Superbike
Turkish motorcycling great Toprak Razgatlıoğlu celebrated his second WSBK championship crown during a dream debut season with his new ROKiT BMW Motorrad team.
Ending a record-breaking World Superbike season with glory, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu claimed his second WSBK title at the final round of the championship in Jerez, Spain, after scoring 2–1 finishes on the day.
Starting from the front row of the grid, Razgatlıoğlu needed a top-three finish in the opening 20–lap race to secure the title for the second time after his 2021 triumph. The Turkish ace duly delivered, racing his ROKiT BMW Motorrad machine to second place behind main title rival Nicolo Bulega of Italy to wrap up the championship.
Razgatlıoğlu rode the perfect race, getting a good jump from second place on the grid to hold his position pole-sitter Bulega. With first five laps completed, he started to push Bulega, pushing the duo to a lead of nearly five seconds over their closest rival by the start of Lap 6.
Entering the final 10 laps, Razgatlıoğlu let Bulega go for the win, but maintained a clear and comfortable second place as each subsequent lap brought him one step closer to becoming the 2024 WSBK world champion.
It wasn't an easy season for me. When I chose BMW, they said my career was over. Now I'm the champion
The title celebrations at the finish were out of this world, as Razgatlıoğlu rode into a spaceship-shaped tent and changed his normal racing leathers for a custom golden one and an alien face mask – much to the delight of race fans and the assembled media.
Razgatlıoğlu, who won his first WSBK title in 2021 made big and controversial changes ahead of the 2024 season. He left the long-standing Pata Yamaha team – where he became the rider with most wins for the Japanese manufacturer – and signed for Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, which many considered a step back for Razgatlıoğlu.
However, the Red Bull Rookies Cup graduate proved everyone wrong and won a record-breaking 13 races in a row to establish a big lead in the world championship standings, before a crash during Free Practice 2 at the French round briefly halted his title charge, forcing him to sit out the French and Italian races. He returned to action in Portugal and immediately won again, maintaining his points lead and setting up his eventual title triumph.
Catch the replay of the race and Razgatlıoğlu's WSBK triumph right now on on Red Bull TV.