Extra objective for Toprak Razgatlioglu as third WorldSBK title moves closer

Toprak Razgatlioglu is on the brink of a third WorldSBK title after finishing second in Race 1 at the Spanish Round, but the Turkish rider also has an extra target in mind for Sunday in Spain.

Second place also meant Razgatlioglu equalled Colin Edwards’ record for 25 consecutive podiums in World Superbike. But instead of being pleased about tying such a record, Razgatlioglu was immediately intent on going one step further.

“I need to break the record,” Toprak Razgatlioglu told WorldSBK.com after Race 1 in Jerez.

“Tomorrow I need to finish the race on the podium again! We will see.”

In the context of the championship, Razgatlioglu doesn’t need a podium at all on Sunday. In fact, a top-seven in the Superpole Race will see him crowned 2025 World Superbike Champion even if second-placed Nicolo Bulega wins the race, as he did - by four seconds - in Race 1.

However, “I’m not thinking to finish the race in seventh position,” Razgatlioglu said. 

“I’m just pushing so hard for the win, but we will see. 

“If not win, I’m just finishing the race, try to do in second position, but we will see. 

“It’s not easy to say anything now, but my target is always to push the best.”

Race 1 itself saw Razgatlioglu get the holeshot, but an early pass from Bulega at turn five eventually saw Razgatlioglu drop to third as he then ran wide trying to hold position from Andrea Iannone at turn six.

By the time he cleared Iannone, Bulega was over a second clear and Razgatlioglu could do nothing to interrupt his pace.

“We are starting not bad, but the problem in corner five – Bulega touched me a little bit, but this is normal, it’s a race – I lost a little bit of time inside the corner,” Razgatlioglu explained.

“After, I just tried to do hard braking for corner six because I see Iannone is [alongside] me, so I just tried to do hard braking to catch Bulega. 

“But I did a mistake because the bike is not stopping and going wide. 

“After, I just tried to take the P2, and I’m pushing so hard to win the race but it’s impossible because he had a very good pace, seriously strong pace. 

“I said ‘Okay, P2 is okay,’ but I’m pushing 10 or 12 laps, a lot, and I’m just focused on my pace. 

“Anyway, we did a good job the first day, and now I’m just looking to tomorrow.”

Despite being fast enough to comfortably clinch his third WorldSBK title on Sunday, Razgatlioglu is looking for more out of his M1000 RR for what will be his final day aboard it before his MotoGP move.

It has been typical for Razgatlioglu to complain about the engine braking setup of the bike this year, but on Saturday in Jerez he pointed also to traction control as an area to be worked on.

“Still I have a big problem on the engine brake side and traction control side,” he said.

“Especially after [some laps] the traction control is working not really well. 

“Now everyone sees the data, I think we are improving tomorrow – I hope we are improving because I’m trying to win the race before I get the title.”