Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) leads the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship for the first time in 2025 following his Donington Park hat-trick, with BMW turning their season around after a tricky start with their new BMW M1000RR machine. Team Principal Shaun Muir spoke after the Prosecco DOC UK Round about the hat-trick, how disappointment at Most ‘hurt’ the #1 and how their season has turned around, with ‘El Turco’ able to overturn a 42-point deficit after Phillip Island – which was still a 41-point deficit after Race 1 at Assen – into a four-point lead after Round 7.

CLAWING BACK POINTS: “It hurt him badly at Most to come away having ridden so hard all weekend to not get the maximum there…”

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) stormed into an early Championship lead with a hat-trick Down Under, while Razgatlioglu struggled. The Turkish superstar responded at Portimao with his own treble, but Assen was difficult for both – Bulega had two Sunday DNFs, while Razgatlioglu could only manage P8 in Race 2, although he did win a wet Tissot Superpole Race. Cremona belonged to Bulega, with Razgatlioglu in P2 in all three races, before Most, Misano and Donington – a run of three circuits the #1 took hat-tricks at last year. At Most, he was beaten on the final lap by Bulega in Race 2, but won the other eight races, to claim the title lead for the first time after Donington.

Discussing the hat-trick and the recent form, Muir stated: “It’s been a real, real struggle over the last months to claw back the deficit to Nicolo Bulega's Championship lead. Hats off to the whole team. They’ve all worked really hard and never given up. Toprak’s had laser focus in every race. It hurt him badly at Most to come away having ridden so hard all weekend to not get the maximum there. Since then, at Misano and Donington, he’s been really determined to get back to a level situation in the Championship. A big effort by everybody and we can finally now start to grind down the races, look forward to the next test and look forward to the next race.”

TURNING THE CAMPAIGN AROUND: “We’ve just been focusing on trying to stabilise the setup…”

BMW introduced a new package for the 2025 season after Razgatlioglu’s title-winning campaign last year, and they lost the superconcession chassis they’d run last season. With winter testing heavily disrupted by poor weather, the team struggled to get the best out of the new package until after Assen. More mileage and more data were crucial in the manufacturer being able to understand the new M1000RR and it seems to be paying off for Razgatlioglu after a run of eight victories and four second-place finishes in 12 races.

Explaining how BMW have gone from a difficult start to the season to winning consistently, Muir stated: “We started late with testing and the new material. It seems to be that wherever we have a test at the circuit, we have a good performance in the round. We tested at Portimao, we had a really good performance. We tested at Misano and had a good performance in the race. Here, I think it was always going to be good for Toprak because it’s his favourite circuit. Generally, we’ve just been focusing on trying to stabilise the setup of the bike, trying to get to a position where confirming the data setting from circuit to circuit becomes quite standard. We’re almost at that point with the new package that it transfers circuit to circuit.”

FUTURE IN THE BAG: “He was so determined to get this announcement made so we could relax everyone in the team”

Razgatlioglu’s future had been debated for a while, with rumours linking him all over the place. Ahead of WorldSBK’s visit to Misano, it was confirmed he would head to MotoGP for 2026 and 2027 with Pramac Yamaha. Since the announcement, the two-time Champion has been unbeatable and the question of whether the news had made Razgatlioglu more relaxed was put to Muir.

He said: “He was so determined to get this announcement made so we could relax everyone in the team. We didn’t want to be in a position where we were worrying until the last minute about whether he’s staying, is he going. We’re sad to lose him but I’m also, like everyone, very happy he’s got this opportunity in his career. We’re so happy for him and his whole team to go to MotoGP. He wants to leave as a Champion. I think Nicolo can see he’s got a great competitor, and he wants to try and beat him.”

Next up, Hungary! Don’t miss Razgatlioglu vs Bulega in the title fight as WorldSBK celebrates its 1000^th race using the WorldSBK VideoPass – now half price!