A WorldSBK race winner and a man in demand, Toprak Razgatlioglu is regarded as one of motorcycle racing’s foremost stars but there is one particular party trick on a motorcycle that stands the talented Turk out from his rivals; The ‘Stoppie’.
If you aren’t aware of the term, it is the skill (or stunt) of bringing the rear wheel of the bike up with all the weight coming down on the front under braking. It looks fun and spectacular though we must implore you DO NOT attempt this on the road.
Two names, however, stand out as having gotten the art down to a fine skill - Jack Miller and Razgatlioglu.
So who is better? We asked Razgatlioglu himself and after some hesitancy - and encouragement from his Yamaha WorldSBK team boss Paul Denning shouting ‘that’s easy, have confidence Toprak’ - he does eventually reply ‘me!’.
It turns out Razgatlioglu comes from stock when it comes to pulling off such a move because he started his motorcycle career - at only eight years old - getting inspiration from his stunt riding father.
As he got older, Razgatligolu tells Visordown it was the ‘stoppie’ that became hsi party piece.
“I started the ‘stoppie’ around eight years old because my motorcycle life started as a stunt rider. My father said I needed to race, so I did Motocross and then road racing. I was riding 600cc at age 11, but sometimes I was doing stunt riding.
“I always like the ‘stoppie’ because it is not easy, because I tried it and I was really good at it. I go long and my father said I was crazy. I can also turn it.”
Asked who was better between himself and Miller, he says: ‘Maybe one day we will do one together, maybe Supermoto, maybe Superbike…”
My response of ‘you should have signed that MotoGP contract’ [today he was confirmed as staying with Yamaha in WorldSBK despite a rumoured offer being on the table to switch to MotoGP] gets a laugh but he refuses to confirm or deny.
Ironically, an unintentional ‘stoppie’ during free practice at Donington Park almost got him into trouble…
There's hard braking, then there's Toprak's version of hard-braking, and then there's this!
TOP save @toprak_tr54 Just how do you do it? @PataYamahaBRIXX #GBRWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/YGSEAi3ROE
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) July 2, 2021
...but he certainly has skills, as demonstrated in this popular video of him pulling - and turning - one in the Circuit de Catalunya pit-lane during 2020 WorldSBK pre-season testing, though he does give the close-following Michael van der Mark - and the assembled pit crew - a bit of a fright in the process.
In the interests of fairness, we offer up this equivalent on the Ducati GP21 from Miller after his win in Jerez, while the Australian offers up this very helpful video on how to complete one too.
