BMW Motorrad Motorsport celebrates first one-two. BMW Motorrad Motorsport has matured into a winning team in the Superbike World Championship: Marco Melandri wins ahead of Leon Haslam in Donington. Munich/Stephanskirchen, 14th May 2012. Done it! Boundless joy in Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport: the team from Munich and Stephanskirchen is celebrating its first win in the elite class for production-based motorbikes. Works rider Marco Melandri (ITA) triumphed in the team’s 88th race, crossing the line in Donington (GBR) ahead of team-mate Leon Haslam (GBR), who completed the one-two for BMW. BMW Motorrad continues its rise to the top: after Troy Corser (AUS) claimed the team’s first pole position and podium finish in 2010, Marco Melandri finished runner-up in his very first race for BMW Motorrad and Leon Haslam shone with two podium finishes at the Imola race weekend, the team has now reached its next milestone. “Congratulations to Marco and the team on this important maiden victory,” said Hendrik von Kuenheim, General Director of BMW Motorrad. “We never expected to see BMW Motorrad leave Donington with a one-two. It is a shame our riders were unable to finish the second race, otherwise Leon would have picked up his first win for BMW Motorrad. The whole team worked really hard to convert the full potential of the BMW S 1000 RR into success on the track. I would like to thank all those involved in the various departments for their tireless efforts. Our goal for this season is to continue to move forward, feature regularly on the podium and celebrate more victories. I am particularly pleased that we were able to win under our own steam. I am also confident that this is just the start of things to come, and that we will see a BMW rider on the top step of the podium more often this season.” “This one-two is the reward for the hard work put in by everyone involved in this project in recent weeks and months,” added BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director Bernhard Gobmeier. “All the departments are working hand in hand, and the success belongs not only to the racing team, but to all of BMW Motorrad. After reaching this important milestone, our goal is now to back it up and produce the same strong performance in coming races as we have done in Donington.” “It is an unbelievable feeling,” said Marco Melandri. “It is fantastic to be part of the history of a company like BMW Motorrad. As a kid, I would never have dared to dream of something like this. I would like to thank everyone at BMW Motorrad, the team at the track and everyone involved in this project. We have had our difficulties, but always worked hard and never gave up. We will continue to be fully committed to the cause. I am overjoyed.” Since making its debut in the Superbike World Championship, the racing version of the BMW S 1000 RR has continuously been further developed and optimised at the sites in Munich and Stephanskirchen. The work is carried out in close cooperation with the production development department. Both sides benefit from a far-reaching exchange of knowledge. Over 100 customer teams around the world put their faith in the potential of the BMW Motorrad supersports bike and have already celebrated many titles and victories in international and national championships. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Poland’s GRANDys duo Suzuki team dominated the second round of the Polish Superbike and Alpe Adria Championship at Brno on Sunday with GSX-R1000-mounted Marko Jerman and Andy Meklau pulling of a Suzuki one-two. The team also celebrated a podium in the Supersport class with Daniel Bukowski returning from injury to put the GSX-R600 into third position, while Meklau – also in his first race back since injury – just missed the podium in the Superstock 1000 class. Jacek Grandys – Suzuki GRANDys duo Team Manager: “It was a very good day for our team. Daniel returned to the track in very good style and I believe that in the next races he will be even better. Andy and Marko did really well in the Superbike class giving us two first places and leading position in the Championship. We returned home in a completely different mood than from Slovakia and I look forward to next start in Poznan, where it should only get better.” Race Results: Superbike: 1 Marko Jerman (GRANDys duo Suzuki), 2 Andy Meklau (GRANDys duo Suzuki), 3 Michal Filla, 20 Mariusz Durynek (GRANDys duo Suzuki). Supersport: 1 Igor Kalab, 2 Marek Szkopek, 3 Daniel Bukowski (GRANDys duo Suzuki), 18 Szymon Strankowski (2nd Junior Superstock 600). Superstock 1000: 1 Ondrej Jezek, 2 Michal Filla, 3 Gwen Giabbani, 4 Andy Meklau (GRANDys duo Suzuki), 13 Bartek Wiczynski (GRANDys duo Suzuki). More, from a press release issued by Bel-Ray: The professional racing teams supported by Bel-Ray competed this past weekend in Mexico, Portugal and England in both on and off-road competition. World Superbike The historic Donington Park circuit in the heart of England was the site of Round 5 of the 2012 World Superbike Championship series. Sunny skies were a welcome sight to the competitors this weekend following the rains from the previous round in Italy, just a week ago. Both Bel-Ray racers, Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano, were aiming to improve on their 7th and 8th place finishes from round 4. Race 1 saw both riders just inside the top 10 as they were caught up in traffic in the first corner. The duo turned in consistent laps and worked through the field to an eventual 6th and 7th place finish with Checa leading the way. Race 2 was not as kind as both Checa and Giugliano got caught in a first turn crash that saw Checa’s bike too damaged to continue. Giugliano, meanwhile, was able to continue only briefly, but was unable to finish the race as well. Checa spoke about the crash that forced him out of the race, “I tried to start strong and found a good position, but when I got to the apex, I saw Laverty in front of me and he braked suddenly. Maybe there was a rider in front of him, I don’t know. I did everything I could to brake, to stop the bike, but there were riders all around me and I couldn’t avoid a fall. My leg is a bit sore and a little swollen, but I’m ok.” Teammate Giugliano too spoke about the unfortunate turn of events in race 2. “It’s a shame because the day had started out fairly positively. We had seen in race 1 that we had a strong pace and we were certain that we could do better in the second. I started race 2 convinced that I could be up there with the top four, but unfortunately what happened at the first corner penalized me too.” Both riders are prepared for the next round of the series held at Miller Motorsports Park in the United States on May 28th. Checa is 4th and Giugliano 9th in the overall season’s points standings. World Enduro Championship Lisbon, Portugal was the site for round 4 of the 2012 Maxxis FIM Enduro World Championship. The Bel-Ray TM factory team survived the difficult conditions all weekend to produce excellent results. In E1 class competition, Antti Hellsten scored a 10th place finish on both days of competition. Teammate Nicolo Mori finished 12th and 11th over the 2 days of completion in the EJ class and Aigar Leok was the team’s best finisher with 2 strong 3rd place finishes in the E3 class. With half of the season completed, all 3 racers are in the top 15 in their respective classes in their chase for world championship points. Hellsten moves up to 12th in the E1 class, Mori remains in 14th in the EJ class and Leok moves up to 3rd in the E3 class in the series’ points standings. The series continues the last weekend in June in Italy for round 5 of the series. World Motocross Championship The FIM Motocross World Championship will make an appearance in Mexico this weekend for the first time in the history of world motocross competition. Taking place at the Nicolas Espana circuit in Guadalajara, Mexico, the high altitude and high temperatures will make the event challenging for the competitors. MX1 The Bel-Ray backed CP377 Monster Energy Pro Circuit team of Christophe and Sebastien Pourcel suffered bad luck this weekend in Guadalajara, Mexico. Coming off a victory at the previous event in Italy, Christophe showed the speed that brought him previous victories. While competing in moto 1, he ran across a piece of track fencing that became entangled in his machine. He stopped to remove it, but the time lost during this stop relegated him to a 16th place finish. He rebounded in moto 2 with the holeshot and led the first half of the race. Deteriorating track conditions forced him back for an eventual 4th place finish. He spoke about the incident following the day’s event, “the goal was to get another podium here, and I would have got it if I had not got green fencing wrapped around my bike in the first race. I took the holeshot in the second race and was fighting for the win for most of the race, but the track was becoming too dangerous and I didn’t want to take any risks.” Teammate Sebastien was unable to get comfortable with the track during the competition and rode a smart and safe race for 13-14 moto finishes. “I never felt comfortable on this track, and didn’t want to risk another injury. I got a good start in the first race, but after ten minutes, I felt tired and rode to score safe points. In the second race, I got blisters on my hands and my goal was then just to finish the race.” MX2 Bel-Ray sponsored Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit rider Tommy Searle scored another podium finish this past weekend in Mexico. Warm temperatures and high altitude tested the endurance of the competitor and the Englishman came through with flying colors. He scored two 2nd place finishes despite an early fall in the second moto that forced him to make a remarkable come from behind. Teammate Joel Roelants is recovered from his Fermo crash and was able to produce 6-4 moto finishes for 4th overall. He spoke about his recovery from the crash and his ability to overcome adversity. “I’m really happy to finish fourth in the second race, and if I hadn’t crash in the first moto, I would also have been fourth. I was not riding at my full potential this weekend after my crash in Italy two weeks ago. I knew that it would be tough here, as I had to stay in a darkened room for five days after the crash, and still today during the races, I had to keep telling myself ‘concentrate, concentrate’. Normally, I wouldn’t be happy with fourth, but that was the maximum in the circumstances.” The series will continue this weekend in Brazil at the Beto Carreiro MX Park. Follow all of Bel-Ray’s racers in action each week on www.belray.com and www.belrayracing.com. Bel Ray Company Inc was founded in 1946 and is a privately held, woman owned business serving the lubrication needs of powersports, industrial and mining customers worldwide. Bel-Ray is recognized as the leader in the specialty lubricants industry for setting high standards of quality and performance with products formulated for the motorcycle, automotive, aviation, energy, food, marine, military, mining, OEM, Industrial steel, and textile industries. “Flex Your Engine” with Bel-Ray’s superior Powersports line that delivers top quality Made-in-the-USA products to motorcycle and recreational vehicle enthusiasts around the world. Bel-Ray products are available at powersports dealers worldwide. Visit Bel-Ray.com for a complete dealer listing. Like us on Facebook.com/BelRay or follow us on Twitter/Bel_Ray More, from a press release issued by Akrapovic: One plus two equals four-years in the making”¦ Following a first ever Superbike World Championship one-two win for BMW Motorrad at Donington Park this weekend, exhaust partner Akrapovič has revealed the behind-the-scenes development work which helped secure the victory. In a hotly-contested race one showdown on the track on Sunday, Italian Marco Melandri took first place at the chequered flag, beating British team-mate Leon Haslam into second. Akrapovič has partnered BMW Motorrad since the brand made its WSBK debut four years ago, with the launch of the S 1000 RR. BMW sought out Akrapovič and invited them on-board as a development partner the exhaust manufacturer’s expertise in cutting edge materials like carbon fibre and its history of racing success were all utilised in creating the perfect partner system. Peter Pavlic, Akrapovič Manager Race Projects, says: “The development is an ongoing process, throughout each season we will have the bikes back at the factory a number of times when the progress is made on the engine side the exhaust upgrade normally follows. “It felt great to have all our hard work pay-off at the weekend I think everything just came together. BMW Motorrad is always pushing hard and they’ve made the bike better and better each time they’ve updated it. We’re in a very strong position as partners. “I think the most amazing thing about the success is that it’s come so quickly. In just four years, we’ve gone from nothing to a one-two win. Other competitors have been involved in WSBK for many years before finding success, but it was all new for BMW Motorrad. Now we need to look forward to the rest of the season and to building on what we have already achieved.” Following the weekend’s triumphs, Marco Melandri sits in fourth place overall and Leon Haslam in seventh, with nine rounds still ahead. BMW Motorrad is third in the standings, behind Ducati and Aprilia. Founded in Slovenia 22 years ago, by former motorcycle racer Igor Akrapovič, Akrapovič has grown to international prominence through the successful support of leading racing teams. To date, 64 world champions have achieved their success with Akrapovič exhaust systems. Competition exhausts and the technology that goes into producing them forms the basis for all Akrapovič replacement exhausts even Type Approved systems. The company operates from state-of-the-art factories in Slovenia, employing 500 staff and distributing its products in more than 60 countries.