Badovini and Tamburini with strong results at WSBK round in Imola – BMW Motorrad privateers in Malaysia get the 2015 season underway.

Ayrton Badovini rides his BMW S 1000 RR into the top five at his home race in the Superbike World Championship, Roberto Tamburini is second on the podium in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup – The Malaysia Superbike Championship gets underway at the “Sepang International Circuit” – Matthieu Lussiana continues to lead in the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy.

Munich, 13th May 2015. The famous “Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari” in Imola (IT) hosted the Superbike World Championship last weekend – and the BMW Motorrad privateers did well with strong performances. In the elite WSBK, Ayrton Badovini (IT) and BMW Motorrad Italia SBK finished fifth and sixth, giving them their best results of the season to date. In the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup (STK1000) race, Roberto Tamburini (IT) rode his BMW S 1000 RR into second place on the podium. This saw him move up from 11th to fourth in the standings of the 2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy (see below for the current standings). There was also Superbike action in South-East Asia last weekend: In Sepang (MY), the BMW Motorrad privateers kick-started the inaugural season of the all-new Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSC).

FIM Superbike World Championship in Imola, Italy.

The fifth round of the FIM Superbike World Championship (WSBK) was held in Imola (IT) last weekend – it was the home race for the BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team and rider Ayrton Badovini (IT), who lives just a few kilometres away from the “Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari”. And what a successful home race: The Italian team proved they are still on the up and got the best results of the season to date when they finished in sixth and fifth. There were already signs on Friday and Saturday that the team and the experts at BMW Motorrad Motorsport had found the right settings for the narrow and difficult track. In the practice sessions Badovini consistently finished in the top seven on his BMW S 1000 RR, and in Superpole qualifying he secured eighth place on the starting grid. In the first race on Sunday he moved up to sixth in the opening laps, but on the tenth lap the race was red-flagged after a serious accident. After the restart there was a short sprint race over six laps, which saw Badovini finish in sixth. Race two went the full distance of 19 laps – and Badovini finished in fifth, giving him his first top five result of the season. The two riders from BMW Racing Team Toth also picked up world championship points in Imola: Imre Tóth (HU) finished in 15th and 12th, his team-mate Gábor Rizmayer (HU) crossed the finish line in 16th and 13th.

FIM Superstock 1000 Cup in Imola, Italy.

The BMW S 1000 RR had another podium finish in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup (STK1000) race, which was held as part of the WSBK weekend in Imola. Roberto Tamburini (IT) in action for MotoxRacing on his RR was second to cross the finish line at his home race . This saw him take another step forward in the fight for the title: After three races this season, Tamburini is in second place in the drivers’ standings. The Italian also moved up in the classification of the 2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy, where he is now in fourth. The second-best BMW Motorrad privateer in Imola was Denni Schiavoni (IT / 2R Racing). He is a regular rider in the Italian Championship (CIV) and was given a wildcard to start in Imola. He finished ninth on his BMW S 1000 RR. Fabio Marchionni (IT) in action on his RR for TR. Corse crossed the finish line in 17th. Luca Oppedisano (IT / DMR Racing), a BMW Motorrad privateer from the CIV who was also given a wildcard to start in Imola, finished the race in 20th.

Malaysia Superbike Championship in Sepang, Malaysia.

Debut in South-East Asia: The inaugural season of the new Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSC) got underway at the “Sepang International Circuit” just outside Kuala Lumpur (MY) at the weekend. Two races were scheduled for both the Superbike class and the Superstock class. Two BMW Motorrad privateers contested the top category, the Superbike class SBK A, at the season opener. On his BMW S 1000 RR, Sharulnizam Bin Ramli (MY) finished third on the podium in the second race, after finishing sixth in the first one. Helmi Daud (MY) finished eighth in the first race, but retired in the second. Four riders were flying the BMW Motorrad Motorsport colours in the Superstock class STK A. Nasarudin Mat Yusop (MY) claimed third place on the podium in both races. Hasnur Rizal Bin Nur Sastra (MY) finished in fifth and sixth, Mohamad Asrul Affendi (MY) finished seventh in both races, and Khoo Chee Yen (MY) crossed the finish line in eighth in both races.

2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy – Current Standings.

So far, 64 privateer BMW Motorrad riders from 43 different teams and 19 nations have registered their participation. In 2015, the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy comprises a total of 19 international and national championships. Registration is possible until 30th June 2015. Participants in the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy can once again compete in multiple championships in 2015. However, the points scored in the different championships are not added together, but 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. You can find all the information on the 2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy, including the regulations and registration form, online at the BMW Motorrad Motorsport website:

www.bmw-motorrad-motorsport.com

Status: 13th May 2015

16. Stephen Mercer (GB/EWC STK/48.00), 16. Marco Nekvasil (AT/EWC STK/48.00), 16. Hayato Takada (JP/EWC STK/48.00), 19. Iván Silva (ES/CEV PR/41.60), 20. Tommy Bridewell (GB/BSB SBK/40.38), 21. Laurent Aymonin (FR/FR EU/39.38), 22. Nicholas Kershaw (ZA/RSA SBK GP/36.19), 23. Mike Roscher/Anna Burkard (DE/SWC/32.13), 24. Michael Laverty (GB/BSB SBK/31.24), 25. Ryuichi Kiyonari (JP/BSB SBK/29.71), 26. Sebastian Porto (AR/MT1GP STK GP/28.44), 27. Luca Oppedisano (IT/CIV/27.20), 28. Léon Benichou (FR/FR EU/24.62), 29. Marcel Irnie (CA/AMA STK/24.62), 30. Barry Burrell (GB/EWC STK/24.00), 30. Gary Mason (GB/EWC STK/24.00), 30. Stefan Capella (GB/EWC STK/24.00), 33. Emilien Jaillet (FR/FSBK STK/22.15), 34. Dominik Vincon (DE/IDM STK/21.71), 35. Uwe Gürck/Manfred Wechselberger (DE/AT/SWC/20.80), 36. Peter Hickman (GB/BSB SBK/19.81), 37. Camille Hedelin (FR/FSBK STK/19.69), 38. Nicolas Pouhair (FR/FSBK STK/12.31), 39. Daisaku Sakai (JP/MFJ/12.00), 40. Lee Jackson (GB/BSB SBK/11.43), 41. Pepijn Bijsterbosch (NL/IDM STK/10.29), 42. Jean Foray (FR/FR EU/9.85), 43. Koji Teramoto (JP/MFJ/6.00), 43. Fabio Marchionni (IT/STK1000/6.00), 45. Marc Neumann (DE/IDM STK/4.57), 46. Yuuta Kodama (JP/MFJ/4.00), 47. Michael Truchot (FR/FR EU/3.69), 48. Chris Schmid (DE/IDM SBK/3.43), 49. Thomas Hainthaler (DE/IDM SBK/2.29), 50. Shinya Takeishi (JP/MFJ/2.00), 50. Noriyuki Tsujimoto (JP/MFJ/2.00), 52. Martin Choy (BG/AARR SBK/0.00), 52. Milos Cihak (CZ/AARR SBK/0.00), 52. Michal Fojtik (CZ/AARR SBK/0.00), 52. Pawel Gorka (PL/AARR SBK/0.00), 52. Sabine Holbrook (DE/AARR SBK/0.00), 52. Janez Prosenik (SI/AARR SBK/0.00), 52. Jeremy Cook (US/AMA STK/0.00), 52. Lee Johnston (GB/BMW RRC/0.00). 52. Mika Höglund (FI/CEV AM/0.00), 52. Jordan Szoke (CA/CSBK PR/0.00), 52. Tatsuya Noda (JP/EWC SBK/0.00), 52. Federico D’Annunzio (IT/STK1000/0.00), 52. Eric Vionnet (CH/STK1000/0.00)

More, from a press release issued by Pirelli:

At Imola it’s a double win for Jonathan Rea and a hat trick for Kawasaki in the eni FIM World Superbike Championship. Excellent début for the new Pirelli rear solution in the top category and new lap records in Superbike and Supersport

In front of a crowd of 65,000 fans the manufacturer from Akashi wins the two Superbike races, the Supersport and the Superstock 600 races. In Superbike the new rear development solution in soft compound allows Pirelli to break the 2013 race lap record by more than half a second

Imola (Italy), 11 May 2015 – The fifth round of the World Superbike Season ended today with victory in both races in the top category going to Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team). The Brit is on an impressive winning streak: out of the ten races held he has won eight and placed second in the other two.

The weekend was satisfying for Pirelli as well, who introduced a new soft compound solution for the rear at the Imola circuit which proved to be the race tire, confirming the Pirelli development team’s expectations.

After a three round absence due to a bad crash during the opening race of the season in Australia, Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team) came back keen to make up for lost time, winning the Superpole on Saturday ahead of the two Kawasaki riders, Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea.

There was an extremely fast pace in Race 1, thanks in part to the performance of the new DIABLO™ Superbike SC0 development tire on the rear, the T0611 solution making its first appearance in the Championship. The new race lap record of 1’46.707 made by Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) is further demonstration of this, improving the previous record (also set by Sykes in 2013) by more than half a second.

Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team) got off the line well ahead of Tom Sykes, temporarily overtaken by team mate Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) who moved into second place only to lose it a few turns later.

During the eighth lap the other Ducati rider, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team), was forced to withdraw due to an electrical problem with his bike.

Things got really exciting in the ninth lap when Tom Sykes managed to overtake Giugliano to move into the lead. During the same lap Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) crashed out and in the tenth lap Jonathan Rea also managed to get by Davide Giugliano, chasing down team mate Tom Sykes.

Just as the two Kawasakis ridden by Sykes and Rea were leading the race a bad crash, fortunately without any grave consequences, took David Salom (Team Pedercini) out of the race and forced the marshals to red flag the race and bring all the riders back into the pits.

The race restarted according to the rules for 6 laps which was the 2/3 distance left in the race when the red flag came out.

The restart had the riders on the grid in the order they were when the race was red flagged, so Sykes was on the pole ahead of Rea, Giugliano and Haslam.

In the third lap of the restart Jonathan Rea overtook Tom Sykes to move into the lead. The two Kawasakis increased the gap ahead of Davide Giugliano (in third place) and crossed the wire first. Jonathan Rea took the top step of the podium followed by team mate Tome Sykes and Ducati rider Davide Giugliano who finished with an excellent third place.

Between Superbike Race 1 and Race 2 the FIM Supersport World Championship race was held, 17 laps long with Jules Cluzel on his MV Agusta starting from pole position ahead of the two Kawasakis ridden by Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Marco Faccani (San Carlo Puccetti Racing).

Cluzel and Sofuoglu got off the line fast with Faccani losing third place to American Patrick Jacobsen (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres).

During the third lap Cluzel and Sofuoglu pulled away from the rest of the pack, putting almost a second and a half between them and their closest rivals.

Toward the end of the seventh lap the Turkish rider launched an attack on the Frenchman and overtook but Cluzel wasn’t about to give up and on the straight stretch just before beginning the eighth lap he took back the lead. In the meantime his team mate, Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) overtook Jacobsen to move into third place.

Sofuoglu did not relent and during the ninth lap he managed to overtake Cluzel’s MV Agusta to move back into the lead. Like at Assen, the finale came down to a dual between the Turkish rider and the Frenchman.

Kenan Sofuoglu took home the win but Jules Cluzel, second across the wire, deservedly broke the lap record with 1’51.101 in the penultimate lap, improving the one set by Sam Lowes in 2013 by half a second. Behind them was the other MV Agusta ridden by Lorenzo Zanetti. At the moment the Turkish rider leads the overall Championship standings with 105 points, whereas Jules Cluzel lead the Pirelli Best Lap Awards standings with three fast race laps out of a total of five races held thus far.

Race 2 confirmed the outcome of Race 1 with the Akashi-based manufacturer demonstrating clear superiority over the competition on the Imola track.

In the third lap Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team) overtook team mate Davide Giugliano, already overtaken at the start by the two Kawasakis ridden by Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) who led the race.

From the sixth lap the two Kawasakis, just like in Race 1, increased the race pace and pulled away from their pursuers.

In the ninth lap Michael VD Mark crashed due to contact with Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) and in the following lap the Spaniard began a duel with Davide Giugliano for fourth place. During the twelfth lap Torres managed to overtake the Italian and then in the fifteenth Chaz Davies, in third place at the moment, was forced to retire once again, leaving third place to Torres.

The race ended once again with victory for Jonathan Rea on his Kawasaki and his team mate crossing the wire behind him again with the bottom step going to Jordi Torres on his Aprilia.

The third race of the season in the Superstock 1000 category was won by Lorenzo Savadori (Nuova M2 Racing) ahead of Roberto Tamburini (Team MotoxRacing) and Ondrej Jezek (Triple-M by Barni).

The Superstock 600 FIM European Championship race, held on Saturday afternoon, had Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Federico Caricasulo (Pata Honda Junior Team) as undisputed protagonists, engaging in an exciting duel, overtaking one another time and again down to the final lap. During the last lap and just a few turns from the chequered flag the Turkish rider made a move on the Italian who took a slide at the same time, going off track and definitively handing over the win to the Kawasaki standard bearer who finished ahead of Roberto Mercandelli (Roberto Mercandelli Team) on his Yamaha and Andrea Tucci on the San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki.With this win the Turkish rider, making his début in the European 600 championship, puts together an exceptional double brace, winning the first 4 races on the calendar and confirming that he is definitely the man to beat in the current season.

Comment from Giorgio Barbier, Pirelli Moto Racing Director:

“Our primary goal during the Imola round was to verify the quality of the new rear soft compound standard SC0 development solution and from this point of view we are absolutely satisfied since this new tire was already the most used in both Superbike races at its début. For us this is obviously just first confirmation which is certainly not enough to judge the actual performance of the new tire that will need to be tested on other circuits and in different asphalt conditions, track layouts and climates as well, so this is why we will also be bringing it to the upcoming rounds. Despite the fact that it was already chosen by 3/4 of the riders on the grid at its début is definitely a good sign.

As for the rest, the races we saw today simply confirmed the current Championship standings. Jonathan Rea (congratulations to him, as well as to all the winners this weekend) showed, as if he needed to, that he is aiming for the championship title more than ever and, at least until now; he has not left a lot of room to move about for his adversaries since out of ten races held he has won eight. Overall today was certainly a good day for Kawasaki with wins in three different categories. I would also like to compliment Davide Giugliano who, after 3 months of down time won pole position straight away on Saturday and battled in the races today, even though he isn’t in tip top shape, demonstrating a lot of grit and tenacity.”

The Pirelli solutions chosen by the riders:

At Imola, as already mentioned, Pirelli introduced a new rear soft compound solution in Superbike, the T0611 SC0 development solution, which was decidedly the race solution of choice and which allowed the riders to achieve excellent results thanks to the uniform and consistent performance it was able to guarantee.

On the front, on the other hand, the riders were divided equally between the two SC1 development solutions, the S1699 which was the most used solution in 2014, and the new T1467.

In Supersport on the front the two SC1 solutions available were used, the standard one and the S1485, with the latter being the most popular.

On the rear the race tire of choice was the SC0 development solution, the T0957, which was introduced this year at Aragòn.

Pirelli Best Lap Award:

The Pirelli Best Lap Awards, the prizes that are assigned to the riders with the fast laps in the Superbike and Supersport races, were presented in the Paddock Show during the press conference that follows the podiums at the end of the race day.

The Superbike and Supersport rider who has earned the most “Pirelli Best Lap Award” titles at the end of the season will be elected “Best Lap Winner: fastest rider of the year” and awarded during the end of year ceremony.

Jonathan Rea is leading the Superbike standings with 4 Best Laps won, Jules Cluzel the Supersport with 3 Best Laps.

These are the riders who won the Pirelli Best Lap Awards at Imola:

WSB Race 1 – Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), 1’46.707 (5th lap)

WSB Race 2 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), 1’47.198 (12th lap)

WSS – Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), 1’51.101 (16 th lap)

The overall standings after the first five rounds are as follows:

WSB: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team): 4; Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team): 3; Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team): 2; Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils): 1

WSS: Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse): 3; Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Team): 1; Patrick Jacobsen (Kawasaki Intermoto PonyExpres): 1

The 2015 Pirelli statistics for the Imola round:

• Total number of tires Pirelli brought: 4552

• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 6 rear

• Number of tires available for each Superbike rider: 34 front and 34 rear

• Number of solutions for the Supersport class (dry, intermediate and wet):: 4 front and 4 rear

• Number of tires available for each Supersport rider: 22 front and 21 rear

• Temperature in Race 1: air 24° C, asphalt 38° C

• Temperature in Race 2: air 26° C, asphalt 46° C

• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tires: 285.3 kms/h, in Race 1 by Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team) at 4th lap

• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Supercorsa tires in Supersport: 253.1 kms/h, Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) at 10th lap and Kyle Smith (PATA Honda World Supersport Team) at 3rd lap.

More, from a press release issued by Michael Hill Promotions:

More Points For Su At Valencia As Learning Curve Continues

Hunter Su (Team China) was back in the points in the latest round of the Copa CBR 250cc Cup held at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia over the weekend of 9th/10th May as his learning curve continues, the youngster now comfortably able to mix it with the pack showing great progession in only his 3rd race weekend in Europe.

Su backed up his solid results from the previous round to qualify a respectable 16th on the grid for the two race, the first of which was held on the Saturday. In the race, he was able to fight hard with those around him, and was able to come away with a point for a 15th place finish after getting the better of one of his rivals.

Race 2 on Sunday was tougher as a problem with the tyre saw him unable to ride the way he wanted, he did however sho some great skill to avoid crashing out on a number of occasions. It was a big disappointment as during the morning warm up session, and after several overnight changes things were looking rosy.

After his point scoring finish on Saturday, Hunter is now in a respectable 16th in the championship for Team China with 10 points.

Nevertheless that’s racing and Hunter will now regroup and prepare for the next round in June at Navarra.

Hunter Su – Team China: “In the morning for the warm up, I felt great, and I was super excited for the race! On the warm up lap, I felt there was something wrong with my tyre, and nearly high sided but was able to save it. I told my mechanics about it on the grid, they checked the pressure and it was correct. I made a good start, and held a good position at turn 1, but as soon as I arrived at turn 2 I was running super wide, and I knew it was down to the tyre. I passed the back group of riders after getting back on track and tried to run away from them, but went super wide again. Got last position. Despite what happened in race 2 I am quiet happy, because even with an issue I was still able to battle with people without crashing. It’s all part of learning!”