A 17th-place finish and a gap of more than 38 seconds to the winner made the Motegi Sprint a difficult one for Toprak Razgatlioglu. The Pramac Yamaha rider completed the 12-lap race one place behind team-mate Jack Miller, who finished more than 16.5 seconds ahead. Yet Razgatlioglu came away believing that the short race had given him a meaningful step in understanding his MotoGP machine.

Braking remained the central problem. Razgatlioglu went through the gravel at Turn 1 late in the Sprint, after experiencing too much brake locking the previous day. He found some improvement in the opening part of the braking phase, but lost performance once the motorcycle began to lean. His explanation was straightforward: when the bike would not stop as needed, he lost speed on corner entry and also compromised acceleration.

He also said that he was asking too much of the electronics, which had reached their limit. Razgatlioglu is still adapting to MotoGP machinery after several years on production-based motorcycles, and Motegi places a premium on precision at the braking points. The encouraging takeaway was that he learned he could manage the motorcycle more effectively on the brakes, rather than relying so heavily on electronic intervention.

Razgatlioglu regards the longer race as the more important test and hopes to ride better there. Yamaha’s difficult season is expected to continue through the end of the year, while the 850cc engine change in 2027 is expected to produce a more level playing field. Until then, Razgatlioglu’s immediate task is to brake more consistently and reduce the mistakes in a process he feels is improving day by day.