The 2024 World Superbike series will be remembered as the season that was all about 28-year-old Turkish hero Toprak Razgatlioglu. The major story of the previous season when he left Yamaha for BMW, Razgatlioglu was on the pace from the opener at Phillip Island and over the summer dominated the championship tour, setting a record with 13 consecutive victories.
By early summer Razgatlioglu’s path to the title seemed assured, and his management group, including former World Super Sport star Kenan Sofuoglu, were openly talking of a switch to MotoGP for 2025, even though he has another year on his BMW agreement. While with Yamaha, he twice tested the works YZR-M1 MotoGP racer in 2022, with good but not remarkable results that could be due to a number of factors.
BMW have previously got close to a World Title with their Superbike project and are no doubt eager to keep Razgatlioglu at the top in the street bike-based World race series for years to come.
It does seem like Razgatlioglu has a chip on his shoulder regarding the lack of interest from MotoGP’s elite squads. The world’s premier category is a tough series to join – just ask fellow World Superbike stars like Alvaro Bautista, Danilo Petrucci and especially six-time WSBK Champ for Kawasaki Jonathan Rea.
Razgatlioglu is physically much bigger than any of the stars of MotoGP, a definite concern for the top teams. Toprak’s front end-oriented riding style is considered to be a function of the soft construction of the spec Pirelli rubber used in World Superbike. In MotoGP, the spec Michelin slicks are much more rear biased in design.
While everyone delights in the hard braking style that Razgatlioglu demonstrates, rear wheel in the air with the tail of the BMW wagging, there are doubts this could work on a MotoGP machine. While Razgatlioglu has shown incredible versatility, rising to fame for Puccetti Kawasaki before joining the works Yamaha effort and winning a title with the R1 in 2021, the MotoGP paddock is not certain his skills can transfer to the top category.
Razgatlioglu has taken the threshold braking approach to turn entry to crazy extremes, actually locking the front brake at high speed and then modulating stopping performance on his way into the turn. Only a few of his competitors have adopted the technique, even with the compliance of the Pirelli slicks.
Razgatlioglu’s background is stunt riding, and his victory celebrations certainly include lots of tricks developed in parking lots. His late father was also a stunter, known as “Wheelie Arif,” and Razgatlioglu Senior died in a street bike crash back in 2017.
Razgatlioglu’s climb to the 2024 title was side tracked in Friday practice for round nine in France, when he fell in a fast right-hand kink and slid into a retaining wall. A collapsed lung and back issues meant he was sidelined from the event as well as the next round in Italy.
However, his closest rival, impressive World Superbike rookie Nicolo Bulega (the 2023 World Super Sport support class champ for Ducati), had a selection of issues during Razgatlioglu’s enforced break and did not fully capitalize on his opportunity.
On his return to action in Portugal at Estoril, Razgatlioglu won both the main races, even though he looked a little more cautious than usual. He headed to the final event in Jerez, Spain, the next weekend with a huge points lead, and clinched his second WSBK crown with a solid second behind Bulega in the opening race.
From there, Razgatlioglu finished second in the shorter sprint Q race, again to an on-form Bulega, but in Sunday’s big race, Razgatlioglu took a convincing win.
After confirmed his crown on the opening day at Jerez, Razgatlioglu celebrated in typical style, including the now expected trackside switch to all gold riding gear. In Toprak’s case, his fan club assembled a silver carboard flying saucer replica, and the new champ entered his tiny spaceship to make the switch to his fancy new one-off Dainese leathers.
This ceremony seemed to reference the MotoGP “alien” era, when a small elite group of racers were clearly faster than their competitors. With the advent of spec Michelin rubber, this era is not much discussed any more, but Toprak wants to bring back the aliens and prove that he is one of them!
BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director Marc Bongers explained post race that “the target was, when we signed Toprak, to win a couple of races the first year and take the championship in year two. For sure, no one could have thought of this scenario.”
Ironically, many WSBK insiders expected Razgatlioglu to elevate BMW’s program immediately, although maybe not with the incredible run of mid-season dominance. Most impressively, by late in the 2024 campaign, all the works BMWs were running near the front – something that had not happened in over a decade of development.
Meanwhile, former World Super Sport Champ and Razgatlioglu Manager Sofuoglu explained: “When he signed for BMW many people thought it was just for the money and that I would ruin his career with this choice – but instead, it wasn’t like that, because to arrive at that decision I evaluated in detail how much BMW was doing in their various championships. With Yamaha our time was up, and BMW were doing an amazing job, so that is who we chose.
The often-outspoken Sofuoglu also explained that “In 2026 we would like to go to MotoGP; if we can’t find the right proposal we may stay in Superbike. At the moment BMW is our priority, but we don’t know what could happen after 2025.
“We want a factory package and a contract with the manufacturer, as for example Pramac with Jorge Martin. We are not interested in a deal like Marquez’ deal with Gresini. I say that because Marc has great support and strength behind him while we in Turkey have no sponsorship, let alone weight in terms of support.”
Hours after Razgatlioglu celebrated his BeeMm success in Spain, the two racers mentioned by his manager staged one of the best ever MotoGP fights for first at the Australian round. If Toprak moves to that paddock, does Razgatlioglu have what it takes to help launch another Aliens era?
2024 Motul World Superbike Championship Final Standings
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu Rokit BMW M1000 RR 527 Pts 18 wins
2. Nicolo Bulega Aruba.IT Ducati Panigale V4R 484 Pts 6 wins
3. Alvaro Bautista Aruba.IT Ducati Panigale V4R 357 Pts 4 wins
4. Alex Lowes Kawasaki ZX-10RR Ninja 316 Pts 2 wins
5. Danilo Petrucci Barni Spark Ducati Panigale V4R 307 Pts 3 wins
6. Michael v d Mark Rokit BMW M 1000 RR 245 Pts 1 win
7. Andrea Locatelli Pata Prometeon Yamaha YZF R1 232 Pts 0
8. Andrea Iannone GoEleven Ducati Panigale V4R 231 Pts 1 win
9. Garrett Gerloff Bonovo Action BMW M 1000 RR 176 Pts 0
10. Remy Gardner GYTR GRT Yamaha YZF R1 140 Pts 0
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