WSB: ROKiT BMW Motorrad and Bonovo Action BMW unveil 2024 liveries

The ROKiT BMW Motorrad and Bonovo Action BMW Racing teams unveiled their 2024 World Superbike Championship liveries last night during a special presentation in Berlin.

Held in the new BMW Motorrad Welt at the BMW Motorrad Plant, the German manufacturer officially launched its 2024 campaign with all four factory riders – The Bonovo team will be working much closer with its full factory counterparts this season.

Dressed in black, red and blue, the ROKiT team’s title push will be headlined by 2021 world champion Toprak Razgatlioglu following his surprise switch from Yamaha. The Turkish rider was the only genuine threat to two-time champion Alvaro Bautista in 2023.

“I’ve realized that the people believe in me, but it is important that you believe in your bike,” Razgatlioglu said. “Many people say that the BMW is not ready to fight for the championship, but I believe that my bike is ready to fight for wins and the championship. We just need my setup because my riding style is completely different. When we have this, we can easily fight for the win.

“Now I am just focusing on the test next week. It is really important for me. I need to adapt to the bike, and I believe that we can fight for the podium and the wins this season. I am excited. I signed with BMW, but I am also a part of the family. This is something I saw today again, and it is great.

“I will give more than 100 percent, I will try to win with BMW. Everyone is working hard, and this is a great extra motivation also for me. If we keep doing this, we will win the World Championship.”

Toprak is reunited with former Yamaha teammate Michael van der Mark this season. After seeing two consecutive seasons ruined by injury, the Dutch rider is hoping to take a step forward onboard the M1000 RR.

“It was reat to see where they prepare the race engines and I am really ready to start the season,” Van Der Mark said. “I can’t wait to go testing again, I feel one hundred percent fit, I got a new teammate that seems to be really fast – so I am looking forward to it.

“Like I said, I am fit again, the bike is getting better and better, Toprak is pushing the project even more and I think we want to win races and be on the podium as soon as possible.”

The Bonovo Action bikes are again primarily white, with dashes of blue, red and black across the M1000 RR. Scott Redding joins the team following his departure from Shaun Muir’s ROKiT squad.

“Speaking about the coming season, for me it would be nice to have our bike to be more consistently competitive which I think we can do,” Redding said. “We’ve had some good changes made and obviously Toprak is coming over. We also have a test team which makes a big difference. I think we are going in the right direction, which is important.

“The team is great, very welcoming, and very family orientated. I feel like it’s old school style and that’s something that I really cherish. I’ll be more relaxed, happier. I would like to be top five, top six in the championship, minimum. It would be nice to stand on the podium again this year and more frequently, and to try to make our bad weekends not so bad and have a good, consistent year.”

Garrett Gerloff remains at the Bonovo team after a successful 2023 campaign. The American was the top BMW rider overall in the standings (12^th), with four top five results to his name.

“I think we have a really good base now,” Gerloff commented. “I have one year behind me with BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team, so a lot of information and I think we can come up with solutions faster than last year if we do have a problem.

“It is going to be good to go every track with a higher potential, and I think it can be a really good season. My goal is to work on qualifying and to be a bit better there and that can help me in the beginning of the races and then at the end of the races, when I am strong, I think we can make some real progress and be up front.”

Alongside its four factory riders, BMW have also added a strong test team to its project. 2014 World Superbike Champion Sylvain Guintoli and former MotoGP racer Bradley Smith will be working behind the scenes to try and push the M1000 RR in the right direction. Guintoli will also ride for the factory BMW team in the Endurance World Championship.

Both BMW teams will be back on track later this month for the two-day Jerez test on January 24-25, followed by another two days at Portimao (January 29-30). The final pre-season test takes place at Phillip Island on February 19-20, with the season opener taking place at the Australian circuit on February 23-25.