Phillip Island.
After months of preparation, things are getting serious: next
weekend, the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team and the brand new BMW S 1000
RR will start the 2019 FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK).
The first races of the year will be held on 23rd and
24th February at the “Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit”
in southern Australia. The race machines used by the two riders Tom
Sykes (GBR) and Markus Reiterberger (GER) in WorldSBK are based on
the new BMW S 1000 RR, which was presented to the world in November.
Over winter, engineers at BMW Motorrad Motorsport have developed the
necessary racing components for use in the world championship.
In preparation for the new BMW S 1000 RR race debut, the BMW
Motorrad WorldSBK Team completed two further days of testing on Monday
and Tuesday at Phillip Island. The focus was on evaluating more new
components and setting up the machines for the first race.
The season opener starts with two free practice sessions on
Friday. On Saturday, Superpole qualification takes place, with the
first race scheduled for 15:00 local time. The ten lap “Superpole
Race”, a new introduction in WorldSBK, will start on Sunday at 12:00.
This sprint will decide the starting grid for race two that afternoon
at 15.00.
As part of the season opener, all media representatives are
invited to the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team presentation on Friday
evening in the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit paddock. There, Dr.
Markus Schramm, Head of BMW Motorrad, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director
Marc Bongers, Team Principal Shaun Muir, the two riders and Andreas
Lundgren, BMW Motorrad Australia General Manager, will be available
for interviews.
Quotes ahead of the season opener at Phillip Island.
Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director: “The
results of the two days of testing at Phillip Island are very
positive. They confirmed the performance at the test days that we had
over winter. We are very proud of the collaboration within the team,
which first had to gel in this new configuration. We have all pulled
together over the past few months, and we now can see the result of
this good teamwork. That’s motivating! But we have to stay realistic
and look ahead to the first race. That will be the first time for us
to see where we really stand in race trim. We also know that we still
have a lot of work ahead of us, but the base of the new BMW S 1000 RR
offers a lot of potential. We are happy to be back and we really can’t
wait to start the first race.”
Shaun Muir, Team Principal BMW Motorrad WorldSBK
Team: “We left the European tests in a very good position and
a lot of hard work was carried out to make further improvements at
Phillip Island. At the two days of testing here we could clearly see
the benefits of the small but very significant improvements to the
chassis. Tom went through all the things he wanted to test and had his
best package which he ran on Tuesday afternoon in its final
configuration. That is a very good base setting for him now to start
the season. Markus has taken a big step forward after Portimão and is
in a very strong position where we feel he can definitely compete for
the top ten in the races at the coming weekend.”
Tom Sykes: “Testing has gone really well and after
these two test days here at Phillip Island, I want to thank the whole
BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team because we worked very well, we worked
through a comprehensive list of items and possibilities and certainly
boxed off a lot of things. So I am very happy and I really feel that
given the limited time on the project everyone has been doing an
incredible job. I don’t think that we could have asked for anything
more during this testing period. Going into the race weekend now we
know that it’s not going to be easy, obviously we need to work a
little bit more in some areas, but I really do feel that we are
heading in the right direction. We will go out on track, work on
further improving the package on our BMW S 1000 RR and enjoy the
racing. I feel that the potential is higher than we could have
expected when starting the project.”
Markus Reiterberger: “I am pretty satisfied with the
two test days in Australia. I immediately had a good feeling on the
bike, and we worked well through our testing programme, so we can soon
focus on fine-tuning the performance. The anticipation for the first
race weekend is of course huge, because racing is always something
special. On the other hand, I would not mind having a few more test
laps to really get the maximum out of myself and the BMW S 1000 RR. We
just need a little bit of time to understand the whole package, but
I’m pretty happy so far, and I feel great in the team. The guys really
give everything and work extremely hard. We also continuously get new
options and things from Munich that we can test. You can really see
how things are progressing well. Personally, I worked intensively on
my fitness during the winter, and I am ready to kick off the season.”