BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team at Laguna Seca: Tom Sykes in the top four on Saturday.

Laguna Seca. The BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team enjoyed more
strong results with the new BMW S 1000 RR on Saturday at Laguna Seca
(USA). Tom Sykes (GBR) secured fourth place on the grid in Superpole
qualifying, and went on to finish fourth in the opening race. Markus
Reiterberger (GER) qualified eleventh in Superpole and came home
15th in the race. Laguna Seca hosts round nine of the
2019 FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK).

 

In the closing minutes of Superpole, Sykes was able to take advantage
of the faster qualifying tyres to secure fourth place and a spot on
the second row of the grid. Shortly after the start of the race, the
Brit briefly sprinted into second place on his RR, however then
dropped back to fifth in the turmoil of the first few corners. When
Alvaro Bautista (ESP / Ducati) crashed in front of him, Sykes moved
back into fourth place and never looked back. Reiterberger, back in
the team after a severe viral infection and making his first
appearance at Laguna Seca, improved consistently. He ended Superpole
in eleventh place, before picking up one point for 15th
place in the race.

 

Quotes after race one at Laguna Seca.

 

Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director: “We
are pleased with the solid fourth place. Finding the right set-up for
the bike was far more difficult here than at recent events. However,
the result is once again very satisfying. Markus improved consistently
as he learned more about this complex circuit throughout the sessions
leading up to qualifying. In the race, however, he had difficulties.
We must now analyse how we can help him in tomorrow’s race.”

 

Shaun Muir, Team Principal BMW Motorrad WorldSBK
Team:
“We went into Superpole with some unknowns what the
best setting would be. Anyway, Tom did a great job. He put the
qualifying tyre in and managed to secure P4 on the grid which was
fantastic. It was on his second lap which is quite unusual; we did not
expect to get two laps out of the tyre. On Markus’s side we made some
over night changes.  He made a big progress and a good job in the
Superpole. In the race, Tom got a great start, he could have cut
across the two Ducatis into turn two but it could have been a bit of a
risky move. Anyway he played it safe which was wise. He consolidated
the race after Alvaro went out and got a good fourth position. I think
it just epitomises the kind of approach from Tom. We’re making
progress; we don’t want to put it in the gravel trap but be able to
gather valuable data. Markus’s race was very difficult. He struggled,
he ran off the track. We have to work hard to find a good setting for
him to go into Superpole race tomorrow and we see where we go from there.”

 

Tom Sykes: “We gambled for today’s race one by going
with the ‘X’ tyre and you could say it paid off considering we got a
fourth place. On the other side of that the tyre did drop off pretty
early which meant we had to manage the tyre from midway through the
race so you could argue that with a harder tyre we perhaps could have
gone faster. However, with that being said a P4 on paper is not bad at
all considering how early we are into this project. I was trying my
best to close the gap to Toprak and at one stage I was doing that but
I was just riding on the limit especially with the front tyre. But
like I said I am happy with fourth place, the team did a great job in
getting the electronics and traction control right today so let’s see
if we can build on this heading into tomorrow’s two races.”

 

Markus Reiterberger: “We improved a lot today
compared to yesterday. Yesterday was all about getting to know the
circuit and finding the set-up for the bike. Today, I was far quicker
in the third practice session and Superpole. We improved consistently
and I was able to secure a place on the fourth row of the grid which
was not too bad. Unfortunately, we possibly opted for the wrong tyre
in the race and changed the settings a little, which did not have the
desired effect. I had more issues again and also had a little run-off
after a front-wheel slide. That is why I only finished
15th. I am still struggling to ride tight lines and we will
do our best to find a solution here. I’d like to thank the team for
all their hard work.”