Toprak: all the secrets of the new superbike star

Toprak has always celebrated his wins with a stoppie, a sort of reverse wheelie. In fact, it isn't the front wheel that comes off the ground, which is a rather easy feat when you have motorcycles with one hundred plus horsepower, especially if combined with contained weight - the minimum weight for MotoGP motorcycles is 157 kg (346 lbs), 168 kg (370 lbs) for Superbikes and 217 kg (478 lbs) for Moto2 motorcycles (rider included).

His control of the bike is without doubt exceptional as demonstrated by the numerous stoppies he does where he manages to turn the bike 90° on its front wheel. His usual plan of action includes entering the pit lane at 80 km/h (50 mph) in second gear and then applying pressure of 12-14 bar to the front brake.

When the rear wheel lifts, Razgatlioglu reduces the pressure to 2-3 bar, maintaining his balance. Then he moves into 1st gear and uses the rear brake to return to the ground. He did this in Assen too after winning Race 2 where those 25 points took him to the top of the rankings.

However, he didn't succeed in doing this stunt after the win in Race 1 the day before when he had started off 13th on the grid but there again, he didn't even try. Once over the finishing line, Razgatlioglu ran out of fuel and had to be helped by his fellow riders back to the pits.

Toprak's father, the famous Arif Razgatlioglu, was a stuntman. He was nicknamed Tek Terek Arif, 'Single wheel', because of his ability to ride with the front tire off the ground. Toprak rode a motorbike, a Yamaha PW50, for the first time when he was just five years old, at the age of eight, he began to compete and when he was just thirteen years old, he rode Supersport bikes. ​