The 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is just over halfway through the season and Toprak Razgatlioglu's move to the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team has been a key talking point. 15 wins, including 13 consecutive victories to set a record, have been the obvious highlights for the #54 and BMW, but Team Manager Shaun Muir gave us a deep dive on the team’s season so far, from both Razgatlioglu and teammate Michael van der Mark's side, as well as his hopes for the end of the year.

2024 SUMMED UP: “Going to Misano and doing what he did in Ducati’s backyard was a shift in the tide…”

Muir first reviewed the journey with Razgatlioglu from testing to a record-breaking winning run, saying: “We’re having to pinch ourselves and keep our feet on the ground. We started off in quite a measured fashion coming out of the winter tests in December, coming to Portimao in January. I think Toprak’s confidence was super high already at that point so when we went to Australia, we had a mechanical DNF which really upset everybody because we just didn’t expect it. We came out of Australia with quite a bit to gain and then going to Barcelona was just a sensational switch in our expectations. If you asked what our expectations before the season started were, we would’ve said finishing in the top three and winning six races would’ve been a good target for Toprak. I think everyone could see the target bar was getting lifted higher and higher and, especially after there were some fundamental moments; the first one being the performance at Barcelona which was quite sensational on a predominately Ducati track. Equally, going to Misano and doing what he did there, in what was probably Ducati’s backyard, was a shift in the tide really and that momentum’s carried on and here we are in this position where it’s just kind of totally unthinkable. We’re redefining our scope and aligning everyone and trying to keep our feet on the ground.”

THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SEASON: “Quite obscure ones… it was at Valencia where his eyes widened”

“I’ll give you two highlights and they’re quite obscure ones for totally different reasons and these are things that really only the team would quite understand,” began Muir when discussing some less obvious highlights. “We had a difficult December test because of the whole timing of Toprak being able to ride the BMW. We had a moment in Valencia. We were still quite unsure, but Toprak made a brave decision to move away from Yamaha onto this package. It was really at Valencia where his eyes widened and thought, ‘Do you know what? I have made the right decision. I know we can make this bike work; I know we can make this package work, what we have now is good enough.’ That was the first one because it was like, wow, we can really enjoy our Christmas turkey. The second one was clearly that amazing ride to come back and beat Nicolo in Barcelona. Not the move in the Superpole Race, but to come from 3.3 seconds down and to do that. It was a little bit of a rookie race for Nicolo to use his tyres as he did, but it was also really measured by Toprak. Coming out of that event, the race time in Race 1 and Race 2 of Toprak’s were identical within a few tenths of a second in overall race time. That was a sensational performance from him, and it just made us realise that we’ve got such a talent.”

THE ATMOSPHERE IN THE BOX: Razgatlioglu and van der Mark reunited

Razgatlioglu and van der Mark have been teammates before, in 2020, and were paired up again for this year. Talking about the atmosphere in the team, Muir said: “I’ve had riders in the past that have won, and you don’t get the same atmosphere. We had Tom who’s been on the podium, Mickey’s had results in the past at Portimao. It’s such a balanced team. I keep saying it, the group of mechanics that I have here, the group of technicians, are 90% what we started with at the beginning of the project and doing pretty much the same job, same role, with the same energy and professionalism but the outcome at the end when it all clicks together is just sensational and we’re seeing that now on this potential record breaking run. We’ve got Mickey in a really good place now. We’ve had a few disappointing Superpoles. What you saw at Most, coming from 16^th in the gravel trap, to get a Superpole Race of ninth and a Race 2 of fifth or sixth, that is sensational for us. At Portimao, a good exit in Superpole, consolidate that with a second row start and fighting for the podium and finishing in the top six. We don’t expect anything more than that. We’ve got to be in contention because that proves to everybody, and what Garrett did, this bike is a lot better and isn’t all Toprak. The BMW package is better.”

Speaking specifically about van der Mark, Muir said: “I think it’s quite a difficult dynamic being a teammate Toprak, for anybody. It’s a tough one. I’m sure the years Jonathan was dominating, his teammates must’ve felt similarly. Michael gets so much energy and effort from everybody to make him realise that he can be a winner and he can be a worthy teammate to Toprak. When you see the Race 1 results at Portimao, it gives him that energy to go forward with and I think we’ll see more of it. If we can inch up just a few positions, and get into that top six for Mickey, I think that’ll really justify our decision to re-sign him for next year.”

THE FINAL FIVE ROUNDS: “I can’t believe we’re here talking about this situation!”

2021 Champion Razgatlioglu broke the record for consecutive wins at Portimao, making it 13 in a row in Race 2. Speaking ahead of Sunday’s action, Muir believed ‘El Turco’ would ride freer once he broke the record while also praising rivals Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK): “We don’t have many parts coming now until the first pre-season test of 2025. It’s some electronic upgrades to do with electronic strategy and fault finding. The package we have today will see us through until the end of the final race. In terms of here and now, I think there’s a little bit of a monkey on Toprak’s back and hopefully he can conquer that because I felt he rode a bit tight in Race 1 with this consecutive wins record in his mind; I mean, I can’t even believe we’re here talking about this situation! Once that’s gone, I think Toprak will probably ride a bit freer. I think he'll go into Magny-Cours, a circuit we know we should be good at as well, he’ll be really strong there and, edging forward from there, he doesn’t have to win every race. He just has to beat the closest person to him, whoever that may be. I think what Danilo did in Race 1, he’s threatened a few times. He’s back from injury and that was great to see. I really rate that guy, he’s a credit to this Championship. I’d like to see Andrea Iannone step back up again, he’s a had a few week rounds. The Ducatis are coming. Alex has been super consistent. I think, what we’ve seen up until the Portuguese Round and we’ll see until the end of the year, that gap will close.”

THE BEST TO COME FOR MUIR’S CAREER? “If Toprak can lift that trophy, I can see that probably being the highlight of my racing career…”

“Every week, we move the bar somewhere differently,” started Muir when talking about a potential career highlight. “I think what really stands out for me is that the group’s got tighter and I think that comes from all the really tough times we had from ’19 onwards where we couldn’t grind a point out at some races. Overall, I think we’re going to get to a position, whether it be Aragon, Estoril, or Jerez, where Toprak – fingers crossed – can lift that trophy, I can see that probably being the highlight of my racing career whether that’s as a rider, manager or operator.”

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