There were recently some rumours that Toprak Razgatlioglu could have offered himself to Honda in order to make his way to MotoGP, and one of the (former) riders that knows and gets along very well with the turkish is Marco Melandri, who called out the BMW rider as having a superb control on the bike, being bold and saying that neither Marc Márquez or Casey Stoner had.
Melandri is one of those who knows BMW very well, having riding it in the past, and had no problems in saying Razgatlioglu is a very talented rider, in words to GPOne: ‘I have an excellent relationship with him that has lasted since 2017 and it’s a pleasure to see him again because he is a good person. I think Razgatlioglu is a great champion, a very talented rider and this is clearly visible to everyone’.
The italian recalled this exact ability that earned already a title in WSBK for the #54, who is also leading the championship now, showcasing a great performance that none can replicate: ‘He won a world championship with Yamaha and is now first in the championship with BMW. To this day it makes a difference with the M 1000R and we can see the comparison with other bikes from the same brand’.
And if that alone is worthy of being highlighted, Melandri went further and even called out two major riders of MotoGP, some of the greatest, in comparison with the turkish and their ability, that he believes, in no match for that of Razgatlioglu:
– In my opinion neither Márquez nor Stoner have control of the bike like Toprak. It has an ability to integrate the bike like no other. He has extreme confidence and can be seen with the naked eye. In a short time he managed to adapt to BMW overcoming the difficulties and I think he will be the one to win this year’s world championship