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Toprak Razgatlioglu, who won the 2025 World Superbike Championship, has moved up to MotoGP starting with the 2026 season. At the same time, two-time champion Alvaro Bautista has moved to Barni Spark Racing. The competitive landscape in top-level motorcycle racing continues to shift.
Toprak heading to MotoGP, huh. I can't wait to see how that distinctive rear-sliding cornering style of his translates onto a top-tier machine. The speed he proved in WorldSBK is the real deal. That said, it's a different world over there. He'll probably struggle at first, but that kind of natural talent adapts fast. He's going to transform, I'm sure of it.
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Curious how riders who moved up from WorldSBK to MotoGP have historically fared.
Curious how two-time champion Bautista does in his new home too — this transfer saga makes me want to follow both.
Toprak was already highly rated in Europe, so the move up feels more like it makes sense than a surprise.
His speed in WorldSBK was the real deal, so a move like this was probably only a matter of time.
Being strong in WorldSBK doesn't guarantee much in MotoGP — the tires and bikes are a different world, and a lot of riders struggle.
True, plenty of past examples struggled with the jump, but with Toprak's potential it's fair to be hopeful.
Bautista also moving to Barni Spark at the same time makes it feel like the whole landscape just shifted at once.
Whenever a WorldSBK champion moves straight up to MotoGP, everyone watches to see how far that success carries over.
