UNSTOPRAKABLE: Record man on the BMW M 1000 RR.

Portimão. The record hunt was successful. Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR) is the first rider in the history of the FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) to achieve the incredible streak of 13 consecutive victories. The BMW Motorrad factory rider won all three races from pole position on his ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW M 1000 RR at Portimão (POR), securing his fourth consecutive hat-trick. Razgatlioglu extended his lead in the rider’s championship to 92 points. Out of the 21 races held so far this season, he has won 15 and stood on the podium three further times. BMW leads the manufacturer standings by 20 points. Razgatlioglu’s teammates Michael van der Mark (NED) and Garrett Gerloff (USA) from the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team also gave in strong performances at Portimão.

Razgatlioglu and BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s winning streak began on 21st April in the second main race at Assen (NED). That was followed by three hat-tricks at Misano (ITA), Donington (GBR), and Most (CZE). The goal for the seventh round at Portimão was clear: to equal or surpass the previous record of 11 consecutive wins, held by Álvaro Bautista (ESP) and Jonathan Rea (GBR).

Razgatlioglu laid the foundation for his successful record hunt with his fourth consecutive pole position, his fifth of the season. However, the first main race on Saturday evening turned into a real thriller. The lead was fiercely contested, with countless position changes, and it wasn’t until the 13th of 20 laps that Razgatlioglu finally took the lead. He held onto it until the finish – equalling the record. In the Superpole race on Sunday afternoon, ‘El Turco’ led from the second lap onwards. After ten laps, he had done it, setting a new record of 12 consecutive wins and etching his name into the WorldSBK history books. The second main race was even more intense. When Razgatlioglu closely passed Alex Lowes (GBR / Kawasaki) at the start of the sixth lap, he lost the left wing on the front of his BMW M 1000 RR. Nevertheless, he pushed on until the chequered flag after 20 laps, defending his lead against all attacks and finally winning by a margin of 0.035 seconds.

Teammate van der Mark was also among the Portimão front runners, starting from fifth on the grid. In the first main race, he was part of the battle for the lead but had to drop back slightly in the closing stages, finishing in sixth place. In the Superpole race on Sunday, van der Mark was again in contention for a podium spot but missed out by just two-hundredths of a second, finishing fourth. In the second main race, van der Mark had an excellent start and even led the field at times. However, he eventually lost ground and finished seventh.

Gerloff also performed strongly at Portimão on the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team BMW M 1000 RR. Already fast in free practice, the Texan fought his way from ninth on the grid to an impressive fourth place in the first main race, securing his best race result of the season so far for himself and his team. In the Superpole race, he dropped back slightly at the start and finished 11th. In the second main race, Gerloff initially fell back to 18th at the start but made a great comeback to finish eighth. Teammate Scott Redding (GBR) struggled at Portimão. Despite a strong lap time, he could only qualify 16th in the tightly contested session. He retired shortly before the end of the first main race. In the Superpole race, Redding finished 17th, and in the second main race, he briefly ran in the top ten before finishing 14th.

Now, WorldSBK faces a slightly longer break. The next round will be held from 6th to 8th September at Magny-Cours, France.

Reactions after the Portimão round.

Sven Blusch, Head of BMW Motorrad Motorsport: “We are truly at a loss for words. What Toprak and the team have accomplished together is incredible. With 13 consecutive wins, he has made history for himself, the team, and BMW Motorrad Motorsport. His determination was evident in the last race when he fought for his next victory despite losing a wing and having reduced aerodynamics. He has shown that he can achieve greatness under any circumstances. Congratulations to Toprak, and a big thank you to everyone at the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team and BMW Motorrad Motorsport who made this possible. It’s also very positive to see the development of our other riders, with Mickey and Garrett fighting at the front at Portimão. We want to carry this momentum into Magny-Cours. It was a fantastic team effort. Our goal now is to represent our brand strongly with all four riders in the upcoming races.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team (SP: 1 / R01: 1 / SP Race: 1 / R02: 1): “Thirteen victories in a row and a new record – this is good, I am very happy with this. I now have also 54 victories in my WorldSBK career, that’s a nice number. For me, it has been an incredible weekend. Just the last race was a little bit difficult because the wind was very strong and it was not easy to ride the bike. When I saw the Ducatis coming, I said: ‘Okay, I am ready to fight’. In the first two, three sectors, I was not bad, I just lost a lot in the last sector. I thought: we are fighting, and we will see who will win. But I am really happy, we won again. It’s incredible for me. It looks like my dreams come true. Now we will see what we can achieve in Magny-Cours. I am not looking at the championship points, I just focus on the wins. If this winning streak stops, then I start thinking about the championship.”

Michael van der Mark, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team (SP: 5 / R01: 6 / SP Race: 4 / R02: 7): “We had a really nice Superpole race with some nice battles and I was fighting for the podium. On the last corner, I tried to pass Alex Lowes from the outside and I was lining up perfectly but I just started to wheelie shortly before the finish line and I missed out on the podium. I should be happy but I was really disappointed about that. Anyway, it was a good race. In race two, I had a good start and a good strategy with Toprak. Unfortunately I did not feel as good with the bike as I did this morning and yesterday. I think the wind changed a lot, especially for me. It was a shame but it was a long race and I tried as hard as I could. Unfortunately I finished only in P7 but overall it has been a fantastic weekend for the whole team, so we can be happy.”

Garrett Gerloff, Bonovo action BMW Racing Team (SP: 9 / R01: 4 / SP Race: 11 / R02: 8): “Sunday here at Portimao wasn’t as fantastic as yesterday. Yesterday was a big high. The Superpole race here was just a struggle. I didn’t have the best start, had to close the gas on the start and then got swallowed up by a bunch of guys. Everybody is going fast, I couldn’t work my way back up to ninth so I started one row back for the main race. In race two, same thing. I struggled with the starts today. I went so far back and then had to work my way forward. I’m happy to finish with a top ten but I know we had more and it’s just very frustrating to know that. Anyway, I’m looking forward to the next round. Obviously, I like Magny-Cours, so it should be good.”

Scott Redding, Bonovo action BMW Racing Team (SP: 16 / R01: DNF / SP Race: 17 / R02: 14): “It was a difficult weekend in general. The Superpole race today was a little bit better than yesterday, but I was still a little bit struggling with the bike. Then later today for race two I felt a bit better, we made some changes on the bike, which we ran before, so I was quite happy that I went back in that direction that helped me. But most of the weekend we’ve been quite slow. It’s difficult in the race to run at that pace. I got a good start and I was able to run with that front group a bit, but riding that pace for me I was using a lot of that front tyre and when the front tyre started to drop, I had some issues. But then again at the end of the race, it started to come back a little bit stronger. I think I could have maybe managed it a bit better myself. In general, I wasn’t happy, but happy at least coming away with more of a solid race at the end of the weekend. I hope we can start from there at Magny-Cours.”