearing as the tyre wore towards the end of the race.
“I am very shocked because at the beginning, in the first five laps, I was not feeling any grip. I just felt the bike spinning,” Razgatlioglu said.
The problem became particularly severe during the closing stages. Razgatlioglu said the rear tyre had deteriorated so badly that the bike was constantly spinning on the straights, leaving him struggling to accelerate.
“If the bike has no grip, the bike doesn't accelerate,” he explained.
“In the last six laps, I'm talking to myself, how is it possible to finish the race because on the straight, the bike just spins.”
The Turkish rider even considered returning to the pits and ending his race early, but ultimately decided to continue.
“I'm also sometimes thinking about coming back to the box, but I'm just respecting Yamaha by continuing to ride, because the pace is a disaster,” he said.
Razgatlioglu described the race as the second-worst of his career, comparing the experience to the season-opening Thailand GP, where he faced similar grip problems.
Source: Crash.net
The difficult weekend was made worse by Yamaha's struggles with the new V4-powered M1. The manufacturer has found itself well behind its rivals at several circuits this season, while the reinforced rear tyre construction introduced by Michelin at the Red Bull Ring appeared to expose another weakness in the Yamaha package.
Razgatlioglu admitted that the lack of results has affected the entire Yamaha operation, but he remains hopeful that the work being done for the 2027 regulations will eventually produce a stronger motorcycle.
“I'm sad, but the whole team is sad, not only me, because everyone is trying their best,” he said.
Yamaha is already looking towards 2027, when major technical regulation changes will introduce a new generation of MotoGP bikes. Razgatlioglu believes the manufacturer still has time to make significant progress before then.
“We have many months to prepare for next year. They are working really hard, we'll see,” he said.
For now, however, Razgatlioglu's Austrian GP highlighted just how far Yamaha still has to go. After switching from World Superbike to MotoGP this season, the reigning WSBK champion has shown flashes of speed, but the lack of competitiveness from the Yamaha package has made his transition increasingly difficult.
With the next rounds approaching, Razgatlioglu's focus will be on finding a solution to the grip problems while Yamaha continues its push to make a much stronger start to the 2027 era.
