Toprak Razgatlioglu wins 2024 World Superbike Championship

Critics of Toprak Razgatlioglu’s departure from Yamaha to join the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team this year are eating humble pie after he won the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK). The 28-year-old from Turkey secured the championship in Race 1 of the final round at Jerez. It’s Razgatlioglu’s second WorldSBK title and the first for BMW.

BMW made their WorldSBK debut in 2009 and stayed for five seasons before exiting at the end of 2013. In that time, they won 12 races, all of which came in the final two years, delivered by Sylvain Guintoli, Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies.

In 2019, BMW returned to WorldSBK as a factory team, and this time, their commitment to the championship paid off. BMW’s victory in their second attempt is due in no small part to Razgatlioglu’s ability to win – and win regularly – on the M 1000 RR when many other riders before him couldn’t.

Making Razgatlioglu’s achievement even more impressive is the fact that he won this year’s championship despite missing two rounds – six races and 124 potential points - due to injury. A serious crash in practise during the French round at Magny-Cours meant he didn’t race there, or at the following round at Cremona in Italy.

Prior to that crash, Razgatlioglu had won 13 races in succession and the championship seemed inevitable. His lead coming into the French round was 92 points over second placed Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing Ducati). Missing two rounds cut that advantage to just 13 points.

On his return to racing at Aragon – just three weeks after the crash – Razgatlioglu achieved three runner-up finishes to take his championship lead out to a healthier 39 points with two rounds remaining. Two more wins in the penultimate round at Estoril extended that lead out to 46 points. Coming into the season finale at Jerez, that margin meant Razgatlioglu could be tactical in his approach to the races, with no need to win to secure the championship. Conversely, Bulega needed to win all three races and hope Razgatlioglu finished off the podium - and preferably outside the points - in each.

In Superpole at Jerez, Razgatlioglu qualified second behind Bulega and only needed to finish the opening race in third place to wrap up the championship, even if Bulega won. This he duly did, triggering an elaborate post-race celebration where the Turk entered a “spaceship” off track and emerged in special golden leathers, with a golden helmet and with one of his team wearing an alien mask. The theme, it seems, referenced the ‘aliens’ in MotoGP; a small group of riders (Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, and later Marquez) who dominated the results in grand prix racing a decade ago.

“What does it feel like to be the World Champion? Right now, I have no stress and I’m not excited,” a matter-of-fact Razgatlioglu said afterward. “It’s been a long season.

“Nobody believed in me or BMW at the start, but now everyone understands that we are the World Champions. This is a team effort because everyone worked hard and tried to improve in every race. Finally, we are World Champions and it’s incredible.

“BMW has never won the title before. I’ve got my second title and BMW has their first World Championship title. I’ll be using the Number One next season because BMW deserves it after their first title.”

Markus Flasch, Head of BMW Motorrad, described the 2024 championship as “a milestone for our brand,” praising both Razgatlioglu and the team that allowed BMW to finally join the WorldSBK rider’s championship list.

“Congratulations to Toprak and everyone who tirelessly contributed to this incredible achievement – the entire BMW Motorrad Motorsport team in Munich and Berlin, the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team led by Shaun Muir and the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Test Team,” Flasch said.

“What Toprak showed this season was more than impressive and proves what an outstanding athlete and person he is. From the start, he and BMW Motorrad Motorsport proved to be a successful combination.

“We provided him with the perfect bike, the M 1000 RR, and with his unique riding skills, he left his mark on the season. Equally impressive is his mental strength, fighting his way back after a severe crash. At the same time, he’s simply a great guy and rightly a true fan favourite: humble, funny and always hard-working. Together with the team and our engineers, after every success, he looked for ways to improve further. The reward is this well-deserved world championship title.”

With the championship secure after Race 1 at Jerez, Razgatlioglu put an exclamation point on his 2024 WorldSBK season by winning Race 2 to finish the championship with 527 points – 43 ahead of Bulega and 70 ahead of last year’s champion, Alvaro Bautista of Aruba.it Racing Ducati.

Razgatlioglu finished the 2024 season with 18 wins, 9 other podiums, 6 pole positions and 13 fastest laps across the 30 races he contested.

In 2025, the new WorldSBK Champion will apply the #1 plate to a new version of the M 1000 RR, which BMW previewed at the end of October. The new M 1000 RR is said to have more power (160kW – up from 156kW) and improved aerodynamics that increase downforce and reduce wheelies without impacting top speed.

Razgatlioglu will unveil his new M 1000 RR and #1 plate at the opening round of the 2025 WorldSBK season, which will be held at Phillip Island on 21-23 February (TBC).