Fear expressed for Toprak Razgatlioglu’s BMW at Assen
Drab prediction made for BMW and Toprak Razgatlioglu at Assen WorldSBK
Worry has been expressed for Toprak Razgatlioglu’s hopes at Assen this weekend.
The reigning World Superbikes champion heads to the Netherlands for the third round of the 2025 season, knowing it might prove to be an unfavourable track.
Ducati have already insisted that Assen is a location they expect to suit their bike, and Nicolo Bulega’s riding style.
James Toseland agrees with the theory that Ducati’s Bulega could have the edge over BMW’s Razgatlioglu.
“There are long, sweeping corners,” Toseland told TNT Sports about Assen.
“And we’ve seen how much corner speed [Bulega] has.
“We also know that Toprak isn’t happy with how the bike turns, with BMW.
“Assen has some of the fastest, longest corners, similar to Phillip Island. So it will be interesting to see how that bike goes there.”
Razgatlioglu struggled badly at Phillip Island, first highsiding in a pre-season test then finding himself unable to match Bulega.
He labelled the World Superbike Championship ‘a Ducati Cup’ amid his frustration with the season-opening round, which has now been tipped to be replicated this weekend.
Nicolo Bulega 'encouraged' despite Toprak Razgatlioglu's win
Bulega is top of the WSBK standings, 28 points clear of Razgatlioglu.
But the defending champion delivered a reminder of his brilliance last time out in Portimao, winning all three races.
“The winner is always friends with everybody, it’s second and third who struggle to put a smile on their face,” Toseland said about Razgatlioglu.
“He wasn’t so happy in Australia, was he? He didn’t have any friends there!”
Toseland noted where Bulega went wrong in Portimao, insisting he was simply unable to catch the BMW.
“It was a bit of desperation of not wanting to lose a triple in Portugal, but he didn’t have any choice,” he said.
“Bulega did absolutely everything that he could.
“You could tell he was encouraged by pushing Toprak to the chequered flag, because we know how good Toprak is around here.
“No-one could beat Toprak here.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
