Toprak Razgatlıoğlu 2024 WorldSBK Champion merch is here!
The Toprak Razgatlıoğlu World Champion 2024 t-shirt and cap has just landed at the WorldSBK Store! An official collection from Toprak and the factory ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team of limited units, is the perfect combo to celebrate the title from the Turkish talented rider.
The Toprak Razgatlıoğlu 2024 Superbike World Champion logo is featured on both t-shirt and cap. It shows the frontal fairing of the BMW M1000RR #54, with the combination of traditional BMW Motorsports colors in red, with and blue against an elegant black background. Wrapping by the sides, a classic golden laurel wreath and below the ‘El Turco’ logo. Letters with the message ‘2024 Superbike World Champion’ alternates white and gold colors. Also included, the t-shirt and the cap features the logos from BMW Motorrad Motorsport. The t-shirt adds also all the team partners, as any official merchandise deserves to celebrate this collective triumph.
The all-black t-shirt is available in sizes from S to XXXL. The also black color cap features curved visor and snapback with perforation. Both items are of high quality, as is customary in all the official merchandise from ROKiT BMW Motorrad.
The pack can be purchased together to be fully equipped to celebrate Toprak Razgatlıoğlu’s 2024 WorldSBK Championship. It’s a limited collection, so be sure to grab yours before it ends… and it will sell fast! The “Toprakmania” is here to stay!
Toprak 2024 Superbike World Champion: a t-shirt for history
The achievement done by Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and the whole ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team is one for the history books, making the merchandising from this celebration even more special!
For Toprak Razgatlıoğlu is his second WorldSBK title, after the one the achieved in 2021 with Yamaha. The Turkish rider was the second rider to win a WorldSBK crown with a Yamaha after Ben Spies’ 2009 crown. But with BMW the bar was raised even more: many considered the M1000RR to be the least competitive bike of the five factory models competing at WorldSBK and very far from what was though a ‘title-winning’ bike.
Last year, Toprak and Yamaha relationship fell apart. BMW closed the deal with the higher offer in the paddock for the Turkish star. Many thought that he was making a move for monetary reasons and not by sportive ones. But ‘El Turco’ probably saw something more on the M1000RR that others didn’t appreciate. For sure, he saw pure power: on the straights, the BMW had more speed than his previous machines. Fed up with losing in the straight line was he was wining in the corners, Toprak benefited from the first race of more horsepower. Then he adapted his riding technique to the BMW, which resulted in a well-suited machine for his aggressive braking, and improving the issues with tire consumption and traction.
It didn’t take long for him to shine. A 3rd position in Phillip Island, in the very first Round, and the first double win in Barcelona, the second Round of 2024. Surely it was a strong start, but was enough for the title? After Assen, probably the decisive breakthrough for Toprak came at Misano. In the Italian circuit he dominated like never before: three race, three wins with a wide margin. In that moment we all knew that the title was possible. A record breaking 13 wins in a row helped to transform his candidature to a solid leadership. Only the crash at a Free Practice in Magny Course, whose injury made him loose the six races of the French and Cremona Rounds, added some spicy to the title fight. But in his return in Aragon he was again in the podium; any ghost of the title fading away was gone. In Portimao he won again and in Jerez the title was sentenced in Race 1. An outstanding achievement for an outstanding rider.
BMW Motorrad and WorldSBK: a rollercoaster of emotions
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu move to BMW was part of a wide plan from the German manufacturer. Surely, the 2024 World Superbike title has come earlier than though even for the staff of the team, but the development plan for the M1000RR made by the factory has achieved an improvement for the other riders, as seen in the podiums of Van der Mark and Gerloff. BMW has a full test team with two riders (one being the 2014 WorldSBK champion Sylvain Guintoli) and Razgatlıoğlu talent plus the garage staff consolidated all this effort in the best season ever for BMW by far.
BMW’s WorldSBK journey started in 2009 with the S1000RR, then a breakthrough machine in the history of the Munich brand, as it was its first real and modern commercial Superbike. Next season they achieved their first podiums, with two 3rd positions with a veteran Troy Corser.
By 2012 the Bavarian machinery was competitive, and their riders Marco Melandri and Leon Haslam achieved the first wins for the brand, ending in a very positive second place in the Manufacturers championship and a third overall for Melandri. In 2013 they achieved more victories and podiums to finish fourth and fifth in the rider’s championship. But here a costly decision was made when the top brass at BMW decided to end the factory involvement in WorldSBK for the Motorrad branch.
This decision was not reverted until 2016, whenthey again fielded an official team, this time partnering with Italian structure Althea Racing. But it was a hard return: during three season results didn’t materialize and BMW riders were far from the podium. Finally, in 2019, BMW Motorrad rearranged its WorldSBK effort: a full factory program with a new partner, Shaun Mir Racing (SMR) - whose structure was responsible of two British SBK titles - and a totally remodeled S1000RR.
