Toprak Razgatlioglu wins 2025 World Superbike Championship
It took until the last race of the last round to do it, but Toprak Razgatlioglu is the 2025 FIM Superbike World Champion. Riding for the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, Razgatlioglu achieved his second successive championship with the team, adding to the first title he won with Pata Yamaha in 2021.
Razgatlioglu, who celebrated his 29th birthday just days ahead of this year’s Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) finale at Jerez, was holding a 39-point advantage over Nicolo Bulega of Aruba.it Racing – Ducati. With 62 points on offer at the final round, Bulega could still win the championship if Razgatlioglu DNF’d or finished outside the points. Despite a 13-race winning streak for Razgatlioglu earlier in the 2025 WorldSBK season, achieved between the San Marino and Aragon rounds, he and Bulega were now more evenly matched, with three wins apiece over the previous two rounds.
Friday goes Red
On the opening day at Jerez, Bulega showed he was up for the fight, setting the fastest time in Free Practise 2, despite a technical issue with his Panigale V4R. Razgatlioglu struggled to find an optimal set-up on the M 1000 RR, finishing fourth fastest in FP2 and second on the day’s combined results. While cautiously optimistic, Razgatlioglu conceded he wasn’t at Bulega’s level – yet.
“It won’t be easy because Nicolo is very strong now, but if we can improve tomorrow, I think we can fight with him in the race,” Razgatlioglu said after FP2.
A poor result from Razgatliogu’s team mate, Michael van der Mark, meant he couldn’t be relied upon to perform a ‘rear gunner’ role, while other riders that had no stake in the championship battle would be keen get their piece of glory at the finale.
Saturday Surprise
After setting a new lap record in Superpole, Bulega turned that into a Race 1 win, but not before Razgatlioglu briefly held the lead. After Bulega passed him at Turn 5, Razgatlioglu ran wide at the following corner, allowing Andrea Iannone (Team Pata GoEleven Ducati) to pass for second. Although Razgatlioglu regained the place a lap later, he was unable to close the margin to Bulega, which stood at around 4 seconds for most of the race.
“We started quite well, but in Turn 5, Bulega touched me a little,” Razgatlioglu explained. “It’s normal and it’s racing, but after that I lost a bit of time.
“I tried to brake hard into Turn 6 because I saw Iannone was with me. I made a mistake and I went wide. After that I focused on recovering P2 and I pushed really hard to try and win but it was impossible because Bulega’s pace was very strong.”
Victory for Bulega meant he cut Razgatlioglu’s championship lead to 34 points with Sunday’s Superpole Race and Race 2 remaining.
Sunday Fight
What was already a heated battle for the 2025 WorldSBK title reached boiling point in Sunday’s Superpole Race.
Razgatlioglu got the holeshot again, but at the same corner where Bulega hit the Turk in Race 1, the Italian did it again. This time, the contact was more forceful, sending Razgatlioglu crashing out of the race. A Long Lap Penalty for Bulega had little impact on his performance, with victory coming easily ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).
Immediately after the race, fan displeasure at what they deemed to be dirty tactics from Bulega – and a meek penalty in response - erupted into a chorus of boos for the Italian in Parc Ferme and on the podium.
The DNF for Razgatlioglu cut his championship lead to 22 points, which was bad enough for a title defence that seemed to be unravelling. What made it worse is that the top nine finishers in the Superpole Race set the grid for the first three rows of Race 2, so Razgatlioglu would have to start from tenth.
A Champion - Finally
Ahead of Race 2, Razgatlioglu needed a 13th place finish or better to be champion was, even if Bulega won. Worse than 13th and Bulega, if he won the race, would have the points to also win the championship.
Obviously, starting from the fourth row of the grid is worse than starting from the front row. With the opening two races already witnessing first lap crashes from the mid-pack runners, Razgatlioglu was in danger of experiencing another DNF.
From tenth, Razagatlioglu had improved to eighth by the end of lap 1, then sixth a lap later. If he held this position, or even dropped a few places before the end of the 20-lap race, he’d be world champion, even if Bulega won.
Despite the comfort of knowing he had the title all but wrapped up, Razgatlioglu continued to advance, moving up to third by lap 9, then holding that place until the chequered flag. Bulega won again, making it a clean sweep for the round, but Razgatliogu was champion, 13 points ahead of Bulega.
On the cool-down lap, an elaborate championship celebration saw Razgatlioglu change into golden leathers, perform a signature stoppie on his M 1000 RR through a “brick wall,” then channel Thor, using a Mjolnir-like hammer to crack open a case holding a golden helmet.
“We crashed at Turn 5 in the Superpole Race, but I stayed calm and focused on Race 2,” Razgatlioglu said afterward. “We did a good job and took the title. In Race 2, I rode calmly from tenth on the grid. I knew that I didn’t need to take risks and I just had to finish.
“The start of the season was tough, but race by race we kept improving - we improved together. The team worked so hard and they were always trying to give me a better bike.
“I’m really happy to win this title in my last year with BMW. It’s a nice gift before moving to MotoGP. It’s been a fantastic season.”
Razgat Stats
Razgatlioglu’s third championship sees him join elite company, with Troy Bayliss, Carl Fogarty and Jonathan Rea the only other riders to achieve three or more WorldSBK titles.
The Turk exits WorldSBK after eight seasons and 258 race starts. Of those starts, he finished on the podium in 173 of them, including 78 wins, 61 second-place finishes and 34 third-place finishes. That equates to a winning percentage of 30 per cent and podium percentage of 67 per cent. Razgatlioglu also achieved 66 race fastest laps, while poles were perhaps his only weak point, with 24 across his career.
For the 2025 season, Razgatlioglu’s record stands at 21 race wins (his best ever), 10 other podiums, 20 best race laps, 6 poles and 616 championship points.
