The BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team head to Argentina for the penultimate round of the 2019 WorldSBK Championship.
Circuito San Juan Villicum
The BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team are heading across the Atlantic to San Juan (Argentina) this week in preparation for the penultimate round of the 2019 World Superbike Championship. The new Circuito San Juan Villicum was added to the calendar in 2018 and is situated in the province of San Juan, close to the city of Albardón. The 4.2 kilometre track contains 19 corners with 11 left, 8 right and includes long back straight over 1km long – providing some exciting racing.
Tom Sykes heads into Round 12 sitting eight in the championship with 209 points. Along the way Tom has tallied up 1 pole, 4 podiums and set the fastest lap of Race 1 at Donington Park back in July. Markus Reiterberger despite missing a round sits in P14 with 68 points on the board. Markus has taken 1 front row following his impressive qualifying session in Assen, Holland.
Shaun Muir, Team Principal:
“First of all, we are looking forward to this event. I think we certainly made a good step forward with Tom in race one at Magny-Cours. We are now continuing this progress and have some good ideas. We also have some new parts coming to San Juan which should give us a good continuation of the progress. We are happy to be going to San Juan. Tom is confident and he knows he can challenge for the top four or top five. It is certainly a circuit that is very technical with a long straight, but we feel now with the progress we have made over the last few races that we can be contenders for these podium positions. Markus is new to San Juan, so it will take him some time to familiarise himself. Off the back of a difficult Magny-Cours we hope that he can get to know the circuit quickly and hopefully make a step forward.”
Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director:
“We are already very excited for the race weekend in Argentina. The fans there gave the WorldSBK a great reception last year, and no doubt the atmosphere will be amazing again this time. There will also be many BMW guests from Chile and Brazil who will come to support us on site. We have used the short break since Magny-Cours to continue working on improving our BMW S 1000 RR and will be bringing new parts and ideas with us. We are expecting hot, sunny weather, and we need to try to prepare the bike for high track temperatures right from the first practice session. We will be relying on our experiences from the most recent races. The objective is to consistently be up there in the top five and to seize the opportunity of a spot on the podium if it arises.”
Tom Sykes:
“We are looking forward to going back to Argentina. The debut there last year was great. There were a lot of spectators who really showed a lot of passion for racing. It’s obviously a long journey going there but after that we have a great circuit layout. I feel that we can carry on in development with the information we have gained in the last couple of events. We have a very large uphill back straight at the circuit which obviously will not be our strong point, but the whole BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team is working hard and we will go there, give our best efforts and see where we can end up. After the weekend in Argentina I will be travelling to Brazil for an event for the new BMW S 1000 RR and that’s going to make it an eventful and exciting trip for me.”
Markus Reiterberger:
“Argentina is a very long way away, but I am already looking forward to the weekend. I’ve never been to San Juan myself, but I followed last year’s races on TV, and the track looks really exciting. I love overseas races because the schedule isn’t as packed as in Europe. I really hope that things will be better this time than they were at the last weekend at Magny-Cours. I would like to get a better result with my team in Argentina. I am motivated and am looking forward to finally getting to know this track that’s new to me.”