Strong top 5 result for BMW S 1000 RR racer Jordi Torres at the Thai WorldSBK round.

Munich. For the second round of the 2017 MOTUL FIM Superbike
World Championship (WorldBSK), the Althea BMW Racing Team and the
BMW Motorrad Motorsport specialists headed to Thailand. The race
weekend at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram ended with a
top 5 finish for Jordi Torres (ESP): he was fifth on his BMW S 1000
RR in Sunday’s race, after crossing the line seventh on Saturday.
His team-mate Markus Reiterberger (GER) also claimed a top 10 result
with tenth place on Sunday. On Saturday, Reiterberger was
14th. The results delivered more points towards the 2017
BMW Motorrad Race Trophy.

 

It was very hot weekend, with air temperatures rising to 36 degrees
Celsius. Both Althea BMW Racing Team riders had strong practice
sessions on Friday and proceeded directly to the deciding Superpole 2.
Torres and Reiterberger qualified tenth and 12th
respectively on the grid for Saturday’s race.

 

When the lights turned off, Torres began his catch-up and after 20
laps, he brought his RR home in seventh position. The result meant
fourth place on the reversed grid for Sunday’s race. Torres improved
to fifth position, but the race had to be red-flagged on lap five
after a competitor crashed due to a technical failure leaving oil on
the track. When the race was re-started for 16 laps, Torres was
seventh on the grid. He moved up to fifth place again and defended his
position to the finish line in a strong battle against Welsh rider
Chaz Davies.

 

“We did a great job this weekend,” reported Torres. “We tried to get
some grip at maximum angles to take the turns perfectly. The results
of both races here in Thailand confirm our good work. Currently, the
gap to the guys in front is still a bit too big, but we know very well
which direction to take and what to change to further improve.”

 

His German team-mate Reiterberger also showed a strong race pace but
struggled in the opening laps of both races. On both occasions, he
dropped several positions before he could start to work his way
forward. On Saturday, he was 14th and on Sunday, he secured
his first top 10 finish of the season, crossing the line in tenth.

 

“Overall, we could say that the weekend was okay,” Reiterberger
summed up. “We started with last year’s settings on Friday and that
went very well. Unfortunately the changes we made for the next
sessions did not entirely pay off and we did not manage to improve. In
both races, I had bad luck in the opening laps, as I ran pretty wide
in the first corners and lost positions. In addition I missed my
braking point twice which was my mistake. But apart from this, the
race went pretty well and I got faster and faster towards the end. I
just lost the chance for better results in the early stages. We now
need to analyse why I have these issues on the opening laps and work
on this for the next races.”

 

WorldSBK will now return to Europe with the third round of the 2017
season being held a Spanish MotorLand Aragón from 31st
March to 2nd April.