“No way on Earth” Toprak Razgatlioglu WorldSBK team will accept Nicolo Bulega collision

There is “no way on Earth” that BMW can take the contact between Nicolo Bulega and Toprak Razgatlioglu “on the chin” after the Spanish WorldSBK Superpole Race, according to Shane Byrne.

Bulega and Razgatlioglu made contact at turn five on the opening lap of the Superpole Race, which could've seen Razgatlioglu crowned World Superbike Champion for 2025, when Bulega tried to pass for the lead on the inside.

It was a move Bulega had executed cleanly in Race 1, but the Superpole Race move had more consequences: for Razgatlioglu, a DNF and no points; and for Bulega a long lap penalty that he easily overcame to take his 13th win of the season.

The Race 1 move was accepted by Razgatlioglu as a part of racing, but TNT Sports analyst and former BSB Champion Shane Byrne thinks there is “no way” BMW can accept the incident in the Superpole Race.

“Nicolo [Bulega] pulled off exactly the same manoeuvre yesterday, made it through; we heard Toprak [Razgatlioglu] say in his post-race interview that he didn’t like the contact but it’s racing, he took it on the chin,” Byrne said, speaking after the Superpole Race on TNT Sports. 

“There is categorically no way on this Earth that they [BMW] are going to take that one on the chin. 

“Contact is one thing, but the problem is, when you’re on the side of the tyre like that, you’ve got very little grip. 

“You’ve got to bear in mind the contact patch of the tyre at that sort of lean angle is literally about one centimetre, two centimetres at the most. So, the slightest little nudge and that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

That Bulega went on to win the race could be viewed as an indication that the penalty applied to him was not strong enough. But Byrne thinks Bulega’s pace is so strong in Jerez that even a double long long lap penalty would not have been enough to cost him victory over 10 laps.

“I mean he got a long lap penalty, still won the race by miles,” Byrne said.

“If he’d have got a two long lap penalty he’d have still won the race. The outcome of the race would’ve been no different and Toprak would’ve still been in the gravel. 

“So, for me, realistically, whether he got a [single] long lap penalty or a [double] long lap penalty is irrelevant. 

“Whether or not BMW will protest and see something get done for the final race today [Race 2], that’s what we need to wait and hear.”

Byrne added that he thinks Bulega will be especially keen to make his pace alone in Race 2 – when he will start on pole and Razgatlioglu will be 10th – and avoid battles.

“He’s going to try to get a start and check out,” Byrne said. “He’s going to want absolutely nothing to do with any battle with anybody. 

“And, let’s be honest, over this weekend he’s had the pace to do that, he’s disappeared off at the front. 

“Toprak had nothing for him yesterday in the long feature race, I don’t know whether he’d have had anything for him today in this sprint race, but he would’ve finished the race and he would’ve become World Champion. 

“Now Toprak needs to ride around. The objective for Toprak is literally just to finish the race.”