MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

“Toprak tries things that seem to be impossible but he makes them possible,” said a smiling Michael van der Mark following the Catalunya Round of WorldSBK. It’s hard to argue with the BMW Motorrad rider because his teammate, Toprak Razgatlioglu, dominated the headlines at the second round of the 2024 WorldSBK season.

Smashing the lap record in Superpole was impressive. Taking two last lap victories was stunning and tallied into a weekend that BMW will never forget. Toprak was the top points scorer in Catalunya and has immediately proved himself as a title contender once again. Winning races on the Kawasaki in 2019 or the Yamaha for the last four years was meeting expectations, but to do so with BMW has left his rivals with furrowed brows.

Scott Redding, a title contender when he was racing with Ducati, has been left scratching his head. When Toprak was signed Redding commented that he didn’t think Toprak was a better rider. After Catalunya he had changed his view. Garrett Gerloff, a podium finished in Catalunya in the past, said that he was in awe of what Razgatlioglu has been able to do.

Rider and bike

It was only Van der Mark who had a strong weekend and it was his performance that really proved that BMW has made progress. Qualifying on the second row and coming away with fourth in Race 2 was a good showing from the Dutchman ahead of his home round.

It is fitting that the world championship motorcycle racing season should open at the greatest racetrack on the face of the earth. Phillip Island never disappoints, and it is a source of eternal envy in the MotoGP paddock that it is World Superbikes that get to visit Phillip Island at the end of summer, when the weather is at its best, while MotoGP is left with the dregs of winter.

As wonderful as it is to see bikes on track at the world's greatest racetrack, Phillip Island is such a unique place that it is unwise to read too much into the results of the opening weekend of the World Superbike championship. Phillip Island is a riders' track, where bravery and talent count for more than having a perfect setup or a superior motorcycle. The rider can make up for a lot.

Throw in a new surface, and you muddy the picture even further. The new track was so much faster than the old surface that Pirelli was forced to introduce compulsory pit stops to change front and rear tires. Both outright and race lap records were demolished, the Superpole record by 1.3 seconds, the race lap record by 1.5 seconds. That is a lot more speed, and a lot more speed means a lot more stress on the tires. Despite pit stops and shortened races, tires at the end were looking very chewed up and right at the edge of endurance.

Jumping to conclusions

The opening round of the 2021 Superbike World Championship is in the books and after three intriguing races there’s a lot to dissect ahead of this weekend’s round at Estoril.

New Kawasaki

The “new” Kawasaki ZX10-RR certainly looks different. With aerodynamic upgrades it has a very different profile, but this is very much a facelift rather than a new model. Engine upgrades were quite limited but with some new parts they had found a not insignificant 500rpm. During the winter Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes both commented that the bike was now much better as they wound on the power.

With a much fuller power curve the big advantage is found mid-range rather than in outright power. The Kawasaki doesn’t make its power at maximum revs. “We’ve been filling in the gaps of the power curve” was how Rea explained the improvements. That didn’t mean the team weren’t frustrated to lose the extra revs though.

Clearly annoyed at finding improvements and not being able to use them will always leave a team feeling exposed but in Aragon they found a way to make it work. The Kawasaki came away with podiums in all three races and leading the standings. It was a fantastic weekend for Team Green and gives them a lot to build on.

Rea’s performances will never surprise. Winning his 100th WorldSBK race on Saturday got a monkey off his back but as he was always going to win races this year, it was a question of when, not if.

Same old, same old in WorldSBK season. Jonathan Rea walking away with his sixth consecutive title. Kawasaki doing the same with the manufacturers title. No matter what happens Rea and Kawasaki have all the answers and the title all sewn up.

That’s the narrative spun by many about WorldSBK but the reality is very different. Rea and Kawasaki might have won the titles, but this was a challenging season for both that ended with the ZX10-RR clearly outmatched at two of the last three rounds. Ducati had the bike to beat in 2020 but too many riders fighting with one another.

Yamaha are close, very close, and have a hungry rider line-up. The return of a full-blooded factory effort from Honda showed lots of encouraging signs. BMW were a write off this year but still claimed two pole positions and have an all-new bike coming for next season. The future is brighter for WorldSBK than it has been for many years.

New era?

The season began with a classic in Phillip Island. Three great races and a tenth of second the combined victory margin. It was a terrific blend of strategy and different bikes. It encapsulated why WorldSBK is looking forward rather than to the past. We don’t have to look at the “golden age of Superbikes” any longer. We’re living one. Seven different riders won races. Ten riders stood on the rostrum.

A strange week in the rider market took another turn with the threat from Simone Battistella, manager of Andrea Dovizioso, claiming that his rider would sit out 2021 in search of the right opportunity the following year.

It’s a brave gamble to take, but with Dovi set to be 36 years old by the time the season starts in 2022, it looks like a hollow threat. If Dovi sits out a year at this stage of his career, he would find it very difficult to get back on a competitive bike in the MotoGP field.

As things stand who has more leverage? Ducati, with Jack Miller under contract - not to mention having Johann Zarco, Pecco Bagnaia and a host of other riders waiting in the wings - or a 34-year-old veteran threatening to call time on his MotoGP career?

Youth vs experience

The answer seems pretty much self-evident. Speak to MotoGP managers about riders, and they will tell you that age is a big factor, preferring youthful potential over age and experience. This is one reason managers give when you ask them about signing riders from the WorldSBK paddock: they are too old, is the general consensus, with teams preferring to take a risk on a young rider from Moto2.