Toprak Razgatlioglu’s WorldSBK rivals react to “incredible” winning run
Toprak Razgatlioglu’s 13-race winning run in WorldSBK has left even his rivals admitting admiration for his success.
Last weekend, Toprak Razgatioglu took his fourth treble in a row, extending his winning run to 13 races. For his rivals, there is little reaction other than admiration for the BMW rider’s achievement.
The previous record for consecutive wins was held jointly by Alvaro Bautista, who achieved it in 2023, and Jonathan Rea, who did it in the back end of 2018.
Lowes: ‘A talented rider and a fantastic guy’
“My time in Superbike has been [Jonathan Rea], who has been one of the best ever, let’s say, and now we have Toprak,” Alex Lowes, who was teammates with Rea at Kawasaki after being replaced by Razgatlioglu at Yamaha at the end of the 2019 season, told WorldSBK.com.
“Full respect to him, he’s doing a fantastic job. Once he got used to the BMW, he’s almost unbeatable now.
“But the last race was close, this weekend we’ve been a lot closer to him.
“He’s a talented rider, and apart from this — more importantly — just a fantastic guy.”
Petrucci: “He is one of the biggest talents I ever met”
At Portimao, one of the biggest challenges to Razgatlioglu’s winning streak came from Danilo Petrucci, who led for much of Saturday’s Race 1.
“Toprak, I’ve said many times, at the moment is a step ahead of everyone,” Petrucci said about the Turkish rider’s new record. “He’s really looking quite relaxed on the bike, and he is one of the biggest talents I ever met.
“He’s just doing his work, managing the bike without any issues, so he has a good bike, but for sure he is a great talent.
“I think we will see this number going up again because I don’t know at the moment if there is someone that can fight really with him because, as I had a chance to look at him quite close yesterday, he was quite relaxed, but I was not. So, he’s really a hard rider to beat.”
Van der Mark: “I can learn so much from him”
Since moving to BMW for the 2024 season, Razgatlioglu’s teammate in WorldSBK has been 2014 World Supersport Champion Michael van der Mark.
The two have clearly established a strong working relationship, with Razgatlioglu often seen giving advice on line choices to van der Mark.
“It’s fantastic to see,” the Dutchman said about the success of his teammate. “It’s also nice to share the box with him, I can learn so much from him and I think that’s one of the reasons why I’m getting closer and closer to the podium because I can learn a lot from him.
“I think this weekend we showed that we work together really well, already in practices — we have to work together because the competition is so close now. Having him in the pit box is fantastic, and it’s even better that we work together and want to help each other.
Bautista: “I think 11 was really impressive”
Having gone head-to-head with Razgatlioglu for a number of race wins in especially the past two year, Alvaro Bautista is especially aware of the Turkish rider’s abilities.
“I think 11 was really impressive, and 13 is even more,” said the reigning and two-times WorldSBK Champion. “They [BMW] are doing a really good job, and congratulations to all of them because they made a really competitive bike, and Toprak adapted really well to the BMW coming from Yamaha. So, just congratulations, and we [Ducati] will try, in the future, to stop them.”
Bulega: ‘Toprak is very fast’
Nicolo Bulega arrived in WorldSBK this year as the reigning WorldSSP Champion and kicked off his debut season in the perfect way, by winning in Race 1 at Phillip Island.
Since then, the closest the Italian has come to victory was when he missed out by 0.035 seconds to Razgatlioglu in Race 2 at Portimao.
“What do I have to say? It’s incredible this year, Toprak, he’s very fast, BMW is working very good,” Bulega said. “I think they have a very good package, because also the other BMW riders are improving. So, you can see that they are working well.
“But I think that I’m also doing a good job, because I’m in my first year, so every time I go in a new track it’s like starting from zero for me. So, if you see all my weekends, also in the past, I arrive in my best performance in Race 2, because I need more kilometres on the bike.”
Iannone: “It’s not only the bike”
Like Bulega, Andrea Iannone — albeit in different circumstances to his younger compatriot — is making his debut in WorldSBK this year, but despite his inexperience on production bikes has still found himself on occasion fighting with Razgatlioglu.
“Toprak for sure has a good talent,” said Iannone. “At this moment I think he also has a good bike, a good package — so it’s not only the bike, it’s the rider, the bike, the team, everything works well.
“At the end, this is the secret for the last step. We will see. I try to construct this for the future. I believe in it, and I come back because I dream big. I never give up for sure. We will see because I think the fight with me and Toprak is a good show for the people at home, and for sure I’m excited to arrive and recover.”
