BMW with Toprak: Don’t be afraid to make mistakes like the Honda / Superbike World Championship

BMW with Toprak: Don’t be afraid to make mistakes like the Honda / Superbike World Championship


Superbike world champion Toprak Razgatlioglu not only has an impressive style but also a special riding style. BMW sporting director Marc Bongers explained to SPEEDWEEK.com why this is not a loss in development.

In just his second race with BMW, Toprak Razgatlioglu managed his first podium finish of the 2024 season and his first victory in race four. The rest is history to remember: the Turk won 13 races in a row from the third event in Assen, setting a record. It took his fatal crash at Magny-Cours to end the streak. Although Toprak then had to miss six races due to injury, he won the world championship with a 43-point lead over Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati), and was on the podium 27 times in 30 races, winning 18 times.

The signs are good that BMW will also be in a good position with the 28-year-old next season. Since the factory’s return to the World Superbike Championship in 2019, the four-way hybrid is now in its seventh year. We are talking about millions of investments, which underlines BMW’s commitment to this championship.

Within just a few races, Razgatlioglu has not only become the savior of the German manufacturer, but also its leader.

“Since he is the service driver, we are responding to his wishes,” said BMW sporting director Marc Bongers in a live chat with SPEEDWEEK.com. “The driver does not tell the factory or the development team what he needs. He has a passion that manifests itself in different driving habits. How to implement this technically is a difficult task.

The Dutchman does not see the risk of making the same mistakes as those made by Honda in MotoGP, where the progress until the end of 2023 was completely planned by the leading Marc Marquez.

“Toprak has an amazing and special driving style, but when it came to the performance of the four BMWs in the field this year, the difference was very small,” said Bongers. “The cars were very close. You could see that Toprak was pulling the other riders along. This was not only because of the progress, but also because they changed their riding style. When you see what he does every day and how well the bike works… We did worked hard with Michael on his driving style and it paid off.”

Avatar for geomtimba
geomtimba