Victory and valuable world championship points for BMW Motorrad

For BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, the FIM Superbike World Championship round at Assen (NED) was an eventful weekend highlighted by an outstanding victory from Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR) in the Superpole Race and valuable points for the championship standings. “El Turco” won the Sunday morning sprint on his BMW M 1000 RR with a commanding lead, celebrating his first-ever rain victory in WorldSBK. 

His teammate and local hero Michael van der Mark (NED) put on a sensational charge in the sprint race, fighting his way from 13th on the grid to finish fifth. In the two main races, however, both riders struggled with issues. Razgatlioglu had to settle for fourth and eighth places, while van der Mark came home ninth and seventeenth.

- Advertisement -

Despite that, Razgatlioglu, second overall in the standings, managed to reduce his deficit to championship leader Nicolò Bulega (ITA), who failed to score points on Sunday due to technical issues. The fourth round of the 2025 WorldSBK season will take place in three weeks’ time (2nd to 4th May) in Cremona, Italy.

Reactions after the Assen round:

Sven Blusch, Head of BMW Motorrad Motorsport: “It was a weekend of great highs, but also of tough setbacks. I think we need to stay positive and look ahead. We’re still at the beginning of the season. We showed in the Superpole Race that we are fundamentally capable of winning, but our overall package isn’t yet at the level where we can perform consistently. Toprak and Mickey both did a great job, especially under mixed conditions. The sprint race was really impressive, and I believe it gave us a real energy boost. On the other hand, the second main race in particular showed us that there’s still a lot of work to do. We now need to use the time until Cremona to take the next step. I’m confident that although the team had a tough afternoon today, we’ll push hard again tomorrow to prepare for Cremona.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “In the Superpole Race in wet conditions I felt very good on the bike and the grip also seemed to be not bad. It was special because it was also my first win in my WorldSBK career in wet conditions. That makes me very happy. For race two in dry conditions we tried a different setup but it was still not working. Yesterday, we had a very big drop on the rear tyre, so this time we used the standard SC0 tyre but it started to get blisters on the right side. It was not easy to ride the bike. For some laps I thought if it would be better to enter the box but I also thought about the points so I just tried to get the best possible position, and then I also saw that Nicolò Bulega’s bike was stopping in the first corner. I am not happy for this, even if it was good for me as I am now 21 points behind him. But the season is very long and we have still many races to go. I just focus on my job and hope we come back stronger because we need to improve the bike and to fight again for the win. Now we are going to Cremona. Last year I was just riding there for one day during the test. I did 40 or 50 laps, not more. I missed the races there, I just watched them on TV so I don’t know what to expect there. I will just try to do my best again and hope we will find a good setup immediately.”

Michael van der Mark, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “The weekend started off alright on Friday. I was able to improve here and there and was quite happy with the bike. Then on Saturday, we had an issue in the morning so we stayed in in FP3. In Superpole, I felt good but I was not fast enough. In yesterday’s race, coming from P13, I had a good start and really enjoyed the first half of the race but then had a massive drop in the tyres and just stumbled back. In the end, I finished ninth, which wasn’t bad but also not fantastic. This morning’s Superpole Race was in wet conditions with the track drying. I was looking forward to it and to use my experience. I had a good start and a really enjoyable race. I made a mistake and ran off track in a big battle and finished fifth. That was quite positive and I enjoyed it. I wish I could have been on the podium in the Superpole Race but I just messed it up a little bit. I then had a good starting position for race two. Another good start, but I just didn’t have the right feeling with the grip. I tried to stay with the group for a long time but then I made a mistake. So I pushed to stay with the other group but for some reason there was no performance in the bike in the afternoon. So we have to find out what we can do, because we need to change this.”

Facts and figures.

Superpole.

Air temperature: 16°, track temperature: 18°, humidity: 52%, conditions: dry.

Race 1.

Air temperature: 21°, track temperature: 27°, humidity: 38%, conditions: dry, laps: 21.

Fastest race lap: Nicolò Bulega, lap 5, 1:33.581 (new record)

Superpole Race.

Air temperature: 15°, track temperature: 16°, humidity: 81%, conditions: wet, laps: 10.

Fastest race lap: Dominique Aegerter, lap 10, 1:42.697

Race 2.

Air temperature: 16°, track temperature: 23°, humidity: 61%, conditions: dry, laps: 21.

Fastest race lap: Nicolò Bulega, lap 14, 1:34.178

Current riders’ classification (R03/12, after 9 of 36 races).

Current manufacturers’ classification (R03/12, after 9 of 36 races).