From a press release issued by BMW:

BMW MOTORRAD BOXERCUP RETURNS TO DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey… A field of 39 riders representing 25 racing teams from 10 nations throughout the world will take to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, March 6 for the much-anticipated return of the BMW Motorrad BoxerCup. The race, to be held at 11:30 am-prior to the 63rd running of the Daytona 200 by Arai-will be the opening round of the 2004 BMW Motorrad BoxerCup race series and will feature 30 full-season race teams from Europe battling for the series championship.

Included in the field in Daytona will be 7 BMW Motorrad USA dealer-sponsored teams all riding near-production spec BMW R 1100 S motorcycles. Hosted by the American Motorcycle Association Pro Racing , the Daytona running of the BMW Motorrad BoxerCup race will conclude a week-long series of special events presented by BMW Motorrad USA during the 67th annual Bike Week in Daytona Beach, FL. The Daytona matchup will be the first of eight races in the 2004 BMW Motorrad BoxerCup series, and will be broadcast live on SPEED Channel.

“If it’s anything like last year’s debut, we’ll have the crowd on the edge of their seats,” commented BMW Motorrad USA Brand and Event Marketing Manager Laurence Kuykendall. Last year’s inaugural U.S. BoxerCup race was won by Italian racer Roberto Panichi in a side-by-side photo finish over Team USA rider Brian Parriott.

Competing for the 2004 BMW Motorrad BoxerCup series championship are former World Endurance Champion and 2002 BoxerCup Champion Stephane Mertens of Belgium, former World Supersport competitor and 2003 Daytona BoxerCup champion Roberto Panichi, 2003 Macau GP 4th place finisher Markus Barth and young up-and-coming Brit Richard Cooper. Riders representing BMW Motorrad USA dealer teams, include Tripp Nobles for Foothills BMW of Lakewood, CO; Sylvester Lemanski for Westchester BMW Motorcycles of White Plains, NY; Nate Kern for DeSimone Racing and BMW Motorcycles of Cherry Hill, NJ; Ricky Orlando and Jon Siminsky for Team Colorado (BMW Motorcycles of Northern Colorado); Frank Shockley for Touring Sport BMW of Greenville, South Carolina, and John Glaefke of BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta. Also returning to competition in 2004 is BMW Motorrad design engineer Norbert Rebholz, who will ride for the German DAS Boxer Team. Former champion and racing legend, Randy Mamola will, once again, function as official ambassador and spokesperson for the BMW Motorrad BoxerCup 2004 race series.

For the BMW BoxerCup enthusiast, BMW Motorcycles offers a special version of the R 1100 S for the American public. The 2005 R 1100 S BoxerCup Replika ($14,485 MSRP) is equipped with unique trim and equipment to celebrate the BMW Motorrad BoxerCup race series. A special graphics package, which mimics the BoxerCup racebike as ridden by Randy Mamola, will grace the new Pacific Blue, Red and Alpine White paint scheme. Clear turn signal lenses replace the amber turn signal lenses found in the R 1100 S. Additionally, a pair of carbon-fiber cylinder head covers and a lower engine spoiler distinguishes this S as one of only 300 units that will be produced for the U.S. market. If a personalized version of the R 1100 S is more to your liking, BMW Motorrad USA now offers you the ability to factory-customize your bike based on your desired level of performance. Base price for the R 1100 S is $12,485, including freight. Available options include Partial Integral ABS Brakes, 5.5″ wide rear wheel, Sport Suspension, Sport Transmission, heated hand grips and saddle bag mounts just to name a few. Please contact your local BMW Motorcycle retailer for a complete list and pricing of available options.

The BMW Motorrad BoxerCup series offers over $85,000 in prize money as well as a BMW M3, BMW Z4 and BMW motorcycle to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place series finishers. The 2004 BMW Motorrad BoxerCup is the only support race series for the MotoGP World Championship Series and has seen spectator attendence grow to over 100,000 fans for select events.

Originally, the BMW Motorrad BoxerCup series was conducted on a national level in France and Belgium. When it was expanded to an international scale throughout Europe in 2001, it began to attract participants with extremely high levels of riding skills from all corners of the globe.

BMW Motorad BoxerCup 2004 Race Dates

Eight BMW Motorrad BoxerCup races are planned for 2004, seven of which will be held as part of the MotoGP Motorcycle World Championship race series.

1. March 6 – Daytona International Speedway/Daytona 200 by Arai; Daytona Beach, Florida
2. May 15 – Moto GP/LeMans, France
3. June 5 – Moto GP/ Mugello, Italy
4. June 26 – Dutch TT/Moto GP/Assen, Netherlands
5. July 10 – Moto GP/Donnington, Great Britain
6. July 17 – MotoGP/Sachsenring, Germany
7. August 21 – Moto GP/Brno, Czech Republic
8. October 30 – MotoGP, Valencia, Spain

2003 BMW Motorrad BoxerCup Re-Broadcast Schedule
We are also pleased to announce the first-ever broadcast of the 2003 BMW Motorrrad BoxerCup race series on Speedchannel. These programs follow the exciting action of the 8 BMW Motorrad BoxerCup races held throughout Europe last season. Follow the action of Andy Hoffman (Switzerland), Roberto Panichi (Italy), Thomas Hinterrieder (Austria) and Sebastian Legrelle (Belgium) as well as Team USA racers Brian Parriott and Jason Perez as they contest for the 2003 BMW Motorrad BoxerCup Championship. Only 11 championship points separated the top 3 finishers in the 2003 series, with the championship being decided on the final laps of the last race at Brno, Czech Republic. To be sure you don’t miss any of the action, the official Speedchannel schedule for this exclusive broadcast is as follows:

February 24, 1:00 pm – Oulton Park, UK
February 24, 1:30pm – Le Mans, France
March 2, 1:00 pm – Mugello, Italy
March 2, 1:30pm – Barcelona, Spain
March 9, 1:00pm – Assen, Netherlands
March 9, 1:30pm – Spa-Francorchamps
March 16, 1:00pm – Sachsenring, Germany
March 16, 1:30pm – Brno, Czech Republic

BMW Group In America

BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975. ROLLS-ROYCE Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand, the MINI brand, and the ROLLS-ROYCE brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, an industrial design firm in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Corp. in South Carolina is part of BMW Group’s global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all Z4 roadster and X5 Sports Activity Vehicles. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 340 BMW passenger car centers, 327 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 148 BMW motorcycle retailers, 73 MINI passenger car dealers, and 25 ROLLS-ROYCE Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North, Central and South America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.