Successful title defence: BMW racer Carmelo Morales crowned champion again in Spain.

Jerez de la Frontera. Celebrations for the Graphenano EasyRace
SBK Team: Carmelo Morales (ESP) has successfully defended his title
in the Spanish Championship (RFME CEV). Morales was crowned champion
for the second time in a row on his BMW S 1000 RR at the weekend.
This represents the third title in a row for the Graphenano EasyRace
SBK Team. Morales’ success takes the number of titles won this
season by racers from the BMW Motorrad Motorsport community to ten.

 

The final round of the RFME CEV took place in Jerez de la Frontera in
the south of Spain. The season drew to a close with two races, one on
the Saturday and one on Sunday, however, Morales had already wrapped
things up by the end of day one. The BMW rider went into the season
finale with a comfortable lead of 31 points, but poor weather at the
start of the weekend made life far from easy for him.

 

A brilliant fightback in difficult, wet conditions in Saturday’s race
meant he not only finished on the podium, but also secured the title.
Morales was forced to settle for 14th place on the grid
following a rain-dominated qualifying, but gradually worked his way
through the field in the race and eventually came home third. In doing
so, he earned himself an unassailable lead going into Sunday’s race.

 

With the pressure off, Morales was able to turn on the style on
Sunday. In dry, sunny conditions, he ended the season in a manner
worthy of a champion – with win number five of the year and another
fastest lap. Top-ten finishes also went to BMW racers Marcos Solorza
(ESP / Castromaroto Racing), with sixth place on Saturday, and his
team-mate Pedro Rodriguez (ESP), who came home tenth on Sunday.

 

Morales’ team-mate Julian Miralles (ESP) finished 17th and
11th. This equated to fifth and second in the RFME CEV Open
class and gave Miralles sufficient points to secure the Open class
overall victory.

 

Carmelo Morales: “The rain played havoc with our
plans, as we did not have good conditions in any of the practice
sessions. I had to start from well back on Saturday, but gave it my
all without really giving the result much thought. Only when I
returned to the pits was I told that I had won the title. I am
overjoyed. It is great to win the title in such difficult conditions.
It was then superb to end the season with a win. We knew we were good
in dry conditions, and we proved that. The bike and the tyres were
perfect and I had a lot of fun. After a season finale like that, we
can head into the break in high spirits and start to think about 2019.
Thank you to BMW, Dunlop and the team for all their work and effort.
They were instrumental in ensuring that the season worked out so well.”