Extent of Toprak Razgatlioglu’s Finger Injury Revealed

Two-time WorldSBK champion Toprak Razgatlioglu made his return to action during yesterday’s Portimao test, finishing fastest despite a very inflamed finger which resulted in him wearing a special glove.

Razgatlioglu’s pre-season index finger injury was caused by an enduro accident earlier this month which forced the BMW rider out of the first test last week. Despite the injury, the Turkish rider returned at Portimao on Tuesday in the hope of riding his M1000 RR, and he did so in style as he ended the day fastest.

Following his return, Razgatlioglu revealed two different gloves were used including a ‘special’ glove from Dainese which saw the index and middle fingers stuck together.

“One glove is for two fingers together for braking, one is like normal, just one finger is big," he said. Razgatlioglu has confirmed his intention after the Portimao test is to continue his physio before having 90 per cent full range of motion in the injured finger by the start of the 2025 campaign.

“The physio is in Istanbul, I live in Sakarya,” Razgatlioglu told WorldSBK.com. “It’s 130km every day I go to Istanbul! It’s for my finger and it’s a very important finger, the braking finger.

“It’s not bad, getting better every day but a little slowly. After the big injury, I had an operation only 20 or 21 days ago, but it’s still new.”

Razgatlioglu heads into his second season with BMW in 2025 after winning the title at the first attempt with the Bavarian manufacturer, which was also BMW’s first-ever World Superbike championship.

Speaking about his recovery, Razgatlioglu said: “The doctors say after three months, you’ll be feeling normal, but my biggest target at Phillip Island is to move my feeling almost 90 per cent, because this is very important.

“I need to ride the bike because I need to try the new bike and we need to improve. In general, I’m very happy to come back to the circuit again. I’m still not 100 per cent but I hope I’m feeling good on the bike and riding like the real Toprak.

“The most important thing is how I’m feeling on the brakes because I’m always hard braking. We’ll see how it’s feeling with the broken finger.”

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