T
his year, next year, some-
time. Never. The "Toprak
to MotoGP" story is almost
as old as the dinosaurs. Un-
like them, however, it won't go
extinct.
There's always been one
or another stumbling block.
Not least his and his manager
Kenan Sofuoglu's insistence he
would only move straight into a
full factory team [see Sidebar].
Which considerably reduced
his chances.
Earlier this season, I was con-
vinced that the endless shilly-
shallying combined with the
advancing years meant he had
left it too late. Now the shifting
sands in MotoGP—and a whole
new set of rumors—make that
less certain.
There are several scenarios
making the rounds. The least
probable has current employers
BMW joining MotoGP at last,
after resisting Dorna's entreaties
for many years.
Yamaha, for whom he won his
first Superbike title, is another
candidate. After all, the new
Pramac Yamaha team this year
has "equal status" to the factory
team.
Then there's Honda, which,
like Yamaha, is making prog
-
ress on the MotoGP comeback
road. One possibility would be a
year on their Superbike—and a
chance to win the title on three
P144
CN IIIN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
TOPRAK TO
MOTOGP?
THE QUESTION
THAT WON'T
GO AWAY
Will we see Toprak
Razgatlioglu join the
MotoGP grid in 2027?
PHOTO: GOLD & GOOSE
