Toprak Razgatlioglu “stressed” ahead of UK WorldSBK: “I need to win here”

Moving to MotoGP in 2026, Toprak Razgatlioglu will leave behind Donington Park, a track that he calls his “favourite” in WorldSBK.

Razgatlioglu has won nine times in World Superbike at Donington, and hasn’t finished lower than second since he was sixth in the 2021 Superpole Race.

The Turkish rider says his affinity with the British track means he feels “stressed” to win there before he moves to MotoGP.

“I’m happy, we come back again to Donington Park because this is my favourite track,” Toprak Razgatlioglu told WorldSBK.com ahead of the UK Round.

“I’m a little bit sad because this is my last race weekend in Donington – next year [in the UK] I’m riding in Silverstone.

“I’m happy, I feel a little bit stressed because I need to win here again because this is my last race.”

Despite his strong record at Donington, Razgatlioglu is not discounting points leader Nicolo Bulega, whom he trails by nine points after six rounds.

“I think it’s [Donington] good for all brands, only the track is different because some corners you don’t see and some corners are very slow,” Razgatlioglu said.

“But I like this circuit, why I say this is my favourite circuit. We will see because also Bulega is very strong, this year he has improved a lot.

“Maybe we are fighting again with him in the race.”

Getting to within 10 points of Bulega has been tough for Razgatlioglu, who struggled early on in the season, most notably at Assen where he missed the podium in both long races.

“The beginning [of the season] was very difficult because the motivation [went] down and also in the test I [had a] big crash again,” he said.

“For me it’s not a good start.

“But after, race-by-race, we are getting better, I’m adapting to this bike, because we are always trying to improve but it’s not possible to change some parts to improve so I just need to adapt to this bike.”

Most recently, at Misano, Razgatlioglu was able to win all three races and in conditions that he did not expect to help him and BMW.

“Finally, we find some good setup and especially in Misano we did an incredible race in hot conditions – because we are always scared of hot conditions because Ducati always is strong,” he said.

“But we did a very good test, we tried a different setup for the hot conditions. Finally, we found a good setup and we did an incredible race in Misano.

“Now we are here, this is my favourite track, but I’m never coming here relaxed because everyone is very strong and in this sport everything is possible – I’m easy to crash and also technical problems. Everything is possible.

“I’m just focused race-by-race, I have the biggest target – a hattrick – here because this is my last race weekend in Donington.

“But in general I’m happy because the beginning of the year was very difficult but now we’re strong.”