"Toprak tries things that seem to be impossible but he makes them possible," said a smiling Michael van der Mark following the Catalunya Round of WorldSBK. It's hard to argue with the BMW Motorrad rider because his teammate, Toprak Razgatlioglu, dominated the headlines at the second round of the 2024 WorldSBK season.
Smashing the lap record in Superpole was impressive. Taking two last lap victories was stunning and tallied into a weekend that BMW will never forget. Toprak was the top points scorer in Catalunya and has immediately proved himself as a title contender once again. Winning races on the Kawasaki in 2019 or the Yamaha for the last four years was meeting expectations, but to do so with BMW has left his rivals with furrowed brows.
Scott Redding, a title contender when he was racing with Ducati, has been left scratching his head. When Toprak was signed Redding commented that he didn't think Toprak was a better rider. After Catalunya he had changed his view. Garrett Gerloff, a podium finished in Catalunya in the past, said that he was in awe of what Razgatlioglu has been able to do.
Rider and bike
It was only Van der Mark who had a strong weekend and it was his performance that really proved that BMW has made progress. Qualifying on the second row and coming away with fourth in Race 2 was a good showing from the Dutchman ahead of his home round.
