The BMW racers were successful in action in several important championships last weekend. At the penultimate round of the 2015 FIM Superbike World Championship (WBSK) in Magny-Cours (FR), Ayrton Badovini (IT), was among the fastest privateers on his BMW S 1000 RR, while Markus Reiterberger (DE) was progressing well on the world stage at his second wildcard appearance of the season.
Silverstone (GB) hosted the penultimate round of the 2015 British Superbike Championship (BSB), with RR riders Peter Hickman (GB), Michael Laverty (GB), Hudson Kennaugh (ZA) and Luke Quigley (GB) celebrating on the podium. In the FIM CEV Superbike European Championship (CEV) races in Navarra (ES), young Chilean Maximilian Scheib, Adrián Bonastre (ES), Miguel Ángel Poyatos (ES) and Eeki Kuparinen (FI) stepped onto the rostrum.
FIM Superbike World Championship in Magny-Cours, France
The “Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours” in Magny-Cours (FR) hosted the penultimate round of the 2015 FIM Superbike World Championship (WSBK) last weekend. The BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team rider Ayrton Badovini (IT) found his rhythm again on his BMW S 1000 RR and was among the fastest riders from the privateer teams in practice and qualifying.
Markus Reiterberger (DE) made his second WSBK appearance of the season as a wildcard rider. He and his Van Zon-Remeha-BMW team used the weekend to gain further experience in the World Championship. Reiterberger was able to improve from session to session and to continuously reduce his gap to the front runners.
With their fast lap times in the practice sessions, both Badovini and Reiterberger qualified for the deciding Superpole 2. Badovini secured eighth on the grid, Reiterberger finished the Superpole in tenth. With this session, the weather had changed in Magny-Cours. It had started to rain, causing tricky and slippery conditions.
Race one on Sunday morning turned out to be a difficult task for the riders. The rain had stopped, but the track was still very damp. Due to this, everyone opted for wet tyres. Badovini struggled with his wet set-up and decided not to take too many risks in these conditions. He crossed the line in 14th.
For Reiterberger, it was an unfamiliar situation, as he had never raced with his WBSK bike in the wet before. He was struggling and entered the pits to change from wet to intermediate tyres. He took the chequered flag in 21st.
For race two, the track was dry again. Badovini was riding in eighth and set his sights on improving his position when his race came to an early end. The Italian picked up some dirt when braking, lost control of his bike and fell.
Reiterberger felt confident on his RR again, battled with the established riders and finished the race in 13th, collecting more World Championship points. Gábor Rizmayer (HU) of BMW Team Tóth ended the two races in 17th and 20th. His team-mate Imre Tóth (HU) finished 20th and 21st.
British Superbike Championship in Silverstone, Great Britain
Final spurt in the 2015 British Superbike Championship (BSB): the penultimate round of the season was held in Silverstone (GB) last weekend – with more success for the BMW racers. In the Superbike class (BSB SBK), an RR rider stepped onto the podium in both races.
In race one, Peter Hickman (GB) finished third on his BMW S 1000 RR from team RAF Reserves BMW. On the last two laps he overtook two rivals to secure this podium position. Michael Laverty (GB / Tyco BMW) finished the race in sixth place, his team-mate Tommy Bridewell (GB) was ninth.
Lee Jackson, Richard Cooper (both GB / Buildbase BMW Motorrad) and Billy McConnell (AU / Smiths Racing BMW) also picked up points for finishing in 11th, 12th and 13th.
Race two also saw an exciting final phase with a BMW rider racing towards the podium with spectacular passes. This time it was Laverty who stepped onto the podium. Finishing second on his Tyco BMW S 1000 RR, he claimed his best result of the season so far.
In this race, no fewer than five BMW riders finished in the top nine spots. Cooper was sixth, closely followed by Bridewell in seventh. Hickman and Jackson were right behind in eighth and ninth. In the overall rankings of the “Title Showdown”, Laverty is fourth with 553 points. Bridewell currently lies in sixth with 531 points.
In the race for the Superstock class (BSB STK), victory went to a BMW rider for the seventh time this season. Hudson Kennaugh (ZA / Trik-Moto BMW) secured victory after a dramatic final lap. It was his third win of the season. Luke Quigley (GB / Formwise Washrooms / Bathams) rounded off the podium: he finished third on his BMW S 1000 RR.
Adam Jenkinson (GB / Northern Escalator Installations) finished fourth on his RR. Tyco BMW rider Alastair Seeley (GB), who had won four of the 11 races held so far this season, had bad luck. He set the fastest lap time, worked his way to the very front from tenth position and started the final lap in the lead.
But he was then pushed wide in the battle for the win and dropped back to sixth. In the 2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy, Seeley established his seventh position, while Kennaugh improved to 11th place.
FIM CEV Superbike European Championship in Navarra, Spain
The BMW racers in the FIM CEV Superbike European Championship (CEV) continued their streak of successes last weekend in Navarra (ES). The modern “Circuito de Navarra” hosted the fifth of a total of seven rounds in the 2015 season.
In race one, Chilean Maximilian Scheib impressed with his performance: despite the fact that it was his first race weekend with the BMW S 1000 RR from the boxmotos.com Easyrace SBK Team, he finished second on the podium and took the win in the privateer class (CEV AM). In mixed conditions, Scheib was one of only a very few riders who had opted for slicks instead of rain tyres. It proved to be the right decision.
Race two was held in dry conditions. This time, Adrián Bonastre (ES) stepped onto the podium, finishing second with the other RR in action for the boxmotos.com Easyrace SBK Team.
The win in the privateer class went to Miguel Ángel Poyatos (ES), who crossed the line fourth overall on his Targobank Motorsport BMW S 1000 RR. Eeki Kuparinen (FI / Motomarket Racing) also stepped onto the privateer podium in race two, finishing third in the class and seventh overall.
In race one, Kuparinen came home sixth of the privateers (eighth overall). In the championship rankings of the privateer class, BMW rider Kuparinen took the overall lead with an advantage of four points over his closest rival. In the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy rankings Kuparinen climbed into the top 15 and is now 12th.
FIM Superstock 1000 Cup in Magny-Cours, France
In the support programme of the WSBK round in Magny-Cours (FR), the season finale of the 2015 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup (STK1000) was held. Also in this class, the riders had to cope with rain, which caused tricky conditions in qualifying on Saturday.
Sunday’s race was held in dry conditions, with BMW racer Roberto Tamburini (IT) exciting the fans with an impressive comeback. Starting from 17th, he made up 12 positions and finished the race in fifth with his Motoxracing BMW S 1000 RR.
Federico D’Annunzio (IT / FDA Racing Team) came home tenth on his RR in Magny-Cours, while Eric Vionnet (CH / Motos Vionnet) also finished in the points in 15th place.
In the eight races contested this season, Tamburini won three times and claimed a further three podium finishes. He only failed to score points once: in Assen (NL), where he crashed through no fault of his own. The Italian ended the season in second overall. With his fifth place in Magny-Cours, Tamburini improved to sixth in the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy rankings.
2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy – Current Standings
In 2015 the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy comprises a total of 19 international and national championships. Participants in the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy can compete in multiple championships. The points scored in the different championships are calculated separately for each individual race series.
The current standings only include points from the race series in which the participant has scored the most Race Trophy points. You can find all the information on the 2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy online at the BMW Motorrad Motorsport website:
www.bmw-motorrad-motorsport.com
Pos. | Name (Nat.) | Series / Class | Points |
1 | Roland Resch (AT) | AARR SBK | 344.73 |
2 | Jordan Szoke (CA) | CSBK PR | 341.67 |
3 | Matthieu Lussiana (FR) | MT1GP STK GP | 330.37 |
4 | Markus Reiterberger (DE) | IDM SBK | 314.29 |
5 | Florian Brunet-Lugardon (FR) | FR EU | 295.38 |
6 | Roberto Tamburini (IT) | STK1000 | 284.00 |
7 | Alastair Seeley (GB) | BSB STK | 280.73 |
8 | Michal Prášek (CZ) | AARR STK | 269.67 |
9 | Cyril Brunet-Lugardon | FR EU | 251.08 |
10 | Pekka Päivärinta / Kirsi Kainulainen (FI) | SWC | 250.67 |
11 | Hudson Kennaugh (ZA) | BSB STK | 241.45 |
12 | Eeki Kuparinen (FI) | CEV AM | 220.80 |
13 | Lukáš Pešek (CZ) | AARR SBK | 218.18 |
14 | Michel Amalric (FR) | FR EU | 206.77 |
15 | Michal Šembera (CZ) | AARR STK | 203.33 |