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The grass is always greener on the other side. There's no better saying that captures the current situation of the start of this championship for Toprak Razgatlioglu and the events that have followed. The Turkish rider was furious when he left Australia, calling this Superbike a Ducati Cup, because of all the Panigale bikes that placed at the top during the race weekend.
This isn't the first time that Toprak has pointed the finger at the Rossa. And it's also not the first time the world champion has extolled the potential of the Ducati, calling it the best bike in the line-up, better than his BMW, with which he won the title last year.
This is a zero-cost promo for Borgo Panigale that, out of nowhere, finds itself with a world champion from another manufacturer as the perfect testimonial for its product, without having to invest any money. Obviously, Claudio Domenicali gloats at hearing these statements, while the marketing department has free publicity on its side, without having to put any effort into thinking about which advertising campaign they have to launch on the market next.
All joking aside, or not, the appeal of the Rossa has grown by leaps and bounds in the SBK paddock during the past two years, to the extent that it's become the motorcycle of choice. Last year, the Marc VDS team bet on the V4 with Sam Lowes. This year, instead, it was Bonovo's turn with Scott Redding, while Barni doubled up with Yari Montella alongside Danilo Petrucci.
Rewinding the tape for a moment, the story between Toprak and Ducati is that of a rivalry which has been going on for several years now. The root of this goes back to 2022, when the Turkish rider was at Yamaha and ended up dueling for the title with Alvaro Bautista. Now, the #1 is on the BMW and, lately, several things haven't gone down well with him, especially related to the rejection of the chassis, which happened in December after the last meeting between the FIM, Dorna, and the MSMA.
It seems as if Toprak feels like he's a sort of target against a Ducati that - since he considered it a reference - should instead be penalized in order to rebalance the numbers on the field. Surely, there's a lot of strategy in the words of the Turkish champion, with the intent to move the regulation to his side or at least make sure that the cards remain the same on the table, unlike what happened in recent months when the Federation rejected the chassis.
The fact remains that the track will soon be the witness again because, in just under ten days, the spotlight will be on the Portimão round. Toprak and the BMW are supported by the record set in last week's tests: the best calling card before the Portuguese round against a Ducati that has to now prove itself after what happened in Australia.
