Pramac Yamaha's Turkish rider Toprak Razgatlıoğlu achieved his best result in his newly started premier class career, finishing 11th in the Hungarian Grand Prix, the 8th round of MotoGP. The race, held at Balaton Park, was marked by a turbulent start for both Toprak and the entire grid.
Chaos at the first bend.
Starting from 18th place, Toprak was caught in a major crash at the first corner of the race. The chain reaction, which began with Jorge Martin losing balance, saw Marco Bezzecchi, Fermin Aldeguer, and Raul Fernandez also go off the track, causing Toprak to lose a significant lead on the first lap. By the end of the first lap, he had opened up a substantial five-second gap to leader Marc Marquez.
As Yamaha's top name, he's the core flag bearer.
Following the initial confusion, Toprak continued his progress with his Yamaha YZR-M1, piston by piston. After qualifying in 18th place, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu delivered a strong performance in the main race, finishing 11th and ending the weekend as Yamaha's best rider. Razgatlıoğlu noted that overtaking wasn't too difficult on the stop-and-go Balaton track, and he was pleased with the strong braking points, but experienced sudden rear wheel loss on the first throttle in long corners, hindering acceleration.
He considers Balaton "his own track".
Toprak has a special connection with Balaton Park. Last season, he secured pole position and three race victories at this track in the WorldSBK, extending his championship lead to 26 points and achieving victory in the historic 1000th WorldSBK race. In MotoGP, Toprak stated that this stop-and-go track suits his riding style, emphasizing that he feels comfortable in the chicane sections.