Andrea Dovizioso has a stark warning about Toprak Razgatlioglu in 2025

Toprak Razgatlioglu continued a theme that has lasted for a number of years in WorldSBK this year, by winning the championship in dominant fashion.

His advantage this year was enough to catch the eye of Andrea Dovizioso, who sees the Turkish rider as the clear favourite entering 2025, too.

“I always follow every race,” Dovizioso told WorldSBK.com. “Even if I’m not [watching] live I record everything because I want to see everything.”

Dovizioso was clear about who the standout rider was for him in 2024, Razgatlioglu’s dominant season marking him out from the rest of the field.

“Toprak [Razgatlioglu] and BMW did something special and crazy,” Dovizioso said.

“For sure, BMW improved, but I think Toprak showed how strong he is, how fast he is, because last year with Yamaha he did something really good, and this year with BMW again. So, it was nice to see him in that level with a different brand.

“I think Toprak and BMW now will become even stronger next year, so for their competitors it will be a bit difficult. But, anyway, the battles at the front are always really good.”

Dovizioso added that “it was really nice to see [Nicolo] Bulega that competitive in his first year of World Superbike,” and expressed some frustration at the situation of Alvaro Bautista, who won only four races in 2024 after taking 27 wins en route to the title in 2023.

“I know Alvaro [Bautista] is struggling with the weight, that’s very bad because I know him very well, how good he is, his riding style, his mentality, he is a champion,” Dovizioso said.

“I would like to see him like before without the weight, but I don’t think it will be like this.”