The “shift in the tide” Toprak Razgatlioglu has brought to World Superbikes in 2024

BMW World Superbike boss Shaun Muir says Toprak Razgatlioglu’s form in 2024 and the fact he is gunning for the title is “unthinkable”.

The 2021 WSBK champion stepped away from Yamaha at the end of last year to join the factory BMW squad.

With BMW enjoying limited success prior to Razgatlioglu’s arrival, the Turkish superstar has won 15 races in 2024 - including the last 13 in a row.

It’s put him comfortably in the lead of the standings heading to Magny-Cours, 92 points clear of Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega.

Reflecting on the season so far, Muir says the team is having to “keep our feet on the ground”, but notes there has been “a shift in the tide” since the Misano round.

“We’re having to pinch ourselves and keep our feet on the ground,” Muir told WorldSBK.com.

“We started off in quite a measured fashion coming out of the winter tests in December, coming to Portimao in January.

“I think Toprak’s confidence was super high already at that point so when we went to Australia, we had a mechanical DNF which really upset everybody because we just didn’t expect it.

“We came out of Australia with quite a bit to gain and then going to Barcelona was just a sensational switch in our expectations.

“If you asked what our expectations before the season started were, we would’ve said finishing in the top three and winning six races would’ve been a good target for Toprak.

“I think everyone could see the target bar was getting lifted higher and higher and, especially after there were some fundamental moments; the first one being the performance at Barcelona which was quite sensational on a predominately Ducati track.

“Equally, going to Misano and doing what he did there, in what was probably Ducati’s backyard, was a shift in the tide really and that momentum’s carried on and here we are in this position where it’s just kind of totally unthinkable.

“We’re redefining our scope and aligning everyone and trying to keep our feet on the ground.”

For Muir, who has enjoyed success on the national scene in Britain and on the world stage, he believes Razgatlioglu winning the title this year would be the highlight of his career.

“Every week, we move the bar somewhere differently,” he added.

“I think what really stands out for me is that the group’s got tighter and I think that comes from all the really tough times we had from ’19 onwards where we couldn’t grind a point out at some races.

“Overall, I think we’re going to get to a position, whether it be Aragon, Estoril, or Jerez, where Toprak – fingers crossed – can lift that trophy, I can see that probably being the highlight of my racing career whether that’s as a rider, manager or operator.”