Toprak Razgatlioglu Moves to BMW
T
he second major "silly sea-
son" WorldSBK news story
thus far is the biggest, with 2021
World Champion—and one of the
truly great talents of WorldSBK
racing—Toprak Razgatlioglu,
leaving Yamaha at the end of the
season to join BMW.
A stunning move in many
ways, this possibility has been
spoken of inside the WorldSBK
paddock of late. Most were con
-
vinced, however, that he would
stay in his settled Pata Yamaha
Prometeon team rather than take
what appears a risker venture to-
ward the fast but fickle BMW M
1000 RR. But even Razgatlioglu
has been toiling for little reward
on the Yamaha this season.
The reality of WorldSBK in 2023
is that the combination of Alvaro
Bautista and his Aruba Racing
Ducati V4 R has proved unbeat
-
able to all except Mandalika sprint
race winner Razgatlioglu. At all
four tracks and in all conditions.
With Bautista back in harness
for the official Ducati team for at
least one more year, and there
appearing to be no new and
special Yamaha base machine
on the horizon for Razgatlioglu,
moving manufacturers next year
is logical in at least one regard.
The WorldSBK BMW is fast but
has a reputation of being difficult
to set up. With such a unique rid
-
ing style, maybe Razgatlioglu feels
the problems other riders have
been having may not affect him,
simply as his on-track approach is
so different from all of theirs?
BMW management, with a
repeatedly injured and truly
luckless Michael van der Mark
alongside a clearly disgruntled
Scott Redding in the official
BMW Motorrad team, must see
taking one of WorldSBK's "Big
Three" super-talents into the
fold as the single biggest perfor
-
mance upgrade they can apply
next year. Although we presume,
they must have fronted up some
major budget to lure him away.
The big question for all is
will Razgatlioglu be able to turn
machine potential into podium
metal on a regular basis? It looks
like essential viewing, even from
this far out.
Gordon Ritchie
WIND
IN THE
P52
In a surprising move,
WorldSBK star Toprak
Razgatlioglu is leaving
Yamaha for BMW at the
end of the season.
