Michele Pirro: ‘Toprak Razgatlioglu and BMW impressive, KTM of MotoGP…’

With Toprak Razgatlioglu in its line-up, BMW appear to be more ready than ever to fight for the WorldSBK title.

Razgatlioglu is arguably the best rider on the grid, and while BMW still needs to iron out some areas of their M 1000 RR, a big step has been made compared to the last few seasons.

• Bradley Ray ‘training hard’ to be more competitive in WorldSBK 

• Alex Lowes: ‘I feel good but we have to look after the tyres for the long races’

BMW possesses one of the strongest rider line-ups on the WorldSBK grid, but it’s not just their full-time rider line-up that’s impressive.

The German manufacturer also has 2014 Superbike champion Sylvain Guintoli and ex-MotoGP rider Bradley Smith forming their two-rider test team.

Taking part in last week’s Catalunya test, Pirro saw first hand the developments BMW have made while admitting he was very impressed by Razgatlioglu.

“I must say that Toprak and BMW are impressive,”Pirro told GPOne. BMW seems to be the KTM because they are structured in an incredible way, exactly like a MotoGP team.

“In Barcelona they had two test riders in action and a lot of things to test. Plus there were a lot of technicians and engineers, just like when KTM comes to test with [Dani] Pedrosa.

“I honestly didn’t think [it was like this], instead I was surprised by the work done in the last few years and the competitiveness shown on track.

“Of course, there are still aspects to improve but the M 1000 RR has great potential and I’m of the opinion that soon it will fight for the world championship.”

BMW has proven WorldSBK race winners at all three levels; its factory and satellite teams, but also their test line-up.

Razgatlioglu is the main star and is a rider clearly in his prime as he showed more often than not in 2023.

If BMW can deliver Razgatlioglu with a more complete bike, then chances of them winning their first WorldSBK title are very high.