Munich. The next race weekend, the next title wins for the BMW
racers: Michal Filla and Michal Prášek (both CZE) continued the
winning streak for the BMW S 1000 RR riders in the Alpe Adria Road
Racing Championship (AARR). At the season finale at Grobnik (CRO),
Filla was crowned champion in the Superbike class and Prášek
celebrated his third consecutive title win in the Superstock class.
In total, the BMW riders have claimed five titles so far this
season. In the British Superbike Championship (BSB) the six riders
who will take part in the “Showdown” for the title have been decided
– and one of them is a BMW racer. Peter Hickman (GBR) secured his
spot in the title chase. The BSB weekend at Silverstone (GBR) also
delivered a double BMW podium in the Superstock class. In addition,
the BMW riders have been in action in the USA, Japan and Australia
at the weekend.
British Superbike Championship at Silverstone, Great Britain.
The ninth round of the 2017 British Superbike Championship (BSB) was
a crucial one: the top six riders in the standings after the
triple-header at Silverstone will take part in the “Showdown” for the
title over the remaining three race weekends. One of them is BMW racer
Peter Hickman (GBR / Smiths Racing BMW) who qualified for the showdown
for the first time. He is currently fourth in the riders’ standings.
Team Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon (GBR) also had the chance to get into
the showdown until the very last moments of track action, when in a
crazy third Silverstone race he crashed along with many other riders.
At the time of his crash he was lying in second place which would have
secured him a showdown spot. As a result, he failed to collect more
points and remains eighth in the championship standings.
Race one was held on Saturday. Iddon was the highest placed BMW rider
crossing the line in sixth. Jakub Smrz (CZE / Lloyd Jones PR
Racing BMW) was eighth, followed by Hickman in ninth. Race two on
Sunday was red-flagged, with Iddon being classified seventh and
Hickman eighth. The third race was also red-flagged after numerous
riders crashed in tricky and wet conditions, including Iddon and
Hickman. Only seven riders were classified finishers for the eventful
race; Smrz was fifth and Lee Jackson (GBR / Smiths Racing BMW) seventh.
Peter Hickman: “It’s certainly been a challenging
weekend but I’m naturally over the moon to have made it through to the
‘Showdown’ for the first time. I’ve come close before so to finally do
it is great, not just for myself but also the team. It’s a small,
family run team but Alan and Rebecca Smith put their heart and soul
into their racing, with the whole team working tirelessly, so they
deserve it as much as anyone. It was hard work and I crashed out of
the third race but it’s my first crash anywhere this year, so to get
to September without falling off is no mean feat. So now we’ll get
ready for the ‘Showdown’ and give it our best shot.”
Christian Iddon: “Obviously I’m gutted we are not in
the ‘Showdown’ but we missed two rounds during the season through
injury which didn’t help our cause. We came to Silverstone this
weekend outside the Showdown top six, so we had nothing to lose. In
Saturday’s race I rolled the dice with the tyre choice and came in
sixth; then I could have had a better result in the second race in the
dry. I made a change to the settings mid-race and it caught me out and
I missed a gear. The last race was wet and we’ve been fast in the wet.
We found a good set-up and I felt confident. There was a crash on the
first lap that I nearly got caught up with, but I just tried to manage
the race and worked my way through from last to second. There were
only seven finishers and I wasn’t one of them.”
The Superstock class (BSB STK) race saw a double podium for the BMW
riders. Josh Elliott (GBR / Tyco BMW Motorrad) set the fastest race
lap and crossed the line in second place while Michael Rutter (GBR /
Bathams SMT Racing) was third on the rostrum. Adam Jenkinson (GBR /
Northern Escalator Installations) completed the top-eight.
Alpe Adria Road Racing Championship at Grobnik, Croatia.
Two races were held at the 2017 season finale of the Alpe Adria Road
Racing Championship (AARR) at Grobnik (CRO). In both classes, however,
the title was decided after only the first races on Saturday – and in
both classes, the champion’s crown went to a BMW rider. Michal Filla
(CZE / Dominator Racing Team) is the new champion in the Superbike
class (AARR SBK). In the Superstock class (AARR STK), Michal Prášek
(CZE) and his Rohac and Fejta Motoracing Team celebrated their third
consecutive title win.
For Filla, third place in Saturday’s Superbike race was sufficient to
secure the title. That race was won by fellow BMW rider Karel Hanika
(CZE / EKO IVRacing BMW CSEU) who had started from pole position and
also set the fastest race lap. Hanika was also victorious in the wet
second race on Sunday. Christopher Kemmer (AUT / Bertl K. Racing Team)
joined him on the podium in third. Filla was seventh. Prášek was
crowned champion with another win in Saturday’s Superstock race. In
Sunday’s race two, BMW rider David Božič (SLO / BS Motorsport Racing
Team) secured a podium position by finishing second. Champion Prášek
settled with seventh.
MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship at
the New Jersey Motorsports Park, USA.
For the BMW teams in the MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road
Racing Championship (AMA), the ninth and penultimate round of the 2017
season took place at the New Jersey Motorsports Park (USA) at the
weekend. Sylvain Barrier (FRA / Brixx Performance) finished the two
Superbike class races in 11th and 13th
respectively. Jason DiSalvo (USA / Scheibe Racing / Hayes Brakes)
crossed the line in 13th and 15th positions.
MFJ Superbike All Japan Road Race Championship at Autopolis, Japan.
The MFJ Superbike All Japan Road Race Championship (MFJ) BMW S 1000
RR racers’ next event was the race at Autopolis (JPN). Daisaku Sakai
(JPN / BMW Motorrad 39) crossed the line in 16th, while
Yuta Kodama (JPN / Tone RT Syncedge 4113) was 25th.
Australian Superbike Championship at the Sydney Motorsport
Park, Australia.
The penultimate round of the 2017 Australian Superbike Championship
(ASBK) was held at the Sydney Motorsport Park (AUS). The NextGen
Motorsports team entered two bikes this time, a BMW HP4 for Lachlan
Epis (AUS) and the RR of regular rider Troy Guenther (AUS). In race
one, Epis was 16th and Guenther 19th. In the
second race, Guenther crossed the line in 16th, while Epis
failed to finish.