Jonathan Rea: "It sucks to race against" Toprak, calls him "the benchmark in WorldSBK"

Toprak Razgatlioglu has been dominant since Race 2 of the Dutch WorldSBK round at Assen, winning the last seven races in a row.

Razgatlioglu's first treble for BMW came at Misano before following that up with another dominant display at Donington Park last weekend.

A title contender against Razgatlioglu in 2021, Jonathan Rea has been a constant presence in the series throughout all Razgatlioglu's years in WorldSBK.

For many, Razgatlioglu is the best rider in WorldSBK and that is being highlighted by his results.

Rea, who has endured a tough first season with Yamaha so far, was keen to lavish the Turkish rider with praise, calling him "a special talent".

Rea said: “There’s certain people where you see a special talent. You see it all around the paddock, there’s lots of talented people and they have opportunities, but they fall or don’t make the most of them. 

"Toprak’s now made the best of all the opportunities. A super talented guy and it’s nice to see a rider riding like that, as much as it sucks to race against him. 

"It looks almost effortless. People can think it looks easy but it’s far from easy, I can assure you. Toprak’s now the benchmark in WorldSBK. 

"I can’t take any credit for Toprak’s success at all, but when he first joined the championship and the Kawasaki family with Puccetti in Superstock, I was a massive fan. He was like a teammate. 

"We’d eat a lot together, even when we had rival times. He’s a good guy, a hard rider; I always enjoyed my battles with Toprak. 

"It’s nice to see him get the success he deserves. I didn’t expect him to be so dominant this year. In a class full of fast guys, he’s definitely a standout.”