9th – 11th July 2010 9th of 13 World Championship race weekends Munich/Stephanskirchen, 5th July 2010. Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport go into the next round of the 2010 FIM Superbike World Championship fresh from their most successful race weekend yet at Misano, Italy, and a two-day test at Imola (also Italy). Troy Corser (AUS) and his team-mate Ruben Xaus (ESP) will contest the ninth of the season’s 13 race weekends at Brno in the Czech Republic from 9th – 11th July. Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport will travel to the Czech Republic in bullish mood having recorded their first pole position and second podium finish of the season so far at Misano. With 152 points in the manufacturers’ standings, the team has now comfortably exceeded last year’s end-of-season total of 141 points after just eight of the 13 race weekends in 2010. The team’s two riders could barely have more contrasting memories of last year’s race at Brno. While Troy claimed fifth place in Race 1 at the Czech track – his best race result of the season – Ruben crashed on the opening lap of the first race and suffered a broken right femur. Troy Corser: “I’m confident going into Brno. Last year I earned my best result of the whole season there when I finished in fifth place. The bike has come a long way since this time a year ago. I like the track itself a lot, as it suits my riding style. The set-up you run here is quite unusual. There are corners which you brake into going downhill and others which you brake into travelling uphill. That means you have to find a compromise.” Ruben Xaus: “I hope that things fall into place at Brno. It was here that all the problems started last year with my crash and injury. Things just haven’t run smoothly since then. I hope that we can draw a line under this unhappy time at Brno. For me it’s critical that I find my rhythm over the next few race weekends. Things are actually looking good. The bike is improving all the time and we’re getting really good power from the engine, which is important with all the inclines at Brno. You also need to ride fluently here, though, as there are a lot of sweeping corners.” Berthold Hauser, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director: “We earned our first pole position at Misano and finished on the podium for the second time this season. All in all, we’ve already finished in the top five seven times this year and scored a total of 152 points. That’s more than we collected in the whole of last season and there are still five race weekends to go. The tests we carried out at Mugello, Misano and, most recently, at Imola have all been very promising, and the race weekend at Misano was the most successful of the season so far for BMW Motorrad Motorsport. Our form is on an upward curve and I’m confident that we can build on the good performances of recent weeks at Brno.” Background: Brno is the second-largest city in the Czech Republic – with a population of just under 400,000 – and lies on the southeastern edge of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands. While Brno was primarily shaped by industry going into the 20th century, today the city is known first and foremost as a business centre, university city and location for trade fairs. The Automotodrom Brno – also known as the Masaryk Ring in the Czech Republic – can claim over 70 years of history in motorsport. The first competitive action here took place in 1930 on what was still a 29-kilometre-long natural circuit. Then, in the 1950s, motorcycle races dominated proceedings, and from 1965 Brno hosted a round of the World Motorcycle Championship. In 1986 and 1987 the natural track was renovated and reopened. The Superbike World Championship made its debut at Brno in 1993, and on its second visit to the circuit three years later Troy Corser won both races. Corser also celebrated victory at Brno in 2005, when the circuit made another return to the calendar. Brno is an interesting venue for the engineers. It is a fluent track to ride and demands only a small number of heavy braking manoeuvres. However, as the riders have to brake both uphill and downhill into corners, a well resolved set-up which gives the riders confidence is the order of the day. The majority of the riders like racing at Brno, as the circuit places an emphasis on precision through the corners – and that means the bike has to have a balanced set-up.