Opinion: Who will replace Razgatlioglu at Yamaha

With the recent announcement that Toprak Razgatlioglu will leave Yamaha at the end of the year. The question is: Who will replace him?

Toprak Razgatlioglu made a recent announcement that he will leave the manufacturer which he took the 2021 WorldSBK Championship with. This announcement was highly controversial leaving fans divided.

Just hours later it was then announced that he would join the ROKiT BMW squad for next season. Many fans were confused but Toprak said that he needed a new challenge instead of continuing with Yamaha.

It is yet known on how the PATA Yamaha team will look next season, but it has been announced that Andrea Locatelli will continue with the team. Locatelli has had a great few seasons at PATA Yamaha, currently sitting in third position in the standings.

For the past few years, Locatelli has been the perfect number two rider, finishing just behind Toprak Razgatlioglu. This trend has continued this season, but with Toprak leaving the team, could we see Locatelli become the number-one rider?

Who will replace him?

The obvious place where you would look would be any of the satellite Yamaha teams on the grid. Yamaha has had so many new and talented riders coming to their bikes over the past few years.

For example, Yamaha has Remy Gardner, Dominique Aegerter, and Bradley Ray onboard the satellite bikes. You could make an argument for any one of these riders to join the team, showing their talents.

Remy Gardner has had a mixed start to his season, having some crashes through no fault of his own. Gardner moved from the MotoGP paddock after losing his seat in the Tech3 KTM team after just one season. Remy Gardner moved to the MotoGP class after winning the Moto2 World Championship for the manufacturer.

Since moving to WorldSBK he has experienced multiple top 10 finishes straight away, onboard the GYTR GRT Yamaha team. He has shown that he is able to adapt to new bikes and teams instantly, proving he wouldn’t need long to adapt.

Dominique Aegerter is Remy Gardner’s teammate at the GYTR GRT Yamaha team and has been battling with him all season. Aegerter has been in the WorldSBK paddock longer than his teammate, after moving in 2021.

He has won two World Supersport Championships in a row for Ten Kate, earning him the ride in WorldSBK. Since moving to the class, Aegerter has even started on the front row of the grid on the first race. Aegerter managed to out-qualify Johnathan Rea and Michael Ruben Rinaldi on his debut to impress the paddock.

Bradley Ray is currently in his first season in WorldSBK but will only be competing in the European rounds. Ray is currently 20^th in the Championship and was battling with the GYTR Yamaha in race two at Misano before facing mechanical issues. Ray is also a proven champion after winning the BSB title in 2022.

I think that my choice for the PATA Yamaha seat would be Dominique Aegerter as I believe that he has shown the most potential so far. After already winning the WorldSSP championship twice and has fought for Moto2 and MotoE titles in the past he has shown his talent. 

If Aegerter was to move, we will see a chain reaction where we could see Bradley Ray taking his seat at GYTR. Even Stefano Manzi could get the move up to the WorldSBK seat when this chain reaction happens.

It’s going to be interesting times at Yamaha with most moves not expected to happen until next month at the earliest.

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Image credit: worldsbk.com