BMW WorldSBK boss explains Toprak Razgatlioglu engine penalty strategy

Toprak Razgatlioglu was up against it in terms of engine allocation, but his absence from this weekend’s WorldSBK Italian Round has eased the pressure.

Razgatlioglu had suffered engine issues earlier in the season, including a terminal problem at the opening round at Phillip Island.

It meant that Razgatlioglu — who, like everyone else, had six engines to use for the season at the beginning of the year — had used five by the time he turned up at Magny-Cours with five rounds remaining.

That meant that there was a chance Razgatlioglu could have been forced to take engine penalties in the final rounds of the season, which in WorldSBK means a back-of-the-grid start in both main races on a weekend as well as double-long-lap penalties in each long race.

As a replacement rider for Razgatlioglu this weekend, Markus Reiterberger inherited the Turkish rider’s engine allocation at the beginning of the weekend.

Razgatlioglu will effectively then get back the engines Reiterberger has used in his absence whenever he is able to return to WorldSBK.

As a result, any fresh engines taken by Reiterberger this weekend will be handed back to Razgatlioglu when he returns.

But, as Reiterberger is the active rider for BMW at the time when the additional engine has been added to the pool this weekend at Cremona, it is the German who takes the penalties for using engines outside the original allocation of six.

It means that Reiterberger, who was given one fresh engine by BMW at the start of this weekend, started from the back of the grid in Race 1, and will do so again in Race 2, with double-long lap penalties to complete in addition.

But, when Razgatlioglu returns, he will be able to take advantage of the fresher engines, but won’t have to suffer the penalties for having those additional engines.

“For sure, we’re trying to do everything we can to prepare ourselves for when Toprak comes back to be in the best shape,” Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport sporting director, told WorldSBK.com.

“To save engine mileage, basically, for [Toprak Razgatliogllu’s] return, we decided to put another engine in for which Markus has to take a penalty here.

“It was a clear assignment when we invited him to support us for the Championship.

“It’s a shame for him personally, of course, but this was foreseen. He’s not disappointed. He’s looking forward after his good results in the free practices and Superpole. I hope he does well.”

After Race 1, in which Reiterberger finished 14th, Bongers explained further.

“We have Markus Reiterberger as a substitute rider for Toprak. We noted a couple of points that we wanted to prepare for when Toprak comes back.

“We used Markus as a test rider but because the substitute rider is on the same [engine] allocation as the original entry, this would mean Markus would use up quite a bit of mileage of Toprak’s engine allocation.

“Since we had a couple of failures throughout the season, we just wanted to play safe and save engine mileage for Toprak, so we decided before the event, and Markus was informed about this, to put another engine in the allocation which is infringed with a penalty.

“The penalty means Markus starts from the back for the two main races, including two Long Lap Penalties on top. That’s what he got, expected of course.

“We proactively went to the FIM to say this is what we were going to do. It’s a shame for Markus but he knew exactly what his role was.

“He’s been part of our family for over 10 years, he’s brilliant to work with. I’m extremely pleased that, on top of the work he does for us, he achieved good results in practice and Superpole and even in the race he scored some points.”

Bongers went on to suggest that, despite the Aragon Round being only one week away, Razgatlioglu could be back in action at MotorLand.

“We’re hoping he comes back at Aragon; we’re expecting this but can’t confirm it.

“It would be terrible to have a penalty for him so Markus will take the engine and the penalty, and we’ll have more fresh engine mileage for Toprak.”