Sofuoglu: ‘Very difficult to beat Bautista, but I believe in Toprak’

Razgatlioglu will be aboard a different bike for the first time in five years after a sensational switch to BMW.

The 2021 world champion is perhaps the most well equipped rider to go from Yamaha, a perennial WorldSBK winning brand, to a bike in the M 1000 RR that has shown itself to be weaker than the R1.

• Sofuoglu: ‘I think BMW is the one that can beat Ducati, we can be champions’ 
• FIRST LOOK: Alvaro Bautista and Nicolo Bulega unveil 2024 Ducati

There’s no disrupting Alvaro Bautista’s achievements' at Ducati, especially in 2023 when he won 27 out of 37 races, but that hasn’t stopped many of his competitors from picking Razgatlioglu as the best rider last season.

And Sofuoglu, who is aware of the big challenge ahead, believes Razgatlioglu is the rider to finally take BMW from the mid-field to winning races.

“From the first day we did a two-year contract because of that, the first year can be difficult, we expect this,” Sofuoglu told WorldSBK.com during BMW’s launch. “This doesn’t mean we will be off the podium; I believe Toprak will be always fighting for the podium, at least. 

“It’s like with the Yamaha, we were on the podium every race.”

“Winning is a little bit difficult. We know why. Bautista is very strong. When we were on the Yamaha, it was very difficult to beat Bautista for the win. 

“But personally, I believe in Toprak more than everyone. For that reason, I believe Toprak will surprise everyone. He’ll start with a podium… It can also be a win.” 

Testing begins this week at Jerez, before Portimao plays host to another two-day outing before the end of the month. Both tests will see all five factory teams in attendance along with many satellite teams.