Razgatlioglu sends message to Yamaha: ‘I couldn’t do more, we need more power’

But while the Yamaha rider was easily the best rider this weekend, his three race wins were not enough to prevent the WorldSBK championship switching hands.

Two second places in the feature races and a fourth in the Superpole Race for Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista was enough for the former MotoGP rider to wrap up the title with one round to go. 

• Mandalika Race 2: Razgatlioglu wins but Bautista crowned WorldSBK Champion

Razgatlioglu enjoyed a near race-long battle with Jonathan Rea and Bautista before pulling clear thanks to back-to-back fastest laps during the closing stages. 

Once again showing unrelenting speed, Razgatlioglu topped all but one session as he secured pole, the fastest lap in all three races and three wins. 

"Qualifying, fastest laps, three race wins, everything, I couldn’t do more," said Razgatlioglu. "First I explain this weekend - we were very strong from the start and I always say that I need three wins here because it was the last chance for me. 

"I gave everything this weekend, especially the last race I fought with Alvaro but I said [to myself] ‘I need to win this race’. 

"After I passed Alvaro I pushed again and was riding more calm. Also I saw the fastest lap - 32.7s - I’m really happy when I saw this. I won three times and this is unbelievable for me. 

"I was not looking at the championship and I just tried to win. Anyway, congratulations to Alvaro! It was a good season for him and also congratulations to Ducati which is very fast."

After sending his congratulations the way of Bautista and Ducati, Razgatlioglu then pointed to Yamaha and what needs to be improved for 2023.  

Razgatlioglu added: "Next year we will try to do our best again. We need to improve the bike and also the power. We need more power.

"I am now focused on next year because we need a good bike and a more powerful bike. Then we are again fighting for the championship."

Where did Razgatlioglu lose the WorldSBK title?

While Razgatlioglu did very little wrong throughout the year, in fact, the Turkish star was arguably better than his title winning season in 2021, the Yamaha rider lost huge chunks of points in Assen, Misano, Magny-Cours and San Juan which could have prevented Bautista from winning the title in Mandalika, or even also altogether. 

Only one of those was Razgatlioglu’s mistake as he crashed out in San Juan, the other three included a racing incident with Rea in Assen and issues with his R1 at Magny-Cours and Misano.  

Bautista had just one incident that led to him scoring no points which was a crash at Donington Park. 

"This year, Alvaro in the first few races was not looking at me, he was just riding the bike," stated Razgatlioglu. "I’m always focused on Alvaro because he’s fast, we know it from 2019. 

"When I started to fight with Alvaro - okay, early season was not good for me because I felt the bike was not like last year, but after we improved the bike I started fighting for the championship again. 

"Yes, we crashed with Jonny but this is a race crash, and also after two years I made a mistake. 

"I crashed in Argentina but I was just fighting for the win. Why I crashed? It’s because I’m looking at just the win, not second, not third. But now I’m very happy."