BMW: Toprak Razgatlioglu's ten wins in a row "sounds like a dream"

Toprak Razgatlioglu has once again cemented himself as the clear number one rider in WorldSBK in 2024.

Razgatlioglu, who is looking to break the all-time 11-win streak in WorldSBK at Portimao next time out, is dominating the championship thanks to his continued success since Race 2 at Assen.

The type of success that was not envisioned by many heading into 2024, Razgatlioglu has made BMW title contenders as he leads Nicolo Bulega by 64 points in the standings.

Speaking about BMW's current position, BMW Motorrad Technical Director Christian Gonschor told WorldSBK.com: “These are definitely good times! Ten wins in a row is a big success so thanks to everyone involved in Munich and all our engineers and suppliers. 

"Seeing Michael [Van Der Mark] fighting for the podium in Race 2 and finishing in a very good position like Scott [Redding] managed at Donington Park proves that the potential of the bike is there. 

"It’s generally one rider making a difference which is obvious but at the end, all the others are closing up. 

"We’re learning as an engineering group too, about how to improve the bike; we’re getting closer to where we want to be which means having more BMWs on the front rows and podiums. This is the biggest target for the upcoming round.”

Discussing the succes created by Razgatlioglu, but also his closest challenger in Ducati's Bulega, Gonschor added: “It sounds like a dream! It couldn’t have been expected! It was clear from the winter that we could fight for the win but fighting for the win and winning are different things; winning ten in a row… nobody would’ve said that was clearly going to happen. 

"It was clear that we went in the right direction but our competitors will fight back – Nicolo is doing an amazing job in his rookie season and it’s really impressive what he gets out of the bike already. It will be tough at the end of the year.”

If Razgatlioglu wins the first two races of the Portimao round, he will become the first rider ever to wins 12 races in succession.

The 11-race win record has been set twice by Alvaro Bautista, but Razgatlioglu, who has proven to be formidable around the Algarve circuit appears to be a safe bet when it comes to potentially breaking that record.

However, BMW admit it's not something they're focusing on.

Gonschor stated: “We’re not clearly looking at records, we’re just looking at the next races. 

"We are in a good reference where we can start. Last year, Garrett Gerloff rode very well and we hope to repeat it. 

"It would be nice to see Scott, Mikey, Garrett and Toprak fighting for the podium. In which combination, I don’t care! As long as it’s a BMW! I’m always happy when a BMW wins!”