Munich/Stephanskirchen, 22 June 2010. The race weekend in Salt Lake City, USA, marked the half-way point in the FIM Superbike World Championship season 2010. As BMW Motorrad Motorsport prepare for the race at Misano, Italy, Team Manager Davide Tardozzi looks back on his opening six months in the job. Davide Tardozzi, how would you sum up your first half year at BMW Motorrad Motorsport? Davide Tardozzi: “When I look back at my time at BMW Motorrad up to now, it’s clear to me that we’re on the right track, and we can be proud of our results so far. We’ve already collected 130 points and six top-five finishes, and Troy Corser picked up the historic first podium finish for Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport at Monza. However, I’m somebody who is never one hundred per cent satisfied. There is always room for improvement and that’s the basis I work on. We still have a lot of work ahead of us before we are ready to challenge for the World Championship title.” What stands between the team and the very top of the sport? Davide Tardozzi: “Experience. I see this season as a development year. The basic elements are all in place to achieve success over the long term. We have a very able and ambitious team capable of winning races, and a good infrastructure in Munich and Stephanskirchen and at trackside. However, racing is a complex business that can’t be mastered overnight. What we’ve been missing up to now is experience in production-based motorcycle racing. I hope I can put the experience I have to good use in one way or another and help us achieve the goals we’ve set ourselves.” What are you expecting from the team in the second half of the season? Davide Tardozzi: “We hit our target for the season after just five race weekends with our third place at Monza, but we can’t afford to get carried away by this success. We still have a way to go before we can regularly achieve this kind of result on merit. We will continue to follow the same path, and I’m in no doubt that further success will be possible in due course.” How does it feel working for BMW Motorrad? Davide Tardozzi: “Let me start by saying that BMW Motorrad is a brand possessing an unbelievable aura. I’m proud to work for BMW Motorrad. After six months at BMW you realise that the company is very engineer-driven. The employees go about their work in a highly structured and process-oriented way. This is a new experience for me. I can learn something here.” What would be a satisfactory outcome for you at the end of the season? Davide Tardozzi: “I will never be one hundred per cent satisfied; that would mean I’m standing still. Recording that podium finish at Monza meant we’d already achieved our aim for the season. Our results up to now and the 130 World Championship points we have under our belts show that we’re heading in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go before we are right up there at the front of the field. At the end of the season we can be pleased with ourselves if we’ve taken another big step towards the leaders and put the foundations in place to further reduce the gap to the top teams in 2011.”