Portimão. With the seventh round of the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship (9th to 11th August) taking place at Portimão, Portugal, BMW Motorrad Motorsport enters the second half of what has been a very successful season so far. BMW Motorrad factory rider Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR) arrives at the Algarve circuit leading the riders’ championship by 64 points, with BMW also currently atop the manufacturers’ standings. Across the six race weekends and 18 races held so far this season, Razgatlioglu has claimed 12 victories on his BMW M 1000 RR, including the last ten in a row. He has also secured pole position four times. At Portimão, ‘El Turco’ has the chance to match or even surpass the existing record of eleven consecutive wins.
The Portimão ‘Autodromo Internacional do Algarve’ is well-known to all four BMW Motorrad factory riders, Razgatlioglu and Michael van der Mark (NED) from the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, as well as Garrett Gerloff (USA) and Scott Redding (GBR) from the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team. The track, often referred to as the ‘Algarve rollercoaster’ due to its layout, is a favourite among WorldSBK riders. Additionally, it is one of the tracks where winter testing is conducted. In 2021, van der Mark achieved a milestone here, the first victory since BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s factory comeback in WorldSBK.
In Portimão, WorldSBK will deviate from its usual schedule. The Superpole qualifying on Saturday and the Superpole race on Sunday will both take place in the afternoon, while the two main races are scheduled for early evening (18:00 local time).
Quotes ahead of the Portimão round.
Sven Blusch, Head of BMW Motorrad Motorsport: “When the season started in Australia in February, the goal was to win races. However, we did not expect the first half to be this successful. Now we have a new goal, to win the world championship. We will all continue to work hard to achieve this. Because every race weekend is a fresh start, our competitors are very strong, and nothing can be taken for granted. Additionally, we want to compete with the entire squad for the top positions, and the recent races have shown that our riders, teams, and bikes have the potential to do so. Now we’re heading to the Algarve rollercoaster in Portimão, and we’re very excited about the weekend ahead!”
Garrett Gerloff (#31 BMW M 1000 RR, Bonovo action BMW Racing Team): “I’m really excited to come back to Portugal. It should be an exciting weekend with a different format, having the early evening races. Last year was really successful for myself and the team so I’m hoping to show up and repeat the same thing. So I’m looking forward to start the weekend.”
Toprak Razgatlioglu (#54 BMW M 1000 RR, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “I am really happy to come back to Portimão because it is one of my absolute favourite tracks and I really enjoy to ride there. It is like a rollercoaster. Normally, I am really strong there but now with BMW, we are on another level. But we will see at the weekend. I always try more than 100 percent because we need three wins again there. I am happy and the team is very happy, everyone is working really hard and now we will see what we can do at Portimão.”
Scott Redding (#45 BMW M 1000 RR, Bonovo action BMW Racing Team): “I’m looking forward to Portimão. It’s an iconic circuit with a lot of challenging corners, something that we like. It’s great for the fans as well and the races are in the evening, which is new to all of us so I’m definitely excited for this race weekend in Portimão.”
Michael van der Mark (#60 BMW M 1000 RR, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “I am obviously very much looking forward to Portimão. It is one of my favourite circuits and especially after such a good end of the weekend at Most I can’t wait to go out in Portugal. We know that the base of the bike is really good so we just need to get ready for the races. It will be a different weekend with a different time schedule, it is very interesting to race so late, so I am looking forward to it and my hope and dream is to be on the podium together with Toprak. To have two BMWs on the podium – that’s my dream and that’s my goal.”