Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) had a difficult weekend to open the 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship season in Australia, missing out on either of the top two spots for the first time since his return from injury last year at Aragon in the Tissot Superpole Race, and was unable to claim any points in Race 2 after a mechanical issue forced him back into the pit lane on Lap 12.  The rest of the weekend wasn’t as tough for the defending Champion, but it was hardly smooth sailing, A P2 finish in Race 1 would be the highlight of the weekend for ‘El Turco’ as he finished P13 after he ran wide at Turn 4 on the opening lap of the Tissot Superpole Race, before being forced to retire from Race 2 with a technical issue.

“A HARD WAY TO START THE DAY…” – Razgatlioglu on Superpole Race struggles

Toprak spoke on his struggles this weekend in an interview after Race 2: “For me the Superpole Race was a hard way to start the day, I felt some big problems with the bike, and I think we’re a little lucky I didn’t hit someone. In Race 2 we tried to improve the bike, but we decided to use yesterday’s bike because I felt like we were improving and the grip was much better than what it was before, but in the race, we were starting to see that something was wrong, so we decided to not continue the race.”

“I’M JUST FOCUSING ON THE NEXT RACE” – ‘El Turco’ vows to come back stronger

While taking away only 20 points from a weekend is below expectations for the immense talent Toprak normally displays, Phillip Island is a circuit he that has never been his favourite. The high-speed, “old-fashioned” layout of the track devoid of heavy braking zones featured in other tracks plays away from Razgatlioglu’s strengths, and mitigates his ‘alien’ ability to control the bike under rapid deceleration. The defending Champion seems to want to put it behind him and focus on what’s to come this season, as there is plenty of racing left.

“I’m never very happy in the first races of the season,” begun the #1. “Every year something feels strange on the bike, so in that way this is the same. I am just focusing on the next race because we’re going back to Europe, and I will be having to fight with all the Ducatis. We have a long break of almost a month now, I am going to keep working and try to come back stronger.”

“WE’RE STILL INVESTIGATING THE BEST WAY FOR OUR SETUP” – how much did a lack of testing hurt BMW?

BMW also spoke about the rollercoaster weekend Down Under, with BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director, Sven Blusch, giving his thoughts on a weekend that, while it included a front row start and a podium, also featured a tough Friday for the reigning Champion and a Sunday where he scored no points. He admitted he expected Phillip Island to be tough due to limited testing time for a variety of reasons, including an injury for Razgatlioglu and poor weather across both the Jerez and Portimao test days, with all eyes now on Round 2 in March.

He said on Sunday after Race 2: “It wasn’t an easy winter for us. It was definitely a tough day for us on Sunday. I think we showed potential on Saturday, but Sunday wasn’t easy. We have to re-focus now and come back stronger together at Portimao. When we arrived, it was clear it would not be an easy weekend for us, because we just missed testing time with all the obstacles we had over the winter, with Toprak’s finger problem; he missed a lot of testing time. We had a lot of rainy test days as well and the change of the concession topic as well, for sure we were in the position we were at Phillip Island without a lot of testing and we’re still investigating the best way for our setup so it’s not easy for us.”

Can Toprak right the ship and return to his dominant 2024 form or will Nicolo Bulega continue to leave the rest of the grid in the dust? Catch every moment including full session uploads from past seasons with the WorldSBK VideoPass!