This week’s news that double World Superbike champion Toprak Razgatlioglu will finally make the long-anticipated move from the production bike series to MotoGP for 2026 means that he joins a short but illustrious list of frontrunners from that series to make the leap across in the hope of success in a very different class of racing.
But while some of the biggest names in superbike racing have made the move before him, it’s not always been a success for them.
Here’s our pick of the best six World Superbike to MotoGP converts who’ve come before Razgatlioglu as we start to think about where the next few years might place the new Pramac Yamaha rider slot in the history books.
6 James Toseland
WSB: 201 starts,16 wins, 61 podiums, 2 titles
MotoGP: 35 starts, 0 wins, 0 podiums
It took Brit James Toseland a long time (and two World Superbike titles) to find his way across to MotoGP.
A privateer who had worked his way up from the British Superbike championship to a factory world seat with Ducati for 2004, he rewarded it with a title win.
But instead of then moving across to MotoGP right away like many before him, he moved sideways to Honda and lifted a second WSB crown in 2007 before a MotoGP opportunity came along.
His time there started very strongly, with a front row start and an impressive sixth place finish in Qatar - but that was the high point of his MotoGP career.
Never finishing higher than that again, his time in MotoGP ended after only two years and a best in the championship of 11th in his debut season.
5 Colin Edwards
WSB: 175 starts, 31 wins, 75 podiums, 2 titles
MotoGP: 196 starts, 0 wins, 12 podiums
When double World Superbike champion Colin Edwards made the move to MotoGP for the 2003 season alongside rival Troy Bayliss, it promised fireworks.
He’d come off a dominant WSB championship win, taking victory in the previous nine races and had finished off the podium just once in a 26-race season to take title number two after his 2000 success.
Having joined on the disastrous Aprilia Cube project and achieved nothing more than a spectacular fireball, Edwards quickly moved to a satellite Honda then a factory Yamaha, where he established himself as a dependable team-mate to Valentino Rossi.
However, success never really came his way again, with Edwards famously missing out on what would have been his only career win by crashing out at the final chicane at Assen in 2006.
4 Chris Vermeulen
WSB: 66 starts, 10 wins, 23 podiums
MotoGP: 73 starts, 1 wins, 7 podiums
Another Australian with a meteoric rise to success in superbike racing, Chris Vermeulen was consistently winning races in his first year in the championship, and a fight for the title against compatriot Troy Corser in 2005 helped line him up for a move to MotoGP after only two seasons.
He went straight into factory colours, too, joining Suzuki’s programme and immediately establishing the GSV-RR as a consistent top 10 machine and even sneaking a podium at his home race at Phillip Island.
Vermeulen went one better in 2007 with a fantastic win in the wet at Le Mans before spending the next two seasons as an occasional podium finisher and solid top 10 racer.
3 Troy Bayliss
WSB: 156 starts, 52 wins, 94 podiums, 3 titles
MotoGP: 45 starts, 1 win, 5 podiums
A very late entry into racing, only making his debut on the world stage at 27 years old, Troy Bayliss didn’t waste any time in racking up career achievements in production bike racing.
A World Superbike champion in only his second season in 2001 and runner-up to fierce rival Edwards the year afterwards, a grand prix transfer with Ducati promised good things.
However, while he was quick on the Desmosedici, things never quite clicked. Sixth in his first year but a disappointing 14th the year after, injuries halted his prototype racing career and sent him back to WSB after only two and a half seasons with four podiums to show from 44 race starts.
What was inarguably Bayliss’ greatest MotoGP success came the year after, though, when he performed a minor miracle by turning a one-off appearance for Ducati at Valencia, replacing the injured Sete Gibernau, into a sole MotoGP win as the title fight played out behind him.
2 Ben Spies
WSB: 28 starts, 14 wins, 17 podiums, 1 title
MotoGP: 55 starts, 1 wins, 6 podiums
Another rider whose time in WSB was short, American Ben Spies came, saw, and conquered on the world superbike stage.
Taking the title in his rookie season and racking up a 50% win record in the process, he was straight to MotoGP after a 2009 season that will likely never be beaten.
His three full seasons in MotoGP brought some success, finishing top six in the championship in his first year and winning a race at Assen the following year after being promoted from Tech3 to factory Yamaha colours to replace the departing Rossi alongside Jorge Lorenzo.
However, injuries took their toll on him, and his career was cut short halfway through the 2012 season without us ever really getting to see his full potential.
1 Cal Crutchlow
WSB: 30 starts, 3 wins, 11 podiums
MotoGP: 179 starts, 3 wins, 19 podiums
Cal Crutchlow’s time in World Superbikes was short but successful, with the British racer serving only a single season in 2010 before moving to MotoGP.
That single season was successful, though - Crutchlow standing on the podium in a third of his races and winning three times as a rookie.
But it was in MotoGP where the 2009 World Supersport champion really shone. He wasn’t just a three-time race winner and a regular podium finisher, the length and breadth of his career is also impressive.
A factory Ducati rider, Honda’s development lead at LCR, and serving 10 full seasons, it’s hard to argue that anyone else had a more successful MotoGP career after leaving WSB.
