Toprak Razgatlioglu finished the Misano MotoGP round 12th, although his speed in the second half of the race suggested that a top-10 fight was within reach. The Pramac Yamaha rider started from the back of the grid and spent much of the race trapped behind other bikes, leaving his finishing position at odds with his strongest lap-time evidence.

His fastest lap came on lap 12 of 27, a 1:31.770 set on a used medium tyre. That was half a second quicker than his qualifying time, and only Fermin Aldeguer and Pedro Acosta were faster than him on that lap. Razgatlioglu was even briefly ahead of Marc Marquez on the clock; Marquez recorded a 1:31.812 while retaking the lead from Jorge Martin.

Track position turned pace into a problem

Razgatlioglu’s progress did not come from a long sequence of straightforward passes. He overtook Alex Rins and Joan Mir, who would later retire because of illness, and gained another place through Franco Morbidelli’s long-lap penalty. Most of the remaining positions came when riders ahead crashed or retired. Johann Zarco’s retirement was the final change that put Razgatlioglu 12th at the chequered flag.

Razgatlioglu said the riders ahead could open a gap on the straights, forcing him to recover it through the corners and under braking. Following traffic for lap after lap also pushed the front-tyre temperature higher and led to front-end locking. Even with that limitation, he was surprised by his pace after halfway and said it was very similar to Fabio’s.

Qualifying is now the clear priority

For Razgatlioglu, starting last was the central problem. He estimated that lining up 10th, 12th or 13th would give him a better chance of staying inside the top 10, because the riders in seventh and eighth were running at a similar pace. Pramac Yamaha plans to work on qualifying from Friday in Austria, ahead of the next round at the Red Bull Ring.

Razgatlioglu said his last race at the circuit had been in the Rookies Cup and noted that it now includes a chicane. His team-mate Jack Miller retired at Misano after an early fall followed by a technical problem. For Pramac Yamaha, the contrast between race pace and grid position makes Saturday’s qualifying performance an immediate competitive priority.