WSB: Meet Toprak Razgatlıoğlu at Crescent Motorcycles' Yamaha Live weekend

Race fans will get the chance to meet 2021 World Superbike Champion Toprak Razgatlıoğlu this weekend at Crescent Motorcycles’ Verwood showroom.

The Pata Yamaha rider will be there on June 18-19 as part of Crescent’s Yamaha Live event, taking part in a Q&A session and signing autographs from 13:30 on both days.

The event takes place a few weeks before the British WSB round at Donington Park, where the reigning champion will hope to win his first feature races of the 2022 season. After winning the Sprint Race at Misano, Razgatlıoğlu sits 79 points behind championship leader Alvaro Bautista.

“The Yamaha Live event with the test ride programme is a nice initiative anyway, I think we have about 150 test rides booked over the two days, but to have the opportunity to have Toprak here timing wise and everything was great,” Pata Yamaha and Crescent Motorcycles boss Paul Denning told MCN. “He’s looking forward to coming over and I think he’s going to do a little bit of enduro riding and cycling as well, before heading over to Crescent Yamaha, which is the home of the team, to meet people.

“It’s great timing as well. The world championship was great, but that was last year. This year, whilst we’re not leading the championship at the moment, the quality and brutality of the racing has been absolutely fantastic. We took a great step at Misano with Toprak winning the Superpole Race and then having a very strong Race Two.

“There’s perhaps a feeling within the team that the season starts here, so it’ll be nice for Toprak to be able to meet people and talk about that. He’s looking forward to it.”

His unique, hard riding style has made Toprak a fan favourite in WSB, with his now famous stoppies also proving to be a hit on social media. His presence is expected to draw a large crowd both to Yamaha live and Donington Park.

“With crowds being able to be at the races again we’re starting to see what we saw some years ago, but maybe more so in terms of fans being able to relate to the riders, perhaps a little bit more in the way they did back in the days of Fogarty etc. It’s very gladiatorial now and I think people can relate to that.”

Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha’s James Hillier will also be in attendance and will be on-hand to give advice to Yamaha customers. Hillier has just returned from the Isle of Man TT, where he secured a best result of fifth in the opening Supersport race. Hillier ended race week with sixth place in the Senior TT.

“James works with us when he’s not racing or doing other things; he’s our Yamaha GYTR Pro Shop (Genuine Yamaha Technology for Racing) guy. Basically, when a customer wants to build an R1 for the track or an R6 race bike etc, James is the go-to guy.

“He’s a great guy for that and we’ve actually just had his Yamaha R1 Isle of Man TT Superbike come to the store, so that will be there this weekend and I think there will be plenty of interest in that.

Those who book a test ride before the event will be in with a chance of winning a brand-new Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid. Across the weekend there will be several other prizes up for grabs (entry will be available over the weekend and completely free):

• VIP Donington Park WorldSBK Paddock tickets
• BSB tickets
• Shark helmet
• Muc-Off Jet Wash
• Muc-Off Motorcycle Bundle
• £100 Pro Bolt Voucher
• Toprak Signed T-Shirt
• £100 Crescent Store Voucher
• 4 MOTs
• Full Suspension Setup & Consultation
• NEW Yamaha Paddock Blue Jacket

Visitors can also expect test ride opportunities, Dainese product demonstrations and exclusive offers, advice from Crescent Yamaha’s Pro Shop expert, plus Food, beverages, ice creams, product displays and much more on the day!

Test rides are not mandatory to attend the Yamaha Live event, which takes place at Crescent’s Verwood showroom:

23 Black Moor Rd
Ebblake Industrial Estate
Verwood
BH31 6AX