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Toprak Razgatlioglu is undoubtedly one of the undisputed stars of 2022, as he helped create a spectacular championship thanks to his fierce battles with Alvaro Bautista and Jonathan Rea. After a complicated start, the 2021 World Champion managed to find that feeling again with his M1, contending the title against Bautista until the end of the season. Although he hasn’t managed to duplicate last year’s success, Toprak is still pleased with his 2022 feats, as he retraces the highlights on the SBK World Championship site.
What was the best moment of your season? “Mandalika, because I took everything. Superpole, Race 1, Superpole Race, Race 2, fast laps… Everything,” Toprak replied, equally certain of the worst moment of his year. “Argentina. I made my first mistake after two years, because I braked hard in the dirt and fell.” But it was in San Juan Villicum that the Yamaha rider had what he considers to be his best overtaking in 2022: “After the fall, I overtook Alvaro at the same corner and won.”
Looking at the season as a whole, there are many moments Razgatlioglu particularly liked: “Misano, Donington for the track. Magny-Cours and Mandalika. I had a lot of fun in Mandalika, because I didn’t need to use a car. I rode around on a scooter,” the 26-year-old rider said. “I went to the hotel on a scooter, and it was lots of fun.”
Something surprising in 2022? Razgatlioglu has no doubt: “Magny Cours. First of all, because the first days I went very wide after braking, then there was Johnny’s strange fall and, in Race 2, Alvaro also fell. All the first three fell in the same weekend.”
And speaking of the first three, how would Razgatlioglu describe them in one word? “Rea, Superbike legend. Bautista, 2022 World Champion with Ducati. Toprak, a nice guy,” the Turkish rider replied laughing, and jokingly confessed what talent he’d like to be able to steal from his opponent: “Alvaro is very fast on the straight, and that’s my dream. To have a fast bike on the straight.” Who knows if Yamaha took notes.
