RiderTua.com – Toprak Razgatlioglu is not only an expert at handling bikes, a master of two-wheeled acrobatics, but his brain is also very smart when it comes to racing strategy. He made his first victory in Catalunya and rode a BMW M 1000 RR. He also responded to the doubts of many people about the BMW bike in his hand.
It didn’t take long for Toprak Razgatlioglu to bring BMW back to victory in the Superbike World Championship. On the second round in Barcelona he took victory in Race 1, managing his tires well and beating Nicolo Bulega on the final lap. At some point, the Ducati rider had gained an advantage that he thought was all over, then he suffered a tire failure and the Turkish rider was able to capitalize on it to achieve his first success in Catalunya. Not to forget, he also won his first pole position since he rode the M 1000 RR.
Toprak Razgatlioglu, Smart Strategy Rider
Obviously in the first race of the Barcelona Superbike, Razgatlioglu was delighted with the victory. “I am very happy and I thank my team who do an incredible job every day. We are finally winners in the race and for me it is very important to stay in this circuit, because I’ve never won here before. It was a dream and we made it happen, it’s amazing. The race in Catalunya was a very difficult race for me, by winning here I think it will be easier to fight on other tracks. Overall Overall, I’m happy,” he said.
Toprak explained his race strategy, and it proved to be effective.. “My plan was to ride quite slowly after the first two laps. Then I just waited for Bulega, the others to push the bike. I saw Sam Lowes who was pushing the bike hard and I understood that the tires were going to go down drastically after 8-10 laps, then he fell. When Bulega overtook me, I thought I would follow him and after two laps I realized that I was pushing too much. I closed the throttle a little to save the rear tire. For me it was enough, I know this track and in the last 5 laps there was a lot of tire damage. I saw Iannone drop a little early, I immediately overtook him and in the last 5-6 laps I saw Bulega also starting to drop, so I started to try hard especially when braking. In the last lap “I overtook him, he was very slow. I’m very happy, I didn’t expect it. I made a good strategy and we succeeded,” said Toprak.
The Turkish rider admitted that he felt more pressure at Phillip Island in the first round. “In the first race I (Australi) had a lot of pressure, then I felt normal. In Barcelona I didn’t feel it, even though Marcus Flasch from BMW was there and we want to show him something. We got pole position and victory in Race 1, it was a great day. Tomorrow we have two more races and I’m focused on this…” he said.
On Friday, Razgatlioglu seemed to have a slightly lower pace than the Ducati rider, in FP3 he took a step forward which helped him in the race. “We didn’t change anything big, but I feel a little better. Not a big step. During the race I felt better grip than yesterday. Ducati is always strong here, but I kept the pace and when I finally saw Bulega, I pushed hard. I think tomorrow the Ducati riders will improve, but we will also try to improve the bike. Everyone is happy now and will work even harder, which is good,” he added.
Some were wondering why Toprak decided to leave Yamaha to bet on BMW, today he gave the answer… “I don’t need to say any words (was moving to BMW the wrong choice).. because everyone can see it now.” Now those who doubted it can better understand the choices made last year, when it was normal to have doubts before anything was proven…
