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The two weeks leading up to the Barcelona Superbike round will be incandescent for Andrea Dosoli. As Kenan Sofuoglu told us last weekend in Assen, the ex-rider started talking to Yamaha on Saturday evening to negotiate the renewal of his client's contract.
The situation at the moment is very simple, because the Turkish champion finds himself at a sort of crossroads: on the one hand, there would in fact be the possibility of a leap to MotoGP, on the other, that of continuing his Superbike adventure with Yamaha. Given the relationships that have developed over the years with Yamaha, Sofuoglu's priority is to speak first of all with Dosoli to understand what the Japanese manufacturer's intentions are.
The question is very simple. First of all there is the financial aspect, where Toprak is one of the few riders in the SBK paddock with an annual salary exceeding one million euros. Kenan will certainly aim for a touch-up at the very least, considering his title win and the fact that in the last two seasons the Turkish rider has been the only one capable of trying to throw a spanner in the works of Bautista's Ducati.
Then there is the technical aspect and in this respect Yamaha will have to send a very clear signal to its rider, unless there is a regulation change in view of next season. However, there is no point beating about the bush: it might even be true that the R1 is the Panigale V4’s main opponent but at the same time it is the oldest bike in the entire line-up of the production-based racing series paddock together with the Kawasaki.
Therefore Kenan expects news from Yamaha that will allow his client to be able to fight on a par with Ducati, unless Dorna and FIM step in to level performance as repeatedly requested by the manufacturers.
Regarding the manufacturers, there are those who are wasting no time and have already taken steps to contact Sofuoglu and understand what Toprak intends to do in 2024. BMW has invested several million in the Superbike project in recent years and for next season it seems to be very interested in the Turkish champion. Honda has also appeared on the negotiation front, given that both current rider contracts are expiring and HRC is dreaming of hitting big for next season. However, much will depend on the bike that the two factories will make available to the #54, considering that the current performances of the M 1000 RR and the CBR certainly leave a lot to be desired.
The Superbike market is therefore ready to get kick off and something could already move on the chessboard in Barcelona. Two years ago Andrea Dosoli managed to grab a two-year deal with Toprak, now there's an even bigger challenge awaiting the Italian engineer. Being able to keep him in Yamaha would be the transfer acquisition of the year.
