A new era has begun in Superbike, or at least that’s what Toprak Razgatlioglu hopes after this overwhelming start to the season. His best start ever, with nine wins in 15 races. Two more wins than those scored by the 27-year-old in the 12 Rounds of 2023, when he found himself chasing a Álvaro Bautista in a state of grace with a Yamaha R1 that was not up to the rival’s Ducati V4R.
A diametrically opposed scenario to what we are witnessing this year, in which Toprak has taken the reins of BMW to show everyone, once and for all, what he is made of. “Ducati is the best bike in the paddock. If I had gone there and won the World Championship it would not have been special for me. That is also why I chose a different challenge,” the Turkish rider said a year ago, justifying his inexplicable decision to leave the House of the Three Tuning Forks to embrace the project of the German manufacturer.
A bet that few would have made in light of the difficulties encountered in recent years by the Munich-based manufacturer, but one that fully proved the courage and foresight of the 27-year-old right. Who would not have drawn enough satisfaction from beating the Spaniard on the same bike, considering the bitter pills he found himself swallowing last season. One above all the 2023 Portimao Round, in which Razgatlioglu, at the height of anger and frustration, disintegrated the windshield of his Yamaha with his fists, after having suffered three stinging defeats on the last corner of the last lap.
From Defeated to Destroyer: Toprak Razgatlioglu’s Revenge
Ridiculed by Bautista and Ducati for the R1’s acceleration deficiencies, repeatedly accused of seeming like a 600cc against the Reds, El Turco went on the counterattack by going to get what he had always lacked, that is, a fast and powerful bike, backed by the unconditional support of a manufacturer like BMW, ready to invest everything necessary to take him to the title.
From pursuer to hare, from loser to demolisher: this is Razgatlioglu’s revenge, who once stopped taking slaps began to give them back to his rivals. With interest. It began to be seen at Misano, where the Turkish ace took the luxury of celebrating his first hat-trick on the M 1000 RR with a stoppie before the checkered flag. And it was even clearer at Donington, where the tightrope walker born in Alanya enjoyed his moment to the full, dominating both on and off the track.
Yes, because Toprak didn’t just dictate the law on the track that could be considered his backyard, but he annihilated his opponents with three peremptory victories, seasoned with intentionally ironic and provocative celebrations. Like the skit with the Police at the end of Race 1 and even more the “technical check” on the discordant seat of his BMW. Sketches studied at the table to convey a very specific message: the shy and introverted boy who had entered the World Championship in 2018 no longer stops for anything or anyone and is ready to make Superbike his playground.
