(Motorsport-Total.com) – Between the WSBK events in Barcelona and Misano, BMW announced that it had secured the services of former champion Toprak Razgatlioglu for the 2024 WSBK season. Razgatlioglu will leave Yamaha at the end of the season after four years together.

On paper, the move is a relegation for the Turk, as BMW is currently last in the manufacturers’ standings and is the only one of the five manufacturers involved that has not yet managed a podium finish in the current season.

So far, BMW has celebrated 13 race victories in the Superbike World Championship. By comparison, Razgatlioglu has already achieved 31 race victories with Yamaha in the past three and a half years. BMW has only won one race since its factory return in the 2019 season (Michael van der Mark, Superpole race in Portimao 2021).

Why Toprak Razgatlioglu had no interest in Ducati

Why did Razgatlioglu agree to the change? “It’s not all about the money,” the Turk explains to the official website of the Superbike World Championship. “People don’t believe BMW can win. I want to show everyone that the BMW is a bike capable of winning,” says Razgatlioglu, describing the challenge that motivates him.

“The Ducati is the best bike in the Superbike World Championship paddock. If I had gone to Ducati, I would have won the championship. It would have been nothing special for me. That’s why I’m going to BMW,” explains the 2021 Superbike champion.

There were already critical voices when he switched from Kawasaki to Yamaha, but Razgatlioglu helped Yamaha to its first title since Ben Spies in 2009 in just his second season and silenced the critics.

© Gold and Goose

“Yamaha didn’t win the championship for twelve years and then became champion again. I will go to BMW, who have never won the world championship. My big dream is to become world champion with BMW. That is the big goal,” said Razgatlioglu.

Jonathan Rea: Is Toprak Razgatlioglu the missing piece of the puzzle for BMW?

Record champion Jonathan Rea can imagine that Toprak Razgatlioglu and BMW can be successful. “It’s an exciting change for everyone, for the championship, for Toprak,” commented Rea. While Kawasaki has struggled recently, BMW’s potential seems to be much higher, even if the results do not yet confirm this.

© Kawasaki

“BMW is a manufacturer that is very committed,” says Rea. “This becomes clear when you look at how many new versions of the bike they have brought out within a short period of time in order to be competitive.”

“Toprak has an incredible amount of talent and is super fast. Maybe he is the missing link to take BMW to the top. I’m sure it will be an exciting challenge for him,” notes Rea.

Alvaro Bautista: “It’s not a crazy idea”

World champion Alvaro Bautista can also understand the reasons for the change. “It’s always difficult to judge from the outside. But I don’t think it’s a crazy idea to change teams,” commented Bautista.

“Toprak knows the Yamaha very well and knows very well how high the potential is. BMW is working to be competitive. They want to become stronger. It is a good signal that they have signed Toprak. It shows that they want to fight for victories. He is one of the best riders in the championship. They will work very hard to build a competitive bike,” Bautista is convinced.

© Gold and Goose

But Razgatlioglu’s signing is also a risk for BMW, because if Razgatlioglu also lags behind with the BMW, then that puts the M1000RR in a bad light. “If things aren’t going well for a rider of his caliber, then it’s down to the bike or the team. Toprak is undoubtedly ready to fight for victories. I think it was a good decision by Toprak,” said Bautista.

It will be interesting to see how well Razgatlioglu’s extreme style harmonizes with the BMW superbike. Garrett Gerloff was optimistic, but Scott Redding has some doubts. “If Toprak can use his style, he will also be very fast,” noted Bautista.

Bautista’s move from Ducati to Honda showed that a change can go wrong. But the comparison is flawed, says Bautista: “It’s very different to what happened to me three years ago. Back then we didn’t have a bike and had to start from scratch. BMW, on the other hand, has been good in the past. They got some good results with Sykes. They were pretty fast on a lap on some tracks.”

Carl Fogarty ponders whether Scott Redding was the right driver

The Razgatlioglu/BMW deal was also a big surprise for Superbike icon Carl Fogarty. Fogarty learned in his career that a change also entails risks when he went from Ducati to Honda and returned after just one year.

“It was a bit of a shock for me,” says “Foggy” about Razgatlioglu’s move to BMW. “BMW is a big manufacturer and the bikes are good. I’m not sure whether the package will work with the current riders or not,” he ponders.

© Ducati

“That will become clear next year with Toprak. I’m looking forward to it because he has a lot of talent. Let’s see what he can do. BMW wants to win races and Scott hasn’t been able to really put himself in the spotlight so far,” Fogarty acknowledges.

What will happen next for Redding is unclear. The Briton has until July 15 to decide whether he wants to stay with BMW or whether he wants to part ways (which is what Redding said about his future on Thursday before his home race in Donington).