The Turkish World Superbike Champion spoke on his prospects ahead of the 2024 season as he makes the switch from Yamaha to BMW.

With the first World Superbike team launch done and dusted we also managed to get our first glimpse of Toprak Razgatlioglu in the official BMW colours in Berlin. The arrival of Razgatlioglu to BMW has drawn a lot of attention to the German manufacturer and the successful Turkish rider.

After spending the last four years in Yamaha blue and winning a WorldSBK title with Yamaha in 2021 a move to struggling BMW seemed like an odd career choice for Razgatlioglu. However, the 27-year-old states that he remains fully focused and ambitious ahead of his new challenge with BMW.

“I’m always ready”, confirmed Toprak after the livery for his 2024 bike was unveiled. “I did three days of testing, but none were fully dry sessions. Now I’m just waiting for next week, I miss my new bike”.

Razgatlioglu’s first impressions of the BMW were positive despite the poor conditions: “In Portimao, the first time I rode the bike, I was smiling on the straight, because the bike is very fast. We need to just improve some things, but we are not far. We need more laps; we need more kilometers”.

Toprak went into more detail about his first tests on the BMW and echoed some of the comments previously made by fellow BMW riders on where the bike could improve. “The electronics. In general, the bike is very good. Especially, the engine brake is unbelievable, the bike is stopping. We just need to improve in some areas, for my style”.

Ahead of the new season Razgatlioglu and BMW have their first official test next week at Jerez, where they hope to setup a true reference for the season: “Next week’s test will be very important, because I’ll see all the riders there, I only rode alone [during previous private tests], I didn’t see other Superbike riders, I need some riders, some fighting, to see the lap times”.

The Turkish rider has been very successful at Phillip Island in the past. However, he knows it can be an unpredictable first round of the season, so is cautious on his expectations: “The first race is a little bit difficult. Phillip Island is always a hard race because you need to keep your rear tyre. We’ll see”.

Despite being cautious for the near future the 2021 World Champion is rather confident when looking ahead to the distant future with the German manufacturer: “BMW are working every day. This is good. When I see BMW working, I work even more. And if we work like this, I think we can be World Champions. I don’t know if this year or next year, but I believe this, we are not far”.

Image Credit: BMW Group