Vincon and Kerschbaumer are the first leaders of the 2016 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy – Already 74 participants – Two wins and a podium for the BMW S 1000 RR racers in Assen and Valencia.

The first standings of the 2016 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy have been published: More than 70 BMW racers from four continents have registered so far – Successful weekend for the BMW S 1000 RR in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup and the FIM CEV Superbike European Championship.

Munich (DE), 20th April 2016. The 2016 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy is getting into full swing: more than 70 participants have already registered for this unique competition for BMW racers from all around the world, and the first standings of the new season have been revealed. Last weekend, the BMW S 1000 RR was successful again in several championships, including two wins and a podium in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup (STK1000) and the FIM CEV Superbike European Championship (CEV).

2016 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy.

The global interest in the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy is enormous: in the first weeks of the 2016 season, no less than 74 BMW racers from 18 different countries on four continents have registered to participate. They compete for 37 different teams in 19 different championship classes. The numbers are expected to increase significantly as registration is open until 30th June 2016, and in many racing series valid for the Race Trophy the season is only about to start.

The first standings of the 2016 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy sees two leaders: Dominik Vincon (DE) and Stefan Kerschbaumer (AT), who share the Völpker NRT48 by Schubert Motors BMW S 1000 RR in the Superstock class of the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC STK), top the first classification with 100.95 points each. Third place is currently held by Raffaele De Rosa (IT / STK1000) with 76.22 points (see full standings below).

In 2016 the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy comprises of a total of 28 classes in 21 international and national championships. Participants in the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy can compete in multiple championships. The points scored in the different championships are calculated separately for each individual race series. The current standings only include points from the race series in which the participant has scored the most Race Trophy points.

MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship in Assen, the Netherlands.

The fourth round of the 2016 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) was held at the famous TT Circuit in Assen (NL) last weekend. Track action was massively influenced by extremely unpredictable weather with sun, rain and even hail that resulted in permanently changing conditions.

Race one on Saturday was held on a dry track. Jordi Torres (ES) of Althea BMW Racing Team repeated his strong result from his home round two weeks ago at MotorLand Aragón and finished fifth. His team-mate Markus Reiterberger (DE) was also fighting for the top six on his BMW S 1000 RR, a ride through the gravel when avoiding an other rival, however, cost him some time and he crossed the line in seventh. Milwaukee BMW rider Josh Brookes (AU) was 11th, his team-mate Karel Abraham (CZ) retired due to a technical problem.

For Sunday’s second race, conditions had been extremely difficult. After rain and hail, the track was wet in the early stages but quickly dried. This made tyre choice a lottery and most of the riders headed to the pits during the race to change from wet or intermediate tyres to slicks. Milwaukee BMW rider Brookes, who had already set a strong fifth fastest time in the dry warm-up, shone with a brilliant performance on the damp track. Coming from 14th on the grid, he stormed to the front and led for several laps. For Brookes, these were his first leading laps in the WorldSBK. He was, however, denied the reward for this performance, as he lost the front shortly after he had changed to slicks on a still damp patch and fell. Abraham, Torres and Reiterberger ended this extremely difficult race in 14th, 15th and 16th respectively.

Matthieu Lussiana (FR) once more raced in the WorldSBK on the BMW S 1000 RR Superstock version of Team ASPI. Finishing 15th in race one, he collected his first world championship point. In race two, he crossed the line in 17th.

FIM Superstock 1000 Cup in Assen, the Netherlands.

The TT Circuit in Assen also was the venue for the second race of the 2016 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup (STK1000). The spectators in the grandstands witnessed a dominant win by Althea BMW rider Raffaele De Rosa (IT). He defied all this race’s difficult circumstances to celebrate his first victory of the season. After two red flags, the race finally started at the third attempt, however, with tricky conditions on a track that was drying more and more and it was shortened to nine laps. De Rosa took the lead on lap three and pulled away from the rest of the field on his BMW S 1000 RR. At the finish line, he had an advantage of over ten seconds over his closest rival. Luca Vitali (IT / Team 2R Racing) also collected points, finishing 12th.

FIM CEV Superbike European Championship in Valencia, Spain.

The season opener of the FIM CEV Superbike European Championship (CEV) saw a great result for the Targobank EasyRace team. In a closely fought race, young Chilean Maximilian Scheib celebrated his first ever victory in the series. He was joined on the podium by his new team-mate Santi Barragán (ES) in third. Barragán had secured pole position on his BMW S 1000 RR on Saturday and was also battling for the win, but lost some time when going wide in the closing stages of the race. Adrián Bonastre (ES), who was in action for the Proelit DR7 team, came home sixth on his RR. The other Proelit DR7 rider, Pedro Rodriguez (ES) was tenth. Roberto Blazquez (ES / ACR Competición) also scored a point by crossing the line in 15th.

Motoamerica FIM/AMA North American Road Racing Series in Braselton, US.

Just one week after the 2016 curtain raiser at Austin (US), the Motoamerica FIM/AMA North American Road Racing Series held its second round at Road Atlanta in Braselton (US) this weekend. At the Scheibe Racing team, Tomas Puerta (CO) stood in for regular rider Steve Rapp (US), who was not able to compete due to other professional commitments. Puerta finished both races in the points, crossing the line in 13th and 15th respectively.

2016 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy – Current Standings.

Status: 18th April 2016

16. Kenny Foray (FR/FSBK SBK/29.23), 17. Michel Amalric (FR/FR EU/28.00), 18. Bertrand Boyer (FR/FR EU/23.38), 19. Karel Abraham (CZ/WorldSBK/23.20), 20. Julien Brun (FR/FR EU/20.92), 21. Madjid Idres (FR/FR EU/19.38), 22. Adrián Bonastre (ES/CEV/19.00), 23. Ronald Slamet (ZA/RSA SBK/18.86), 24. Steve Rapp (US/AMA STK/18.13), 25. Garrick Vlok (ZA/RSA SBK/16.86), 26. Lee Jackson (GB/BSB SBK/16.60), 27. Luca Vitali (IT/STK1000/16.00), 28. Cyril Brunet-Lugardon (FR/FR EU/14.46), 29. Janez Prosenik (SI/EWC SBK/13.62), 30. Pedro Rodriguez (ES/CEV/12.60), 31. Richard Cooper (GB/BSB SBK/10.20), 32. Matthieu Lussiana (FR/WorldSBK/9.20), 33. Ricky Lee Weare (ZA/RSA SBK/9.14), 34. Justin Gillesen (ZA/RSA SBK/7.71), 35. Maxime Bonnot (FR/FSBK SBK/.7.08), 35. Florian Brunet-Lugardon (FR/FR EU/7.08), 37. Eric Vionnet (CH/STK1000/6.89), 38. Pierre Bezuidenhout (ZA/RSA SBK/6.57), 38. Etienne Nelson (ZA/RSA SBK/6.57), 38. Evert Stoffberg (ZA/RSA SBK/6.57), 41. Thomas Toffel (CH/STK1000/5.11), 42. Pascal Meslet (FR/FR/FR EU/4.92), 43. Roberto Blazquez (ES/CEV/4.60), 43. Alastair Seeley (GB/BSB SBK/4.60), 45. Federico D’Annunzio (IT/STK1000/3.33), 46. Gauthier Duwelz (BE/STK1000/1.78), 47. Jakub Smrz (CZ/BSB SBK/1.60), 48. Elwyn Steenkamp (ZA/RSA SBK/1.14), 49. Léon Benichou (FR/FR EU/0.00), 49. Michal Bidas (CZ/AARR STK/0.00), 49. Pepijn Bijsterbosch (NL/IDM STK/0.00), 49. Jacques Brits (ZA/RSA SBK/0.00), 49. Jan Bühn (DE/IDM STK/0.00), 49. Daniel Cooper (GB/BMW RRC/0.00), 49. David Datzer (DE/IRRC/0.00), 49. Stefan Dolipski (DE/AMA STK/0.00), 49. Michael Dunlop (GB/BMW RRC/0.00), 49. Matteo Ferrari (IT/CIV/0.00), 49. Michal Fojtik (CZ/AARR STK/0.00), 49. Dominic Herbertson (GB/BMW RRC/0.00), 49. Sabine Holbrook (DE/AARR SBK/0.00), 49. Lee Johnston (GB/BMW RRC/0.00), 49. John Krieger (ZA/RSA SBK/0.00), Valter Patronen (FI/CEV/0.00), 49. Michal Prášek (CZ/AARR STK/0.00), 49. Mike Roscher/Anna Burkard (DE/SWC/0.00), 49. Joan Sardanyons (ES/CEV/0.00), 49. Denni Schiavoni (IT/CIV/0.00), 49. Rene Skalicky (CZ/AARR STK/0.00), 49. Björn Stuppi (DE/IDM STK/0.00), 49. Tomas Svitok (SK/AARR STK/0.00) 49. Jordan Szoke (CA/CSBK/0.00), 49. Martin Tritscher (AT/AARR STK/0.00), 49. Ben Young (GB/CSBK/0.00)

More, from a press release issued by Team Stratos:

Good feelings for Team Stratos with Michael Aquino´s debut in Moto2 and Max Enderlein in the top10

Aquino has continued adding experience in Moto2, while Enderlein has achieved two tenths posts at two Moto2 races in Valencia.

The first meeting of the season of the Moto2 European Championship has been held under perfect weather conditions at the Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana.

Thanks to the double race, Michael Aquino has continued his progression in his debut in the category. During the first, Aquino has managed to lower more than 6 tenths his best time, stopping the clock at 1: 41,144 and finishing in position 22 of a total of 33 riders that took part in the race. In the second, he has been struggling with several riders, helping him, to add kilometers on the bike and finishing the second race in 21st.

On the other hand, the German rider, Max Enderlein has pulled of two brilliant comebacks that have led him to the “top 10” in both races. In the first, Enderlein has finished tenth, starting from the 17th position on the starting grid, trying to improve the result in the second and getting double top 10 for the young rider at the first Moto2 race of the season. Max will arrive to Aragon in ninth place of the standings.

After this double race, Team Moto2 Stratos fixed their goals in Motorland race, the weekend of May 28th and 29th where will be held the second event for the category and in which, again, are scheduled two races.

You can find more information on, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Periscope (@teamstratos).

Michael Aquino @michaelaquino18 – P 22 / 21

“The race went really well. I have done much better in the second than the first, and I keep improving every time I go out on track. In the next race in Motorland, we have more information about all and although it is a different circuit I can use what I have learned here so we can go fast before without having to spend days of practice to make contact. It has been a very good weekend and I’m really happy. Here races are very tough and physical. I want to thank all my sponsors and people that are supporting this great project.”

Max Enderlein @erbl32 – P 10 / 10

“I’m happy with the race. We started from 17th and we finished tenth and so I’m happy. We have made great development and I think if we continue this way in the next race we’ll be fine.”

More, from a press release issued by Cory West’s publicist:

West Podiums Again at NJMP

Round two of the Cory West “Bounty Hunter” schedule took place all the way up in New Jersey Motorsports Park for the ASRA/CCS Superstock National. After regrouping from the first outing, West landed some help from Ohlins USA to help wrangle the massive power of the new BMW S1000RR. Unable to test the new settings prior to the race event, there was a sense of urgency to find a happy setting for the motorcycle. A Friday track day and Saturday GTO race was all that was needed for West to get down to some competitive lap times and find a comfortable setup on the German missile.

“The weather was sunny but cold all weekend, so finding a comfy setting with such low track temps was a bit unnerving. Luckily, the new Ohlins suspension and Pirelli tire combo was working great from the first session. I was able to get going pretty quick on scrubs during the track day, and then throwing fresh tires at it for the GTO race showed me what needed fine tuning” said West about the first two days of riding.

“The ASRA Superstock race was a great confidence booster knowing that I ran up front for a few laps and then kept the leaders in sight for the whole race. I lost touch completely with the leaders at the first round at Roebling Road, so I know I’m making progress with the new Beemer. I’ve raced at NJMP on some pretty fast superbikes in the past and I’m proud to say that I went faster on my own motorcycle with way less backing and support. Running some 1:23’s in chilly conditions lets me know that I’m on par with the best 1000 riders in the country. Finishing on the podium is great but I see some wins coming in the near future!” West exclaimed.

West now has one weekend off before gearing back up for the first CCS race in the mid-west at Autobahn Country Club in Illinois. Stay updated by following Cory on social media andMotoArkansas.com!

Cory West would like to thank the following Sponsors for their support:

BMW North America

Pirelli Tire North America

Gemini Technologies

Hooligan Racing

Steve Weir, BMW HP Race Support

Ohlins USA

Vesrah

Zero-Gravity

Woodcraft

Vortex

Drippin’ Wet

Shoei Helmets North America

Sidi Boots/Motonation

If you’re interested in helping Cory this season during his racing efforts, please contact Brant Collins with MotoArkansas.com.