BMW: Addition of Razgatlioglu has not made ‘the pressure higher than ever’

The Turkish star will lead a star-studded BMW line-up in 2024, which involves Michael Van Der Mark, Scott Redding and Garrett Gerloff.

But even with the addition of Razgatlioglu, who is arguably the best rider in WorldSBK, the ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team Principal does not believe there’s more pressure to succeed.  

• Bongers: Toprak ‘denied questions marks about BMW, gave me positive feeling’ 
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“Surprisingly, the pressure isn’t higher than ever,” said Muir at the team’s official launch. “We felt pressure for quite a long time, when we signed Scott [Redding] into the team, and previously with Tom [Sykes]. 

“I think everybody realizes now that the project’s gained so much momentum, with four riders on equal machinery, a fantastic test support behind us, it’s our time to start delivering and there’s absolutely no excuses.”

Muir did discuss the addition of Razgatlioglu, and admitted the former Yamaha rider bring a ‘certain amount of quality’ that the team previously didn’t have.

“Toprak brings a certain amount of quality to the team that we’ve been lacking in the past,” stated Muir. “If you were to ask the question to Toprak, he’d be expecting to be on the podium very quickly, and I think we echo that. 

“As a group, as a team, the whole project from the test team right through to our ROKiT BMW team, we feel that Toprak can be on the podium very quickly.

“And I’ve said it in the past and I’ll say it again now: if you are close to the podium, you’re close to the win. 

“Where will that leave us in championship terms? I’m not sure. But I think the first three races in the championship this year will define our season.”