A video has been published by the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team showing onboard footage of Toprak Razgatlioglu’s test at the Portimao circuit.
The Autodromo Internacional do Algarve was host to Razgatlioglu’s first test aboard BMW M 1000 RR machinery last November, following the conclusion of his contract with Yamaha, and BMW has now released on-board footage of the #54 lapping the circuit.
Razgatlioglu’s move to BMW was one of several major rider moves in WorldSBK last season, alongside Jonathan Rea’s move to Kawasaki, Nicolo Bulega’s promotion from the factory Ducati Supersport team to the same organisation’s Superbike team, and Andrea Iannone’s signing with the Go Eleven Ducati team as his ban from racing came to an end.
But it is probably Razgatlioglu’s move to BMW from Yamaha that creates the most excitement for 2024. With the dominant Alvaro Bautista remaining with Ducati for the upcoming season, Razgatlioglu’s switch to the M 1000 RR is perhaps the best bet of a genuine world title fight this year. With all respect to six-time WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea, he has moved from a motorcycle - the Kawasaki ZX-10RR - which he decided was incapable of winning a title last year to a bike - the Yamaha R1 - which Razgatlioglu decided was similarly incapable of such success at the same time.
Compared to the Yamaha or the Kawasaki, the BMW has more engineering potential, simply because its engine is more powerful than those of the other two bikes, and it’s quite clear that straight-line performance is one of the strongest points of the Ducati package that has come out on top in the last two seasons.
Exactly how competitive Razgatlioglu will be on the M 1000 RR - which, remember, has not actually won a dry race yet (Michael van der Mark’s Portimao Superpole Race win was in wet-but-drying conditions) - remains to be seen, but we can at least enjoy ‘Stoprak’ from on-board for now.
The 2024 World Superbike Championship will begin next month on 23-25 February at the Phillip Island Circuit in Australia.
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