Jerez de la Frontera. “It feels incredible”. Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR) has done it! The 28-year-old BMW Motorrad factory rider is the 2024 Superbike World Champion. The decision came at Jerez de la Frontera (ESP) at the season finale of the FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK). With a second-place finish in the first main race, Razgatlioglu secured the early title victory. For ‘El Turco,’ it is his second World Championship title after 2021, and for BMW Motorrad Motorsport, it’s the first-ever title. This triumph crowns a season in which Razgatlioglu, riding his BMW M 1000 RR from the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, set superlatives and records, becoming the first rider to claim 13 consecutive wins, but also enduring a major setback. Let’s look back on Razgatlioglu’s title-winning first season with the BMW Motorrad Motorsport family.
The road to the world title.
The first test. In early December 2023, the time has finally come. New addition Razgatlioglu has his first test days on the BMW M 1000 RR at Portimão. Shortly after, another two-day test follows at Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. Despite less than ideal weather conditions in December, Razgatlioglu uses the tests to get his first impressions of the bike, provide feedback for development, and familiarise himself with BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team.
Team presentation. On 17th January, BMW Motorrad Motorsport presents its 2024 WorldSBK line-up at BMW Motorrad Welt in Berlin. Razgatlioglu sets his sights on victories and an attempt to win the World Championship.
The first podium. The first celebration doesn’t take long. At the season opener in late February at Phillip Island, Australia, Razgatlioglu claims his first podium with the BMW M 1000 RR – finishing third in just his second race on the bike in Sunday’s Superpole Race.
The first win. At the second round of the season at Barcelona in March, Razgatlioglu climbs to the top of the podium for the first time on the BMW M 1000 RR. On Saturday, he claims pole position and wins the first main race. This victory is particularly special as he had never won at Barcelona before. He follows up with another victory in the Superpole Race on Sunday and a third-place finish afterwards. His tally after six races with BMW is two wins and two more podium finishes.
The start of the record streak. The WorldSBK Sunday at Assen 2024 enters the history books as the day a never seen before streak began. Starting from ninth place, Razgatlioglu wins the second main race, kicking off a record-breaking run.
Hat-trick and championship lead. In June, Razgatlioglu achieves his first perfect weekend at Misano. Starting from pole position, he wins all three races, taking the lead in the World Championship standings. He continues this dominance with hat-tricks at Most and Donington Park, winning all races there as well, and extends the streak further.
A new record. Since April, Razgatlioglu had been unbeaten, arriving at the seventh round at Portimão with 12 wins to his name, including ten consecutive victories. He equals the record of 11 consecutive wins in the first main race on Saturday. With his victory in Sunday’s Superpole Race, he becomes the sole record holder. But it doesn’t stop there. He wins the second main race, completing his fourth hat-trick. Razgatlioglu leaves Portugal with a new record of 13 consecutive wins and a 92-point lead in the championship standings.
The setback. Friday afternoon, during the second free practice at Magny-Cours, Razgatlioglu crashes and hits the track barrier. After initial examinations at the medical centre, he spents the night in hospital. The diagnosis is a mild pneumothorax. Razgatlioglu can’t compete for the rest of the race weekend at Magny-Cours, leaving his return date uncertain.
The comeback. After missing the races at Magny-Cours and Cremona, Razgatlioglu returns to action at Spain’s MotorLand Aragón. Despite his injury break, he remained the championship leader, although his advantage had dwindled to 13 points. With great mental strength, ‘El Turco’ makes an impressive comeback, finishing second in all three races and expanding his lead back to 39 points.
World Champion! After two wins and a second place at Estoril, Razgatlioglu heads to the Jerez de la Frontera season finale with an advantage of 46 points. He claims the crown in the first main race. Second place is sufficient – and a long world championship party follows!
Reactions to the World Championship title.
Markus Flasch, Head of BMW Motorrad: “Today is a milestone for our brand. We celebrate our first WorldSBK championship title with Toprak! Congratulations to Toprak and everyone who tirelessly contributed to this incredible achievement –the entire BMW Motorrad Motorsport team in Munich and Berlin, the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team led by Shaun Muir, and the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Test Team. What Toprak showed this season was more than impressive and proves what an outstanding athlete and person he is. From the start, he and BMW Motorrad Motorsport proved to be a successful combination. We provided him with the perfect bike, the M 1000 RR, and with his unique riding skills, he left his mark on the season. Equally impressive is his mental strength, fighting his way back after a severe crash. At the same time, he’s simply a great guy and rightly a true fan favorite: humble, funny, and always hard-working. Together with the team and our engineers, after every success, he looked for ways to improve further. The reward is this well-deserved World Championship title.”
Toprak Razgatlioglu: “It feels incredible to be World Champion again. I’m very proud of the team, because everyone has worked very hard at every race weekend. Thank you very much for this amazing support. At the beginning of the season, nobody thought it was possible for me in my first year with BMW Motorrad Motorsport, but now we have won the World Championship. We really deserve it. We improved the bike each race weekend, and we can even improve it further. Now I can just enjoy the two races tomorrow. And then next season, let’s do it again!”
