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Kawasaki Bids Fond Farewell To Razgatlioglu - Printable Version +- TT Website Forum (https://www.ttwebsite.com/forums) +-- Forum: Isle of Man TT Website (https://www.ttwebsite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=3) +--- Forum: Other Race Meetings - MotoGP, WSB & BSB, Irish Roads etc - (https://www.ttwebsite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=13) +--- Thread: Kawasaki Bids Fond Farewell To Razgatlioglu (/showthread.php?tid=28606) |
Kawasaki Bids Fond Farewell To Razgatlioglu - Malcolm - 02-10-2019 ![]() Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) will leave Kawasaki and his long-term partnership with the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team for the 2020 WorldSBK season.
Having entered the paddock as a protégé of WorldSSP legend and his fellow countryman Kenan Sofuoglu, Toprak started his international career in the MotoGP scene, inside the Rookies’ Cup competition. He won a race there before taking a first WorldSBK paddock opportunity with Kawasaki in the Bike Service Racing Team in 2014. He rode in one round, in France - and duly won it.
Signed by the up-and-coming Puccetti Racing team full time for 2015, in the Superstock600 championship on the team’s Ninja ZX-6R. Toprak duly won five races and the championship itself. In 2016 and 2017 Puccetti and Razgatlioglu competed in the Superstock 1000 Championship on the Ninja ZX-10R, almost winning it in his second year. Two podiums in his rookie WorldSBK season in 2018 helped him to score overall ninth place in the championship. This year Toprak became a race winning rider, twice at the recent French round, and is currently fifth overall. ![]() Manuel Puccetti, Team Manager, stated: “All of us at Kawasaki Puccetti Racing have a special feeling about Toprak. We took him from his “first day of school” in STK 600 and we’ve grown together as rider and team. For us it is amazingly satisfying and we feel immensely proud of our five years together as Kawasaki rider and team. Toprak is a pure talent and an incredible warrior who learned this riding style from his manager, another Puccetti rider, Kenan Sofuoğlu. Toprak is a very relax guy and we are sure he has a good future in WorldSBK. Everyone at Kawasaki Puccetti Racing thanks him for his time with our team and Kawasaki.” Steve Guttridge, Kawasaki Europe Racing manager, stated: “It's been a pleasure working with Toprak since he was 16 years old, helping him grow up and succeed inside the Puccetti team on the various Kawasaki Ninja models. His mentor Kenan told me; ‘This kid is gold, please work with him.’ Of course we listened and he has always delivered Kawasaki top results in the Stock categories, and now concluding his journey with us by making history on the new Ninja ZX-10RR in the highest category of World Superbike! Of course we are very sad to see him move on but would like to thank Toprak and Kenan for their great achievements with Kawasaki, past and present, and we thank the WorldSBK Championship format for helping to bring such new young talent into the future of motorcycle racing in general.” Toprak Career Statistics with Kawasaki Superstock 600 – Ninja ZX-6R Champion 2015 - wildcard race winner in 2014. Career Race Wins: 6 Career Podiums: 8 Career Poles: 2 Superstock 1000 – Ninja ZX-10R Runner-up 2017 Career Race Wins: 3 Career Podiums: 7 WorldSBK – Ninja ZX-10RR Currently Fifth Overall Career Race Wins: 2 Career Podiums: 12 |