Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) continues to make history in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as he secured his 59^th and 60^th wins in the Championship after completing a hat-trick at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. He narrowly defeated Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) in all three races, with his Sunday double at the Pirelli Portuguese Round enough to move him up Carl Fogarty in the all-time winners’ list.

SUPERPOLE RACE VICTORY: losing ground at the start, holding on for the win on the last lap

Razgatlioglu’s Tissot Superpole Race victory was very similar to his Race 1 win, where he and Bulega went nose-to-tail for almost the whole race. As in Saturday’s race, ‘El Turco’ fell down the order as the lights went out, although only to P3 compared to P7 in Race 1. He was soon back into second as he passed Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) at Turn 1 on Lap 2 and soon chased down Bulega in first, getting ahead of him on Lap 5 at Turn 3 to take the lead. He was unable to pull away from the #11 though, with Razgatlioglu having to withstand his pressure across the final lap, with just 0.055s separating the pair.

Discussing his Superpole Race win, the #1 stated: “For me, I love fighting. I never give up. The bike isn’t 100% but I’m only pushing for the win. Race 1 for me was a hard race because I lost the front a few times, I just tried to follow him and then win the race. In Sunday’s two races, the pace was incredible. We improved the bike and I felt more grip, but turning was the same. I’m just fighting for the wins, and everyone enjoyed it. After Phillip Island, we are coming back very strongly and showed everyone we’re here.”

HAT-TRICK HERO: a hard-fought Race 2 win

Race 2 was similar as the pair fought hard for the win in a red-flagged battle. In the restarted 11-lap duel, there was a period where the #1 and #11 swapped positions six times, with the overtakes happening at Turns 13 and 14, plus Turns 1 and 3, throughout. Razgatlioglu was able to hold on to take victory and his third of the weekend, plus his second consecutive hat-trick at the iconic Portuguese venue.

Hat-trick vs Bulega and Championship fight: “It’s very different to 2024 because I lost some parts on my bike. We’re fighting in every corner and some sectors he’s very strong, and in some I just tried to close the gap. I think the people really enjoyed it. I’ll keep fighting, we’ll see in the next races. In the first two races, he was very strong. I’m fighting here because it’s my favourite track, I’m always fast here, and we needed to win.”

PASSING FOGARTY: a 60^th win for the reigning Champion

His Superpole Race victory gave him his 59^th win in WorldSBK, putting him level with Carl Fogarty in third place in the all-time list for victories in WorldSBK. ‘Foggy’ was the benchmark throughout so many years after his incredible successful time in the Championship as he won four titles and claimed 59 victories, only exceeded by Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) with 119 and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) with 63. In Race 2, he moved ahead of ‘Foggy’ with his 60^th win as he claimed a hat-trick at Portimao.

THE TEAM’S REACTION: “we’ve taken a lot of strength from what we’ve done this weekend”

BMW Team Principal Shaun Muir spoke shortly after the race on BMW’s weekend and how they feel after the round at Portimao. While there is much to be happy about between Toprak’s treble, van der Mark’s P5, and the setup is clearly being in a much better place than it was in Australia, Muir was concerned about the rounds to come. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, we’ve taken a lot of strength from what we’ve done this weekend, Michael was brilliant there to bring it home in fifth and we’re happy to see he’s in a good place again. We thought we could come here and we respect the opposition but this is a track we have more of an advantage but as you can clearly see, we have none against the Ducatis. It just means that over the course of the year this championship is going to be like that every single race, and where we don’t have a balanced setup, and we can’t do it then we’re gonna be struggling. This round, Donington and Most are ones that are in our favour if you get me, but they’re likely to win them all. I think it shows its going to be a really tough year for us.”

Next up in WorldSBK, Assen! Catch everything from the ‘Cathedral of Speed’ across 11^th-13 April using the WorldSBK VideoPass!