Toprak Razgatlioglu's right-hand man Phil Marron says World Superbike title 'means the world to us'

Marron is the Turkish star’s crew chief and right-hand man in the factory BMW team and was in his corner when Razgatlioglu won his maiden world crown in 2021, ending Jonathan Rea’s record unbeaten run of six World Superbike titles in a row.

Marron made the move with Razgatlioglu from the Pata Yamaha team to the Shaun Muir-run ROKiT BMW Motorrad squad for 2024 and together they have proved to be a winning combination once again, making history with a first World Superbike title for German manufacturer BMW on the M1000RR machine.

Razgatlioglu’s runner-up finish in Saturday’s opening race at the final round of the championship at Jerez settled the outcome, with race winner Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati) no longer able to mathematically challenge for the championship with two races remaining.

Bulega made it a double with a win over Razgatlioglu in Sunday’s Superpole race, but his bid for a first WSBK treble was ended by Razgatlioglu, who signed off in the best way possible by winning the final race, which was stopped with four laps to go due to track contamination after German rider Philipp Oettl’s GMT94 Yamaha suffered a huge engine failure.

Marron, from Moneyglass in Co Antrim, said 28-year-old Razgatlioglu’s title achievement was ‘pretty special’.

“It’ll be a week or two yet before we take stock of everything – what a feeling,” he said. “Obviously it means the world to us, it's an incredible achievement, but it’s more a testament to Toprak and I’m fortunate enough to work alongside this guy.

“We’ve an incredible group of guys in BMW and okay, bringing me along (to the team) probably helped to fast-track the process, but everybody quickly understood what he needed from the package and the guys working back in the factory, the guys working trackside are incredible guys – clever ideas and some geniuses in the box.

“The results speak for themselves.”

Razgatlioglu’s move to BMW raised eyebrows but he quickly put any doubts to bed, claiming a podium in third in his second race on the M1000RR in the Superpole race at Phillip Island in Australia before clinching a double at Catalunya in Barcelona a month later.

It was the catalyst for a championship charge and Razgatlioglu began to assert his authority, winning a record 13 races in a row before the remarkable run came to an abrupt halt following a crash at Magny-Cours in France in September.

Razgatlioglu suffered a collapsed lung and missed the following round at Cremona in Italy, allowing Bulega to slash his championship lead, but a trio of runner-up finishes on his return at Aragon put him back on track before a double at the penultimate round at Estoril meant the title was merely a formality.

“Nobody believed me or the BMW, but finally they understand we’re world champions,” Razgatlioglu said. “This is incredible, especially with BMW; they’ve never won the title. Finally, I got my second title and BMW got their first.”