Crash.Net’s Top 10 WorldSBK Riders of 2021: 1st - Toprak Razgatlioglu

After becoming the first rider to beat Jonathan Rea to a WorldSBK championship since 2015, we have ranked Pata Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu first on our top ten riders of 2021.

Razgatlioglu was without doubt the class of the field in 2021 as he claimed 13 wins - more than double his career tally (5) going into the season. Those 13 wins came despite having to wait nine races for his first. 

However, once that win came during the final race at Misano, Razgatlioglu won four out of the next eight races. 

While title rival Rea had just as many wins as the 25 year-old, more pole positions and podiums, it was the incredible consistency of Razgatlioglu that won him the championship.

Razgatlioglu had just three crashes for the entire year which was second best overall, but first among riders to complete every session of every round.

Two of those came during races, however, the first of those came when he was knocked off by Garrett Gerloff in Assen, while the final one came during race two at Portimao when he suffered a mechanical failure. 

Razgatlioglu had just one more race retirement which was again a mechanical issue while leading race one in Catalunya. 

Aside from the three race retirements - none of which were his fault unlike Rea who made several costly mistakes - Razgatlioglu finished every race no lower than sixth. In fact, the Turkish star had 29 podiums from his 34 points scoring results. 

With his race performance being one of the strongest even dating back to his Puccetti Kawasaki days, qualifying was one of the areas Razgatlioglu needed to improve the most for 2021.

And just like his wins, podiums and points scores, it’s something better in 2021 after claiming three poles which was second to Rea (8), while Razgatlioglu also had a career-year in front row starts (10).

The final margin between Razgatlioglu and Rea was 13 points, but given the 30 point lead the former had heading into the season finale, one that looked like being over 50 following Portimao, it was a gap that proved too much for Rea to overcome as he lost out on a seventh consecutive WorldSBK title. 

Razgatlioglu’s championship win is one that also made history as he’s the first Turkish premier class champion, after his mentor Kenan Sofuoglu achieved that feat five times in WorldSSP. 

Razgatlioglu 2021 stats: 

Championship Finish: 1st

Points: 564

Wins: 13

Podiums: 29

Pole Positions: 3

Top Ten Results: 33

Points Scores: 34

Front Row Starts: 10

Overall crash total: 3

Non-Finishes: 3

Races: 37