Toprak Razgatlioglu close to Ducati: ‘I was very close, I feel good with the grip’

Toprak Razgatlioglu again gave a glimpse of how competitive BMW can be in 2024 as he finished the WorldSBK Catalunya test closest to Nicolo Bulega.

Razgatlioglu was winless on his BMW debut in Phillip Island, however, the potential he and the M 1000 RR have together was clear to see. 

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And that was again on show in Barcelona as Razgatlioglu’s late time attack run saw him very close to top spot.

Razgatlioglu has consistently been BMW’s top rider since joining the German brand at the end of last season, a trend which looks set to continue heading into the second round of the year in Catalunya.

Discussing his performance at the two-day test, Razgatlioglu added: “For P1, I was very close but anyway, I’m very happy. Today, we focused on race pace and finally, I feel very good with the grip. 

“I did a short, 11-lap race simulation with all the laps in the 1’41s. After, when I felt the bike was ready for the race, I put two Q tyres at the end of the day and the second one, I rode a little bit better.

“My last run was three laps and I did 1’40.1s, 1.40.4 and 1.40.8, which is good.

“In general, I’m happy and so is the team; we found some good grip and we’re ready to race.

“The last run was with the old swingarm but with a different shock, the new front forks, different linkage so I tried many parts. Old and new swingarms are close but I’m happier with the old one.

“It’s a small change, maybe psychological but I’m happy anyway. It’s my dream to win here because I’ve never won here, the tyre is so important. I’ll try to do my best!”

Razgatlioglu’s best result in Australia was P3 in the Superpole Race, and it appears as though the Turkish rider has the potential to match that, if not exceed it when the championship resumes next weekend.