Tension arose among BMW riders on the second day of the World Superbike Championship tests held this week in Jerez. In the final phase of the session, Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW) went out on the track, followed by teammate Michael van der Mark and Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) who were looking to use him as a reference. However, the British rider attempted to overtake van der Mark twice, making contact with the Dutchman.
Van der Mark criticized his fellow BMW rider in statements to the championship’s official website, claiming a lack of respect: ‘He did nothing wrong? Well, honestly, I went out and followed Toprak. All three of us went out on a SCQ [tyre] and I wanted to take the tow of Toprak and I was almost in his arse. Scott decided to pass me halfway around the lap. I didn’t leave a gap between me and Toprak. He wanted to be between us. I passed him back again. At the last corner, he decided to dive up the inside again, hit me, and he messed up Turn 1 and then he messed up my first sector. There’s no rule for this, it’s just disrespectful. I have no words for this’.
The #60 rider added: ‘It’s a test, not a race weekend. For himself, he wanted to prove something, put everything on Instagram again to show who’s the best and have a good night’s sleep. I tried to outbrake him on the outside before he hit me. I wanted to go in front again’.