Toprak Razgatlioglu: "It wasn't easy to breathe" on the Yamaha

Toprak Razgatlioglu has won the last seven WorldSBK races in succession, a feat he never achieved at Yamaha despite large amounts of success.

Razgatlioglu and BMW have not only been formidable throughout 2024, but they've overhauled the combination of Alvaro Bautista and Ducati to become the title favourites.

Riding a bike that's better suited to his strengths, Razgatlioglu admitted the engine braking 'is incredible' following his second consecutive treble of the season at Donington Park.

But Razgatlioglu also spoke about the difference joining BMW has made compared to Yamaha.

“Last year, it wasn’t easy to breathe on the bike; every lap and corner, I was pushing more than 100%," said the championship leader. 

"Now, the BMW is fast on the straight, the engine braking is incredible and the bike is working. 

"It’s stop and turns easily and now I’m riding like in my style but with a different bike. This weekend, everything was under control, I’m just lucky that we didn’t have a technical problem. 

"I did three wins; we’re coming step-by-step for the world title; every weekend, we improve the bike. 

"The feeling is very good but maybe at Most, everything changes. I hope I win there with three wins too but we’ll see there.”

Razgatlioglu's success at Donington was aided by a new seat adjustment, which some members of the paddock questioned whether it was legal with the technical regulations.

But after being cleared, Razgatlioglu said: “The seat is perfect; I think everyone saw that we checked it and it’s really good! It’s helping too; I asked my guys at Misano but now thanks to the other guys, pushing for the new seat, I’m enjoying it more. 

"On corner exit, I’m not sliding or going back. In general I am happy as we did three wins. 

"There were some complaints by another team and we changed the seat; normally we use a lower one and instead we used a higher one but it didn’t change.”