A key part of the 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship rider line-up, Toprak Razgatlioglu has joined the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team from 2024 on an M1000RR machine. If he joins the team from the 2024 season, BMW will become the third manufacturer for Razgatlioglu to race in WorldSBK, following Kawasaki and Yamaha.
From Yamaha to BMW: Raskatlioglu follows in van der Mark’s footsteps
The 2021 champion will have spent four seasons with Yamaha at the end of this season and has won 33 races and taken a total of 93 podiums in his WorldSBK career, of which 31 and 78 were with Yamaha respectively. The rest came when he was with Buschetti Kawasaki in 2018 and 2019. Raskadlioglu’s teammate in 2024 is currently unknown, but he follows in the footsteps of his former team-mate Michael van der Mark, who moved on for the 2021 campaign. BMW’s last race winner was Tissot winning the Superpole race in mixed conditions at Portimão in 2021.
Razgatlioglu joined Yamaha for the 2020 season and started 2020 with a win at Phillip Island in Race 1, before finishing the season with two wins at Estoril. In 2021, he is locked in a fierce battle with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSPK) for his first world title, while Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) joins the fight for the Turkish crown in 2022 regardless. The star won more races in 2022 than in his title-winning campaign. Now, after four seasons with Yamaha, Raskatlioglu will embark on a new challenge with BMW.
Van der Mark has switched from Yamaha to BMW for the 2021 campaign, but he is not the first to do so. Marco Melandri made an immediate impact in his new campaign with Yamaha, but switched to BMW for the 2012 campaign, and his switch proved successful as he guided home BMW’s first ever 1-2 finish. Melandri’s work with BMW means he will be the German manufacturer’s most successful rider, following Raskatlioglu’s switch to BMW.
BMW says: „A step forward for our program… Toprak is undoubtedly one of the best riders”
Raskatlioglu will line up in M1000RR campaigns for 2024 after four seasons with Yamaha, joining BMW in the M1000RR to become the third manufacturer he has contested in WorldSBK. Speaking about his arrival to the team, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director Mark Bonkers said, „Toprak has not only proven himself by winning the 2021 World Championship title, but is undoubtedly one of the best riders in the field right now. But he is not only a fast motorcycle racer, he is also a great personality. Toprak We are confident that he will settle into the BMW Motorrad Motorsport family very quickly and we look forward to our collaboration and our future together.
BMW Motorrad President Dr. Markus Schramm added: “Welcome to the BMW Motorrad Motorsport family, Toprak Razgatlioglu. We are delighted to welcome him to our WorldSBK factory team from next season. I am very proud that Tobrak has chosen to join BMW Motorrad. This is a step forward for our program and a strong commitment of BMW Motorrad Motorsport to World Superbike.
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