Toprak: “Frustrating, a step back” as Pramac duo struggle in Brazil Sprint

While Fabio Quartararo took the Yamaha V4 to a best-yet sixth place in Saturday’s Brazilian MotoGP Sprint, Pramac Racing riders Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jack Miller finished at the back of the field.

On paper, the key difference was tyre choice. The Pramac duo opted for a medium rear while Quartararo and most of the field selected the soft.

However, Razgatlioglu and Miller struggled just as much with the hard front tyre, used by the entire grid.

Adding to Razgatlioglu’s frustration was a poor start. 

After lining up 12th thanks to direct Qualifying 2 access, the WorldSBK champion dropped to 21st off the line.

“Today was very difficult, and honestly quite frustrating because some of the issues we faced were not easy to understand,” Razgatlioglu said.

“At the start I had a similar problem to Thailand, but even more pronounced - when I released the clutch, it felt like I was losing power, which compromised my launch and immediately put me at the back of the field.

“From there, I tried to recover positions, but it was very difficult.

“We struggled again with grip, and even on the straights I had a lot of movement from the front, which made it hard to ride with confidence.

“Compared to yesterday, when the feeling was much better, it seems like we took a step back, and that‘s something we need to analyse carefully.

“The team is checking everything, and I‘m sure we will work hard to find some improvements for tomorrow.

“I will give my best again, as always, and we‘ll try to come back stronger. If conditions change, it could help, but in any case we need to understand our issues and make a step forward.”

Despite starting 18th, Miller was ahead of Razgatlioglu on the opening lap but suffered similar issues and was passed by his team-mate in the closing stages.

Both were then overtaken by Franco Morbidelli and Enea Bastianini to be left last at the chequered flag, 23 seconds behind race winner Marc Marquez, 15 seconds from Quartararo and eight seconds adrift of Alex Rins (13th).

“From the start, it was a bit of a struggle,” Miller said. 

“The main issue was a strong understeer, and overall the balance of the bike wasn‘t quite where we needed it to be. We‘ll have to go back, analyse everything and try to understand the right direction for tomorrow.

“The feeling with the front tyre in particular was not ideal. I never really managed to get the confidence I was looking for, and when I tried to push, it felt like it was starting to lock, so it made things quite difficult to manage over the race distance."

Miller conceded that his best hope is for wet weather in Sunday's Brazilian MotoGP race.

“Looking ahead, the forecast suggests there could be rain for the race, and honestly, that might help in the short term," he said.

“But our goal remains to be competitive in all conditions, especially in the dry, so we need to focus on improving the overall balance and feeling of the bike.”

Pramac team director Gino Borsoi added: “It was clearly a very difficult race for us. Toprak didn‘t have a good start, and we need to understand exactly what happened there.

“Both riders reported a lack of grip, not only at the rear - which we expected to some extent with the medium tyre - but also at the front, and that is something we need to analyse carefully.

“The tyre choice was made with a view to tomorrow‘s race, but in hindsight the medium was not the ideal option for these conditions. 

"Perhaps with the soft we could have managed the situation slightly better, but it‘s unlikely it would have changed the overall picture significantly.

“On the positive side, we now have valuable data to work with, and that is crucial at this stage of the project. 

"We will focus on understanding the issues and aim to make a step forward for tomorrow‘s race.”

The Yamaha V4 also continues to struggle for top speed.

Razgatlioglu was slowest of all on Saturday with a peak of 337.5km/h, compared with 348.3km/h for the Ducati of Marc Marquez.