Only with Razgatlioglu did ROKiT BMW become a team / Superbike World Championship

Since Marco Melandri in 2012, no BMW driver has been better placed in the World Superbike Championship than Toprak Razgatlioglu, who is third overall after meetings at Phillip Island and Barcelona. The Italian led the World Championship twelve years ago with three rounds to go, but was only third at the end of the season.

The Turk’s contribution to ROKiT BMW’s sudden success is undisputed, but Michael van der Mark is also showing a clear upward trend and has achieved five single-digit results in six races so far. The Dutchman’s best finish was fourth in the second race in Spain.

“The bike definitely got better during the winter. But we didn’t expect to make such progress after the tough races in Australia and Catalonia. Toprak makes the difference. We’ve been in the world championship since 2016 and got podiums, pole positions and race wins of racing, but Toprak took the project to the next level,” team boss Shaun Muir said in an interview with SPEEDWEEK.com. “It took a long time to reach this level, although it was the same for other manufacturers. Yamaha was in the field for many years before they started to win regularly and take the championship. I realized how important the support of the factory behind is for the medium-term plans.

Razgatlioglu and van der Mark have already created a harmonious team at Yamaha in 2020. A good environment has a positive effect on how the whole team works.

“When Toprak came to us, another rider had to leave and it was Scott. “Michael has a different mindset and that was an important reason why that decision was made,” explained Muir. “Michael and Toprak do their talks together, they work together and talk all the time . You don’t see that intensity on TV. I don’t know if Bulega and Bautista have the same relationship at Ducati or Locatelli and Rea at Yamaha. But that’s how it works for us and to me that’s important. The team is very close now and we have worked towards it year after year. The crew is fully coordinated and even though Phil Marron came to us, don’t forget that we have already worked together for several years. We are on a good path.”