"It's what I expected," was how Toprak commented on his MotoGP experience so far. Moving from SBK to prototypes is no easy feat, even for a champion like him, and the winter tests were an important test bench. On the eve of his first Grand Prix, in Buriram, Razgatlioglu knows that he will still have to grit his teeth and probably see his name at the bottom of the standings.
"We'll see, it's my first race and it will be very difficult, especially on a track like this, in this heat," he said, playing down the expectations. "I wasn't able to make much progress in testing, but I looked at the data, especially Miller's."
His teammate is also his reference point. After all, the Australian is a MotoGP veteran and always ready to lend a hand.
"Jack is a good person, sometimes we work together," Razgatlioglu continued. "I see that he manages to do some corners very well, I need to improve, maybe tomorrow morning I'll be able to start better. My pace isn't very good, but I'll try to do my best. Maybe I'll need a few races."
That will certainly be the case, but the real problem right now is being able to take the tough blows. How does it feel to be among the last? "I try not to look at the times, I turn off the screen," replied the Turk ironically."I'm trying to be positive, to have fun on the bike, but sometimes it's difficult, as in the last tests," he admitted. "I need time, but in the last six years I've done very well in SBK and I always try to prove something."
But he is not having a particularly easy time of it at the moment, partly because the M1 itself is a 'work in progress'. If making your MotoGP debut is difficult, doing so with a completely new bike certainly doesn't make things any easier.
"Yamaha is struggling a bit right now, but I'm sure it will improve because everyone is working hard," Toprak assured us. "Maybe by the middle or end of the year, or maybe next year, but Yamaha will get stronger. I also have to learn and I need time."
Also to settle in better in the new paddock.
"After so many years, I knew everyone in SBK, it was like being at home. In MotoGP, it's completely different, everything is bigger, but I like it. I'm only in my first race weekend and I like it, I keep doing interviews," he smiled. "The basics are the same, but it's different," he concluded.