History was made last weekend as BMW finally claimed the World Superbike Championship (WSB), Toprak Razgatlioglu clinching the title with second place in the opening race at Jerez in Spain. It was 2010 when the German manufacturer first officially entered the series and it’s been a hard and long road to get to the top.
Final piece of the jigsaw
It’s been well documented that eyebrows were raised when Razgatlioglu announced he was leaving Yamaha to join BMW, particularly as the highest-placed rider in 2023 was a lowly 12th overall. The brand had never finished higher than third – with Marco Melandri in 2012 – so why would the Turk give up his race-winning Yamaha to switch to the German manufacturer?
It must have been for money, everyone said, but whilst the first tests gave no indication of what lay ahead, slowly but surely everything came together. After years of struggles, Razgatlioglu was the missing piece of the jigsaw BMW and the Shaun Muir’s SMR team needed to succeed. Podiums and wins were taken immediately and watching a race unfold, you could see that Razgatlioglu had everything under control.
Nowhere was this seen more than when he went on a record-breaking 13 race winning spree and had it not been for injuries sustained at Magny Cours for round eight, that run could have continued further. What’s also clear is that if it hadn’t been for that practice crash, he would have had the title wrapped up well before the final round at Jerez.
As it was, he had to wait until the penultimate day of the season to do so, second place to Nicolo Bulega giving him and the team a deserved title. Muir’s team have worked incredibly hard over the years, without the rewards, but bringing Razgatlioglu to the team along with his experienced crew chief Phil Marron, the duo having worked together since 2019, was what was required to succeed.
The benefits of Razgatlioglu coming to the fold was seen both on and off track, a perfectly harmonious garage enabling all parties to move forward, not just Toprak but team-mate Michael van der Mark too.
The partnership gelled from the outset and the Dutchman had one of his best years in WSB and it was fitting that the duo stood on the podium together in the final race. Winning titles is all about teamwork and this year, the BMW team delivered on all fronts.
Brilliant Bulega
It’s not rare for series rookies to challenge for the WSB title but it’s not frequent either so one can only tip their hat to Bulega, the Italian’s rookie season bettering anyone’s expectations when the season got underway. Double champion Alvaro Bautista was the one expected to challenge for the title, but it was soon clear it was going to be the other way round.
Bulega had won last year’s World Supersport Championship and it was well known that he was testing the Superbike regularly during 2023 but winning the opening race of the season in Australia made everyone sit up and take note. But whilst he couldn’t win week in week out, he was almost ever-present on the podium and that kept him well and truly in the title hunt.
Mistakes were rare and he only crashed out of one race all season, in the wet at Magny Cours, France and his only other DNF was due to a mechanical issue. He pushed Razgatlioglu harder than everyone and with 24 podiums, he was the deserved runner-up.
Bulega had been part of Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Academy, spending four years in the Moto 3 World Championship before stepping up to Moto 2 where he rode for the Gresini squad. But in none of those did he show much form, taking only two podiums and a best of seventh in a championship, in 2016.
But he’s been a revelation since switching to the World Superbike paddock, firstly in Supersport and this year in Superbike and, on the form he’s shown, it’s surely only a matter of time before another world title comes his way.
Room for improvement
It was a mixed year for 2022 and 2023 champion Bautista – pace and potential shown at every round but plenty of errors along the way – and he was outshone by rookie team-mate Bulega in all areas.
The Spaniard won four races and stood on the podium a total of 18 times, but both of these figures were lower than Bulega’s and whilst he ended the season in third overall, he was a whopping 127 points behind the Italian. That clearly highlights just how much of a struggle it was.
The additional weight he had to carry on the Panigale V4 R was clearly a factor as was the pre-season injury he was carrying but his qualifying performances played a major part too. He only qualified on the front row at three of the 12 rounds and only one of those was on the front row. Giving away that deficit to his rivals meant he was having to fight his way through the pack more often than not and that’s why he crashed far more than he would have liked.
Bautista had five DNF’s during the year and finished 15th or lower a further four times, the legacy of race crashes and you can’t afford to have that kind of season if you have designs on becoming champion. These are clearly areas he needs to address for 2025.
Strong season for Lowes; new chapter in 2025
Just six points separated Danilo Petrucci and Alex Lowes coming into the final round at Jerez with the Italian holding the upper hand, but it was Lowes who performed better in Spain, and he subsequently secured fourth overall behind Razgatlioglu, Bulega and Bautista.
Although his only victories came at the opening round, Lowes was a regular visitor to the podium, particularly in the Sprint race, and with a total of 12 during the season, he deservedly came out on top in the battle for fourth. It would be unfair to label Lowes as the best of the rest as he featured regularly in the battle at the front of the field, and it was a strong season for the now 34-year old.
He proved there’s plenty of life in the Kawasaki ZX-10RR and clearly benefitted by having Jonathan Rea’s former crew chief Pere Riba in his corner but it’s all change for 2025 as he and the entire squad switch to Bimota next season.
The Italian brand has good history in the series and will use the Kawasaki engine in their comeback but whilst Lowes and team-mate Axel Bassani clearly have a lot of work ahead of them, the early signs look promising
Italian flair
The Italian Ducati pairing of Petrucci and Andrea Iannone were regular front runners during the season, Petrucci for the Barni Spark team and Iannone for Go Eleven. They were both race winners and both regular visitors to the podium, the duo also overcoming adversity, Iannone from his four-year doping ban and Petrucci from serious injuries sustained in a mid-season motocross crash.
Riding for independent teams makes challenging for the title a big ask in any series and whilst the pairing had the aforementioned wins and podiums, they also, as expected, had some lowly finishes along the way too. But they brought plenty of flair and entertainment to the series and have been welcome additions to WSB.
Things can only get better
For six-time champion Jonathan Rea, 2025 can only be described as a torrid season. Crashes, injury and the failure to adapt to the Pata Yamaha R1 meant the record 119-time race winner was unable to get anywhere near the levels we’ve been accustomed to.
The year, unbelievably, saw him score just a single podium and just six top six finishes in the 36 races, staggering statistics given his success in the previous 15 years in the series. From the outside, he looked at one with the bike but right from the off the ideal set up and pace was clearly never there, and team-mate Andrea Locatelli was regularly some way ahead.
Admittedly, the Italian was in his fourth year with the bike and team, but he was an almost permanent fixture in the top six and ended the year in seventh overall, six places and 105 points ahead of Rea. Rumours suggest current crew chief and Rea’s former team-mate Andrew Pitt may be replaced and it’s clear an intensive winter of testing is required to get him close to the front runners once more. Things can only get better for the 37-year old.
Redding looks to 2025
After missing out on the title in both 2020 and 2021, it’s fair to say Scott Redding’s big move to BMW in 2022 didn’t pan out as he thought. Rostrum finishes were taken in his first season with the brand, but a win eluded him, and it was downhill after that. Indeed, 2024 was a major struggle, eventually finishing 15th in the Championship without a single podium to his name and only four top six finishes.
With team owner Jurgen Roder announcing mid-season he was pulling out, and team-mate Garrett Gerloff beating him regularly, Redding’s future looked unclear, but the team has now rebranded as MGM Bonovo Ducati. And with Gerloff moving to Kawasaki, that means Redding will return to the Panigale V4 R where he finished second and third overall in 2020 and 2021 taking a total of 12 wins and 37 podiums.
Whether he can get back to those heights remains to be seen but we should at least see a more competitive Redding in 2025.
Having started watching motorcycle races all over the world form childhood, Phil Wain has been a freelance motorcycle journalist for almost 20 years and is features writer for a number of publications including BikeSport News, Classic Racer and Road Racing Ireland, as well as being a regular contributor to MCN and MCN Sport.
He is PR officer for a number of teams and riders at both the British Superbike Championship and International road races, including PBM Ducati, John McGuinness, KTS Racing and Jackson Racing. He is also heavily involved with the Isle of Man TT Races working with the race organisation, writing official press releases and race reports as well as providing the TV and radio broadcasting teams with statistical information.