What kind of racing fan are you? I ask that in all earnestness because there are a few different kinds. If you’re like me and you’ve been a racing fan for a long time, you’re probably nodding your head in agreement.
Some people love a specific racer or team, and are there to support their fave through thick and thin. Others just want to see quality racing action play out in front of them. And there are those who are just there for the crashes. The less said about them, the better, but we can’t pretend they don’t exist.
No matter what type of racing fan you are, what most of us don’t really like very much is a parade. If you’ve got one or two racers/teams that are so categorically out in front of everyone else that the other guys don’t even have a chance to compete, it’s not very much fun for anyone. That’s when you get a parade, and that’s when racing is at its most boring.
And that’s what some folks have been lamenting about the first few races of the 2025 MotoGP season.
Where my colleague Robbie is absolutely thrilled to see the Márquez brothers duke it out at the top of the time sheet, you don’t have to go very far into Reddit threads or forums to see people predicting that the 2025 season is going to be a major yawnfest. They probably have at least a toe or two to stand on, if not an entire leg. Who’s going to win the Constructors Championship? Uh, barring a major act of deities beyond our understanding, it’s probably Ducati.
As for the rider’s championship, it’s pretty likely to be a Márquez. And after that horrifying crash at Qatar, it almost certainly won’t be the stunning comeback of Jorge Martín that many hoped. From all of us at RideApart, here’s hoping he recovers well and speedily.
Why are things this way? Apparently, the magic combination of Ducati machines and Márquez brothers seems to be the class of the field. Pecco Bagnaia is up there in the mix on his own factory Ducati as well, but those three riders are quickly pulling away from everyone else. So how do you stop this apparent snoozefest?
Enter (potentially, at least) Toprak Razgatlıoğlu.
Before the Qatar GP weekend, Ai Ogura was making an impressive showing as the top non-Ducati in the field on his satellite Aprilia, and the fact that this is only his first season in MotoGP also can’t be discounted.
But now, post-Qatar, it’s veteran racer Johann Zarco on his Castrol Honda LCR who’s currently the top non-Ducati in the mix. Factory Aprilia racer Marco Bezzecchi is just behind him by six points, and Ogura’s now down in ninth. In between Bezzecchi and Ogura sits Fabio Quartararo on his factory Yamaha. Rounding out the top 10 riders in the championship at the moment is the factory Honda team’s top-ranking rider, Luca Marini. Much like Ogura did for Aprilia at the end of the COTA 2025 race weekend, Zarco and his satellite Honda are currently ahead of the top factory Honda rider in the standings.
While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that non-Ducatis (and to a slightly shakier extent, non-KTMs) in the MotoGP paddock are an endangered species, it’s quite evident that they are outnumbered (and possibly outclassed, depending on who you talk to). Ducati’s got amazing riders, a fantastic team, and brilliant machinery; of that, there can be no doubt.
But if that’s all there is, and there’s no competition that comes close, then it essentially becomes a one-make race. There’s nothing wrong with one-make races, except that those aren’t what MotoGP is about.
If Someone’s Going To Take Ducati Down, Could Toprak Be The Guy?
For those unfamiliar with Razgatlıoğlu, he’s currently racing for BMW in the 2025 FIM World SuperBike championship, and he came roaring into the season with the #1 on his bike because he is, in fact, the reigning world champion of that series. It’s his second WSBK championship, and his first for BMW—and that’s one of the most intriguing things about him.
See, Razgatlıoğlu doesn’t just thrive on winning races, although he does plenty of it. No, a thing that sets him apart is that he likes learning about and trying different bikes. And trying to win on different bikes. He doesn’t just want to play it safe; he wants to grow and advance as a rider, gelling with different bikes and teams along the way. He’s a bit of a championship journeyman, if you will.
There’s been talk about Razgatlıoğlu jumping from WSBK to MotoGP for some time, but it’s never been quite as loud or strong as it is right now. Supposedly, both Honda and Yamaha are actively chatting with Razgatlıoğlu’s people, and of course nothing is for real until something official is announced.
There are also many variables to consider, not the least of which is the fact that WSBK and MotoGP are not at all the same thing. Plus, as we’ve discussed above, the current factory Honda and Yamaha efforts in MotoGP have been mid-pack at best in recent time, and have frequently struggled. While Razgatlıoğlu enjoys learning and meshing with new bikes, he also enjoys winning and being competitive. If he doesn’t feel like that will be possible, it could be completely understandable if he opts not to make the leap into the premiere class.
But if all the stars align, and Razgatlıoğlu does, in fact, line up on either a Honda or a Yamaha (or who knows, maybe even a secret third OEM like BMW) for the 2027 MotoGP season, could he be making things more interesting from race one? It’s impossible to say for sure, of course. But he’s proved time and again in WSBK that he knows how to execute some surgical passes on championship leaders (like, say, Alvaro Bautista). If he can bring that kind of precision to a non-Ducati in MotoGP, he could be a real shot of adrenaline to the championship.
Obviously, this is all armchair talk; none of us can tell the future, and we’re just thinking out loud. What do you think, and what would you like to see in your MotoGP future? Is thinking about 2027 already thinking too far ahead, in your mind? Let us know in the comments.
