Munich/Stephanskirchen, 20th September 2010. The 12th and penultimate race weekend of the 2010 season takes the FIM Superbike World Championship teams to the renowned Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit outside Imola. Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport is keen to demonstrate the potential of the BMW S 1000 RR once again at the Italian track. As the season enters its closing stages, Troy Corser (AUS) and Ruben Xaus (ESP) are aiming to notch up more podium finishes for the recently formed Bavarian team. Both BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders have very special memories of Imola. Ruben and Regis Laconi (FRA) are currently the most successful Superbike riders here, having recorded three wins apiece at the track. Indeed, Ruben won the series’ first ever race at Imola back in 2001, with Troy crossing the line in second place. In 2003 Ruben claimed his first Superbike pole position at Imola and went on to celebrate the race double that weekend. Troy, meanwhile, wrapped up his second Superbike World Championship title here in 2005. Returning to the 2010 season, Troy’s 159 points put him 11th in the drivers’ standings, while Ruben is lying 13th on 85 points. In the manufacturers’ table BMW is in sixth place on 190 points. Troy Corser: “After the poor luck I had at the Nürburgring I’m looking to turn our potential into race results at Imola. Under normal circumstances we’d have secured a podium finish at least at the Nürburgring. Imola is a very different kind of race track, but I’m confident that, with our bike, we’re in the position to compete at the front of the field again. My aim is to clinch a place on the podium.” Ruben Xaus: “I really can’t wait for the races at Imola. The track is one I like very much and I always enjoy riding there. Indeed, I would go as far as describing it as my favourite track in Europe. There’s absolutely no time to take a breather here. It’s a circuit with a lot of character, like the Hockenheimring and, in the past, the long course at Assen. There are a lot of fast chicanes and corners, and the track is always going up and downhill. We were able to set consistently fast times in both races at the Nürburgring, which makes both me and the team very optimistic. We still have to work on one or two small things which have so far prevented us from challenging the leading guys. But I know that my team will give everything so than we can make further improvements to the bike. We just have to find that extra half a second and we’ll be up there at the front. At Imola it’s important that the bike works well through the two tight corners and the chicane; if you get that right then a good result is possible. I’m really looking forward to riding there.” Berthold Hauser, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director: “We’re determined to finish the season with two successful race weekends at Imola and Magny-Cours. At the same time, we’re already focusing on preparing for next year. We know we have good speed, and we’ve shown that already. At the Nürburgring we were up there with the leaders until midday on Saturday. But then our fortunes took a turn for the worse, and it was partly just bad luck that stood between us and a place on the podium in our home races. Now our task is to turn our speed and performances into good points on a consistent basis. We know we’re capable of getting some top results in the last few races of the season, so we’re travelling to Imola in highly motivated mood.” Background: The history of motor racing in Imola – population 66,000 – stretches back to the 1940s, when the first races here were held on public roads. The foundation stone for the first purpose-built circuit was laid in 1950, and the track hosted its inaugural races in 1952. On 7th September 1967 the first World Motorcycle Championship race took place at Imola, while the Superbike World Championship made its debut in the Emilia Romagna region in 2001. Extensive modifications were made to the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in late 2006, including improvements to safety. It is not only the surface bumps that make Imola such a challenge for motorbikes, in particular. The riders are greeted by the first of several chicanes not long after the start/finish straight, putting a premium on the bikes’ ability to brake, steer into the corners and accelerate out again as effectively as possible. Added to which, kerbstones lying in wait in almost every chicane unsettle the bikes through the twists and turns. Bike stability is therefore extremely important at Imola. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Penultimate Round For KRT Riders Tom Sykes and Ian Lowry will once more join up to compete for the Kawasaki Racing Team in WSBK, this time around facing the challenge of the classic Imola circuit in Italy. Sykes had a season best combined performance of fifth and seventh last time out and is raring to go again at a circuit he has already tested at, earlier in the year. At that particular tyre test session, Sykes was in the top ten and the English rider is happy to go back to this unique circuit inside the very heart of the city of Imola. In the overall standings Tom is now 15th, with the rider ahead only six points away – and therefore eminently catchable. Having tested both the 2010 and 2011 Ninja ZX-10R machines at Valencia recently, Sykes is at maximum readiness to race, not only at Imola but also in the final round of the current championship at Magny-Cours on October 3. For Ian Lowry his first ever WSBK race came at the German round in early September, and he is back for more at Imola, another circuit he has never seen before. He was 12th in race one at the Nürburgring and hopes for that kind of result – or better – in each race at Imola. Tom Sykes: “I am looking forward to getting back to Imola because we had a positive test there a few months back. We have had some good settings to work with since then too. We know where we are at with the bike and we have to take the settings we had in Germany on to Imola and get some more results like we had there. We just have to find a balance between the settings we had in the test at Imola and where the bike is now. Imola is a bit like a British track in some ways, some very bumpy sections as well, so you have to concentrate hard.” Ian Lowry: “I have never been to Imola before so this will be another learning experience for me. The boys have been there, testing earlier this year, and they said the bike was pretty good there. So I want to get out on track and get into it again. WSBK racing is still all new to me and I think the team are happy enough if I keep progressing and I feel better every time out on it. There are no slow riders out there in World Superbike!” More, from another press release issued by Kawasaki: Parkes Out For Another Podium As Fujiwara Looks For His First Of 2010 Katsuaki Fujiwara and Broc Parkes are once more the official Kawasaki Provec Motocard.com riders this weekend, after being paired up at the previous round in Germany for the first time. After being initially awarded fourth, the exclusion of another rider eventually put Broc a superb third in the Nürburgring finishing order; a great ride in his return to the WSS class. He had already earned a front row grid placing in qualifying, one place up on team regular Fujiwara. Katsuaki was unlucky in the previous round in Germany, having to retire and therefore scoring no points, but his current 12th place in the overall rankings could be improved on soon. He is only six points from eighth place, with two rounds left to run, at Imola and then Magny-Cours one week later. Katsuaki is a former Imola race winner, taking the WSS honours in 2002. Kawasaki Lorenzini by Leoni Ninja ZX-6R rider Fabien Foret was just off the podium last time out in Germany, posting a fourth place finish and pushing himself up to ninth in the championship standings in the process. Katsuaki Fujiwara: “We had no good luck last time we raced, in Germany earlier this month, but we never give up and we will be back to try for a podium at Imola. Two races left and so I have to make up some points on the riders in front of me. I like Imola, but it is very bumpy in places, so you have to work hard for the whole lap.” Broc Parkes: “It was good to get some time on the race bike outside of a race weekend. We could fine-tune some things that I couldn’t do in Germany. I was quite satisfied with the test and we found some good developments, especially to do with improving my feel with the bike. I think we achieved quite a lot in that Valencia test. The times were good but I was not there to try and set records; mainly I wanted to get the bike set-up more the way I wanted it. I was a lot happier with the new front-end set-up after the Valencia sessions. Imola is a nice track, and it has been good to me over the years.”