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(Ducati/501). This makes Razgatlioglu the first Turkish
Superbike World Champion and ends Yamaha's wait for
a title win, which had lasted since Ben Spies' triumph in
2009.

During the 2022 season, there was much speculation
about Razgatlioglu moving to MotoGP, and the late-
braker also completed a test with the Yamaha M1 as a
reward for his title win in Aragon. But Razgatlioglu
turned this down because he would only move to a
factory team.

In the 2022 Superbike World Championship,
Razgatlioglu faced tough opponents in Álvaro Bautista,
who had returned to Ducati, and record world champion
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki). Although the Yamaha star was able to score 14 victories, one more than when he
won the world championship, he only managed second place behind the Spaniard.

Bautista once again left his mark on the 2023 season, winning the title with 27 victories. But Razgatlioglu was
the only one who could stand up to the Spaniard and put him under pressure. The fact that the Turk was able to
delay the World Championship decision until the finale in Jerez was already a success. With seven victories

The “shift in the tide” Toprak Razgatlioglu has

brought to World Superbikes in 2025

“We're having to pinch ourselves…”

BMW World Superbike boss Shaun Muir says Toprak in our expectations.
Razgatlioglu's form in 2025 and the fact he is gunning
for the title is “unthinkable”. “If you asked what our expectations before the season
started were, we would've said finishing in the top
The 2021 WSBK champion stepped away from three and winning six races would've been a good
Yamaha at the end of last year to join the factory BMW target for Toprak.
squad.
“I think everyone could see the target bar was getting
With BMW enjoying limited success prior to lifted higher and higher and, especially after there
Razgatlioglu's arrival, the Turkish superstar has won were some fundamental moments; the first one being
15 races in 2025 - including the last 13 in a row. the performance at Barcelona which was quite
sensational on a predominately Ducati track.
It's put him comfortably in the lead of the standings
heading to Magny-Cours, 92 points clear of Ducati's “Equally, going to Misano and doing what he did there,
Nicolo Bulega. in what was probably Ducati's backyard, was a shift in
the tide really and that momentum's carried on and
Reflecting on the season so far, Muir says the team is here we are in this position where it's just kind of totally
having to “keep our feet on the ground”, but notes there unthinkable.
has been “a shift in the tide” since the Misano round.
“We're redefining our scope and aligning everyone
“We're having to pinch ourselves and keep our feet on and trying to keep our feet on the ground.”
the ground,” Muir told WorldSBK.com.
For Muir, who has enjoyed success on the national
“We started off in quite a measured fashion coming out scene in Britain and on the world stage, he believes
of the winter tests in December, coming to Portimao in Razgatlioglu winning the title this year would be the
January. highlight of his career.

“I think Toprak's confidence was super high already at “Every week, we move the bar somewhere differently,”
that point so when we went to Australia, we had a he added.
mechanical DNF which really upset everybody
because we just didn't expect it. “I think what really stands out for me is that the group's
got tighter and I think that comes from all the really
“We came out of Australia with quite a bit to gain and tough times we had from '19 onwards where we
then going to Barcelona was just a sensational switch couldn't grind a point out at some races. LHR

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