BMW tight-lipped on Toprak Razgatlioglu return - but he’s avoided engine penalty

BMW have not yet confirmed whether Toprak Razgatlioglu will race at the Aragon World Superbike Championship round this weekend.

The WSBK championship leader missed last week’s Cremona round due to injuries suffered in a crash at Magny-Cours.

BMW were carefully optimistic that Razgatlioglu would return in Aragon but - unlike Yamaha who have clarified Jonathan Rea’s comeback from injury this weekend - there is still no word from their camp.

Razgatlioglu has a 13-point lead at the top of the championship, ahead of Nicolo Bulega, but that advantage will be at-risk if he is unable to race at Aragon.

Razgatlioglu avoids engine penalty

If Razgatlioglu does return at Aragon this weekend, he will no longer have to be concerned about an engine penalty which was looming over him.

BMW took care of that problem in his absence last weekend at Cremona.

Every WSBK rider had an allocation of six engines for the entire season but Razgatlioglu had used five by Magny-Cours.

The punishment for exceeding the quota of six engines is a back-of-the-grid start plus a double long lap penalty in both main races in a round.

But BMW opted to give a new engine to Razgatlioglu’s replacement in Cremona, Markus Reiterberger, which was a seventh of the season.

Reiterberger, as a result, took the punishment last weekend.

Whenever Razgatlioglu returns, he will profit from the fresh engine mileage.

Will Razgatlioglu be back at Aragon?

It seems like a decision will be made on Thursday.

Sven Blusch, Head of BMW Motorrad Motorsport, explained last week that the issue with Razgatlioglu’s comeback is a doctor’s sign-off.

“As long as the pneumothorax is there, Toprak is still not allowed to race,” Blusch said in Cremona.

“Obviously, I think we all know that riders, if they have pain, they go through it and they don’t have any problems to push.

“On that point, I would say it’s really tricky because he doesn’t have a lot of pain. In his mind, he’s ready to race.

“All the doctors agreed on that point that it’s too dangerous to ride. This is the biggest problem at the moment on our side.

“We’re really hoping for Aragon.”