Van der Mark: “Toprak has everyone smoking their pipes” / World Superbike Championship

Van der Mark: “Toprak has everyone smoking their pipes” / World Superbike Championship


“You can’t compare Toprak Razgatlioglu to anyone else,” says Michael van der Mark of his teammate in the World Superbike Championship. And he explains how he lowers the BMW M1000RR more than others.

In 2019 and 2020, Michael van der Mark and Toprak Razgatlioglu formed the Yamaha factory team. The Dutchman moved to BMW after the season, with Toprak winning his first world title with the Blues in 2021.

In 2024, Razgatlioglu joined the German manufacturer and was reunited with van der Mark. Even Bartimayo could see with one eye that the two understand each other skillfully and complement each other well in their work.

This year, Michael finally had an injury-free season and finished sixth in the World Championship with 245 points, while Toprak won the title with a best score of 527 points – a first for BMW in the company’s 101-year history!

Anyone paying attention to the skills of six-time race winner van der Mark will quickly realize what incredible success Razgatlioglu is achieving on the M1000RR.

“You can’t compare Toprak to anyone else,” emphasized van der Mark in an interview with SPEEDWEEK.com. “He has a very special character – sometimes I wonder if he even cares about the race. Eleven minutes before the pit opens, he goes into his little room, puts on his leather suit and then drags everyone into his pipe. It makes me wonder what is going on in his head. When I’m getting ready he just says ‘let’s go’. The way he weaves with his natural talent is something unique.”

Does that make it harder to copy? “Maybe I’ll have to stop preparing and be a bit quicker,” joked the Dutchman. “He doesn’t bother himself. Stress always means that you waste energy for nothing. He only feels stress when he rides a motorcycle, then he relaxes again. I can learn something in this matter. The way he feels and rides a motorcycle – any bike – makes for an interesting package. Not only that he he’s a great talent, he’s also a very unique person, that’s why he’s always in a hurry.

“That inspires me,” said the 32-year-old. “When Toprak came to BMW, it was immediately clear that his way of working and his riding style are right for this motorcycle, so I started to change my style. I have the best driver by my side. I knew that – that’s why we want to help each other. If he asks me for something, this is the only way you can take the whole project to the next level.”

Van der Mark concluded: “Everyone at BMW went through difficult years, was under a lot of pressure and had a lot of problems – I was injured for two seasons. That’s why we were denied the progress we expected. Then they signed Toprak – and they had to deliver. Everything happened at the right time – and they gave birth. This year all the hard work paid off and I can’t explain how happy I am to everyone. The last stage in the Superbike Championship is always the most difficult, then Toprak he came on the bike and he was able to cope immediately. This is what makes a motorcycle. It can cope with any motorcycle. We knew from his first day on the BMW that something good was coming.

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