Jonathan Rea praises 'incredible' Toprak Razgatlioglu after World Superbike title success

Razgatlioglu wrapped up his second world crown on Saturday at Jerez in Spain with Northern Ireland man Phil Marron as his crew chief, when his runner-up finish behind closest championship rival Nicolo Bulega was enough to put the outcome beyond doubt before Sunday’s final two races of the 2024 season.

The Turkish rider prevented Ducati’s Bulega from sealing a treble at Jerez when he won the final race to seal his 18th victory, a tally that included a new record of 13 consecutive wins before he was injured at Magny-Cours in France in September.

His achievement was even more impressive given it was Razgatlioglu’s first year as a factory BMW rider after he left Yamaha, with many questioning the merits of his decision.

Rea filled Razgatlioglu’s seat in the Pata Prometeon Yamaha team after parting company from Kawasaki following nine incredible years, during which time he won an unprecedented six successive World Superbike titles to become the most successful rider in the history of the championship.

However, the 37-year-old Ulsterman has endured the most difficult season of his illustrious career, ending the year in 13th overall and failing to add to his record haul of 119 victories.

Rea, who has vowed to come out fighting in 2025, said Razgatlioglu had set a benchmark to aim at next year.

“Incredible, I’ve got no words for Toprak,” said Rea. “When he came to Kawasaki (in 2018) from Superstock we had always ate together in Puccetti (Kawasaki) hospitality and I’ve a real bond with him.

“I felt like in the first season in Superbike I was able to speed up his learning transition – I tried to help him as much as I could.

“Now he’s a two-time world champion, it’s incredible. He deserves it a lot, he’s had an incredible year and it makes it all the more special changing manufacturer, and doing it with a different manufacturer – not many people are in that club.

“His growth as a rider and his popularity around the world increased tenfold, so I’m sure the whole world are behind him and congratulating him, so it definitely shows the level of World Superbikes right now and where we need to try and aim to.”

Rea struggled at the final round, claiming a best result of ninth in the last race after finishing 11th on Saturday and taking the same result in the Superpole race, while his Yamaha team-mate Andrea Locatelli bagged a podium with third on Saturday.

“Just now I don’t feel in the ballpark with my base set-up,” Rea said.

"We’ll try to work on that because for sure I should be there – I feel like I should be at least the same level as my team-mate, so work to do for sure.”