Toprak Razgatlioglu will leave Kawasaki and join Michael van der Mark in a stellar line-up at the works Pata Yamaha for World Superbike championship next year.
His departure from Kawasaki had become obvious since the controversy of the 8 hours of Suzuka, late July.
The 22-year-old rider will replace the British Alex Lowes, whose departure was made official on the sidelines of the Magny-Cours event.
Razgatlioglu has developed even more strongly in 2019, securing his first top-three finish of the season at the Italian WorldSBK round in Imola and finishing on the podium at every round since.
“Toprak Razgatlioglu is the most exciting young rider in WorldSBK and I’m both happy and proud that he will race for Yamaha in 2020,” Yamaha Motor Europe President Eric de Seynes said.
“When you consider Toprak’s progression this year, only his second in WorldSBK, his prodigious talent is obvious, but so is his warrior spirit.” De Seynes added.
The Turkish took the podium positions for the first time at Donington Park in majestic fashion, holding off Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WSBK) on the final lap. This season, he has reached a milestone and has just won his first victory at Magny-Cours.
“Like his teammate for next season, Michael van der Mark, he’s a rider who always finds that little bit extra on race day and is prepared to push to the limit to overcome any obstacle. We saw that clearly in Magny-Cours, where he came from the sixth row of the grid to claim his first WSBK race win.” de Seynes said.
“We have also seen this season that Yamaha has closed the gap to our rivals on track and I’m excited to see what Toprak can do on our Yamaha YZF-R1 in 2020. With Michael and Toprak I think we will have one of the strongest and most dynamic rider line ups on the WSBK grid next year.” de Seynes added.
Razgatlioglu is one of the characters of the new generation of the WSBK. He won European Champion Superstock 600 in 2015, European Champion Superstock 1000 runner-up in 2017. He joined WSBK last year and quickly become a great rider among the top ten riders.
