Yamaha spent the majority of the winter break testing a new electronics system as part of its upgrade package for 2022, with both the factory team and GRT satellite squad tasked with trialing new parts on the R1.
But despite leading the development of the upgraded R1, Razgatlioglu reverted to last year’s electronics package for last weekend’s Aragon season opener, even as all his Yamaha stablemates raced with the 2022 system.
Having concluded that last year’s electronics package works better in some areas than the new version, Razgatlioglu is now considering a return to the full 2021-spec bike for the second round of the championship at Assen later this month.
“I'm not using any new electronics,” he revealed. “I use the old one and the other Yamaha riders used the new one.
“I was feeling much better on the old one. The new one is also good. But in some areas I like the old one. In the rain the new electronics are working very well. For dry I use an old one.
“I think we will come back to the 2021 bike completely, as it will feel much better at Assen.”
Although Razgatlioglu bagged a solid haul of points in Aragon, he couldn’t pose a consistent challenge to either Bautista or Rea all weekend, finishing each of the three races more than five seconds behind the winner.
But the Turkish rider felt Yamaha’s lack of speed was down to specific characteristics of Motorland Aragon and expects the Japanese manufacturer to rebound strongly at Assen in a fortnight’s time.
“I remember last year we were not really strong and I saw just one podium in Aragon,” he explained. “This year we started strong despite normally Yamaha not really being strong on this track.
“We see three podiums this week. For me, it's a good weekend. But after this track we will start being stronger. We will see in the next round. I’m feeling much better about Assen.
“In the Superpole race, I was feeling much better and for the second race I tried [a different] set-up. The feeling was [already] good but with some changes I felt much better.
“Again it was the same problem. In braking points I wasn't really strong in Race 2, because the rear of the bike is in the air and it won't stop. But anyway, third position again, again a podium and we took good points for the championship."
The highlight of Razgatlioglu’s weekend was the last lap of the Superpole race on Sunday, when he snatched the final spot on the podium from Michael Ruben Rinaldi with a brave lunge up the inside of the Ducati rider into Turn 16.
Razgatlioglu felt that Rinaldi was the only rider he could fight on equal terms in the race, allowing him to use his superior racing skills to compete the pass on the Italian.
“I’m always good at fighting, but when one rider is a little bit fast and I'm a little bit slow, I'm not good at fighting because I just try some corners catching him,” he said.
“With Michael, I passed him because I was fighting with him [on equal terms]. I understand he tried early braking, I understand he's turning on the inside. I first went wide and came back again fast [towards the] inside.
“I touched him a little bit but this was no problem because it's racing and he had not crashed, this was important. [But overall] not an easy race for me, [there were some] very fast laptimes.”
