Strong performances by the BMW teams in the Endurance World Championship – Successful weekend for BMW in British BSB.

The privateer BMW teams fight at the top at the “8 Hours of Oschersleben” – Six podium positions for the BMW S 1000 RR at the BSB round at Cadwell Park.

Munich (DE), 26th August 2015. The privateer BMW riders have once more delivered strong performances in several championships. At the third round of the 2015 FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC), the “8 Hours of Oschersleben” (DE), they were among the very top both in the Superbike and the Superstock classes. In the British Superbike Championship (BSB), the BMW racers gave the brand its most successful weekend so far, claiming four podiums in the Superbike class and two in the Superstock race at Cadwell Park (GB). At the season finale of the 2015 FIM Sidecar World Championship (SWC) in Oschersleben (DE) there was also a podium finish for BMW. In addition, the BMW S 1000 RR riders have been in action in South Africa again.

FIM Endurance World Championship in Oschersleben, Germany.

The “8 Hours of Oschersleben” (DE) marked the third and penultimate round of the 2015 FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC). On this occasion, the BMW teams, supported by the experts of BMW Motorrad Motorsport, impressed with strong outings. In its debut season in the highest Superbike category (EWC SBK), BMW MOTORRAD France Penz13.com with riders Markus Reiterberger (DE), Bastien Mackels (NL) and Pedro Vallcaneras (ES) proved to be one of the top teams in EWC. Reiterberger set the fastest times both in free practice and the qualifying sessions on the number 13 BMW S 1000 RR. The grid was determined by the average time of all three riders in a team and Penz13.com qualified a strong fourth. In the early stages of the 8-hour race the number 13 RR was in the overall lead in front of all the established EWC teams. However, Lady Luck left the trio over the course of the race. The team dropped back after a scheduled pit stop had to be done during a safety car period. In the final hour the team had to change the clutch. The mechanics did this in a fantastic time of less than five minutes, but could not avoid a further loss of positions. With a great final spurt the number 13 RR fought its way back and Reiterberger, Mackels and Vallcaneras finished the race in sixth overall (fifth in the Superbike class).

In the Superstock class of the EWC (EWC STK), local heroes VÖLPKER NRT48 & PENZ 13 BY SCHUBERT from Oschersleben put in a strong performance. Riders Marco Nekvasil (AT), Dominik Vincon (DE) and Stefan Kerschbaumer (DE) secured the Superstock pole position on the number 48 BMW S 1000 RR (a strong sixth on the overall grid). In the race, the BMW trio was in second place in the Superstock class until the final phase. However, they lost positions after a fall. After eight hours the number 48 RR crossed the finish line in tenth place in the Superstock class and in 24th place overall. The BMW S 1000 RR of Prime Factors Racing started from sixth in the Superstock class, but Gary Mason (GB), Barry Burrell (GB) and Stefan Cappella (GB) retired during the race. In the Open class, two BMW teams rode onto the podium: RS Speedbikes Racing came second (15th overall), MSD-Steeldesign.de finished third in this class (20th overall).

The season finale of the FIM Endurance World Championship will be held on 19th/20th September, with the Bol d’Or in Le Castellet (FR).

British Superbike Championship in Cadwell Park, Great Britain.

For round eight of the 2015 season, the British Superbike Championship (BSB) travelled to Cadwell Park (GB) last weekend. It turned out to be the most successful BSB round for BMW to date: in the exciting and fiercely fought races of the Superbike class (BSB SBK), BMW racers claimed four of six podium finishes available, more than ever before on one weekend. In addition, there were two more podiums for the BMW S 1000 RR in the Superstock class (BSB STK).

In the first of the two Superbike races four RRs crossed the finish line in the top five. Peter Hickman (GB / RAF Reserves BMW) finished second, while Billy McConnell (AU / Smiths Racing BMW) was third, celebrating his first ever podium in the BSB Superbike class. The top was was completed by the two Tyco BMW riders Tommy Bridewell (GB / fourth) and Michael Laverty (GB / fifth), who both crossed the line only a few tenths of a second behind the podium positions. Richard Cooper (GB), who raced on a third BMW S 1000 RR for Buildbase BMW Motorrad, finished eighth. His team-mates Lee Jackson (GB) and Ryuichi Kiyonari (JP) also picked up points for 12th and 14th places. Race two was no less exciting. In the end, Hickman again secured second place, and in doing so the BMW racer celebrated his first ever double podium in BSB. Bridewell finished third on the podium, only 0.175 seconds behind Hickman. His team-mate Laverty slid off the track when fighting for the podium. McConnell finished sixth this time, closely followed by Cooper on the Buildbase BMW S 1000 RR in seventh place. Jackson crossed the finish line in 11th, ahead of Martin Jessopp (GB / Riders Motorcycles BMW) in 12th. In the overall rankings Bridewell is fourth after eight rounds with 141 points, while Laverty holds sixth with 126 points.

In the Superstock class, the ninth race of the season was held at Cadwell Park – with two BMW racers finishing on the podium. Alastair Seeley (GB / Tyco BMW) was second, Hudson Kennaugh (ZA / Trik-Moto BMW) came home third. Just outside the podium followed another RR rider: Luke Quigley (GB / Formwise Washrooms / Bathams) finished fourth. Dominic Usher (GB / DU Racing BMW) and Billy Mellor (GB / Able Engineering) also rode into the top ten, finishing eighth and tenth.

FIM Sidecar World Championship in Oschersleben, Germany.

Oschersleben (DE) was the venue for an exciting season finale of the 2015 FIM Sidecar World Championship (SWC) last weekend. In the final two heats – a 12-lap sprint race on Saturday and a 20-lap “Gold Race” on Sunday – three sidecar teams were battling for the world championship crown. Among them was the Finnish BMW duo of Pekka Päivärinta and Kirsi Kainulainen (44-Racing). In Saturday’s race they finished third on the podium, keeping their title hopes alive. In Sunday’s race, however, they dropped back after a good start when they briefly went off track. After a fight-back, Päivärinta/Kainulainen crossed the line in fourth. In the championship classification, they finished third overall, only 15 points behind the new world champions Bennie Streuer/Geert Koerts (NL).

Uwe Gürck (DE) and Manfred Wechselberger (AT) finished the races in fourth and fifth on their BMW sidecar from Polizei Sport Verein Wels. They ended the season in fourth place. Mike Roscher/Anna Burkhard (DE / Roscher-Burkard-Penz13) were eighth and seventh in Oschersleben. In the overall rankings they finished fifth.

South African SuperGP Champions Trophy in Delmas, South Africa.

The sixth and penultimate race weekend of the 2015 South African Super GP Champions Trophy (RSA SBK) was held at Red Star Raceway near Delmas (ZA). BMW privateer Lance Isaacs (ZA / Black Swan Energy) was fighting for the podium in both races with his BMW S 1000 RR but the hot conditions with temperatures up to 30 degrees Celsius prevented him from finishing within the top three. In race one he had to slow down when the bike’s temperature gauge rose significantly. He opted not to risk any damage and crossed the line in fourth. In race two Isaacs was riding in third position when his rear shock overheated. He was no longer able to attack, but saved a sixth place finish. The same results were achieved by Nicholas Kershaw (ZA / Tsunami Beach Bar BMW). He was sixth in race one with his BMW S 1000 RR and crossed the line in fourth in the second race.

2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy – Current Standings.

In 2015 the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy comprises a total of 19 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. You can find all the information on the 2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy online at the BMW Motorrad Motorsport website:

www.bmw-motorrad-motorsport.com

16. Emeric Jonchière (FR/FSBK STK/153.85), 17. Peter Hickman (GB/BMW RRC/152.89), 18. Lukáš Pešek (CZ/AARR SBK/152.73), 19. Martin Choy (BG/AARR SBK/144.00), 20. Lance Isaacs (ZA/RSA SBK GP/143.28), 21. Pepijn Bijsterbosch (NL/IDM STK/141.71), 22. Uwe Gürck/Manfred Wechselberger (DE/AT/SWC/140.27), 23. Krasen Kanchev (BG/AARR STK/140.22), 24. Dominik Vincon (DE/IDM STK/133.71), 25. Mike Roscher/Anna Burkard (DE/SWC/132.93), 26. Eeki Kuparinen (FI/CEV AM/124.80), 27. Marek Szkopek (PL/AARR STK/119.22), 28. Madjid Idres (FR/FR EU/115.69), 29. Florian Drouin (FR/FR EU/113.23), 30. Fabrizio Perotti (IT/CIV/108.80), 31. Tommy Bridewell (GB/BSB SBK/107.43), 32. Alessio Corradi (IT/CIV/107.20), 33. William Dunlop (GB/BMW RRC/106.67), 34. Matej Smrz (CZ/IDM SBK/103.62), 35. Michael Leon (CA/CSBK PR/100.00), 36. Iván Silva (ES/CEV PR/99.20), 37. Michael Laverty (GB/BSB SBK/96.76), 38. Nicholas Kershaw (ZA/RSA SBK GP/90.97), 39. David Johnson (AU/BMW RRC/88.89), 40. Marco Nekvasil (AT/EWC STK/86.00), 41. Pedro Vallcaneras (ES/EWC SBK/84.00), 42. Nasarudin Mat Yusop (MY/MSC STK/74.13), 43. Hayato Takada (JP/EWC STK/74.00), 44. Michal Fojtik (CZ/AARR STK/71.89), 45. Lucy Glöckner (DE/IDM STK/70.86), 46. Bartlomiej Wiczynski (PL/AARR STK/69.33), 47. Billy McConnell (AU/BSB SBK/68.57), 48. Miloš Cihak (CZ/AARR SBK/68.36), 49. Denni Schiavoni (IT/CIV/64.00), 50. Ireneusz Sikora (PL/AARR SBK/61.09), 51. Gareth Jones (AU/EWC SBK/60.00), 52. Dominic Usher (GB/BSB STK/59.64), 53. Adrián Bonastre (ES/CEV PR/57.60), 54. Michael Rutter (GB/BMW RRC/56.89), 55. Léon Benichou (FR/FR EU/54.15), 56. Guy Martin (GB/BMW RRC/53.33), 57. Sebastián Porto (AR/MT1GP STK GP/51.56), 58. Stephen Mercer (GB/EWC STK/48.00), 59. Marc Neumann (DE/IDM STK/46.86), 60. Bastien Mackels (BE/IDM SBK/46.57), 61. Nicolas Pouhair (FR/FSBK SBK/45.85), 62. Ryuichi Kiyonari (JP/BSB SBK/44.19), 63. Wojciech Wrobel (PL/AARR STK/44.00), 64. Laurent Aymonin (FR/FR EU/39.38), 65. Lee Jackson (GB/BSB SBK/38.86), 66. Luca Oppedisano (IT/CIV/38.40), 67. Marco Muzio (IT/CIV/35.20), 68. Daisaku Sakai (JP/MFJ/34.00), 69. Marco Marcheluzzo (IT/CIV/32.00), 70. Marcel Irnie (CA/AMA STK/31.42), 71. Johannes Hoffmann (DE/IDM STK/29.71), 72. Jeremy Cook (US/AMA STK/26.33), 73. Barry Burrell (GB/EWC STK/24.00), 73. Stefan Cappella (GB/EWC STK/24.00), 73. Gary Mason (GB/EWC STK/24.00), 76. Martin Jessopp (GB/BMW RRC/23.11), 77. Emilien Jaillet (FR/FSBK STK/22.15), 78. Wolfgang Gammer (AT/AARR SBK/21.82), 79. Camille Hedelin (FR/FSBK STK/20.92), 80. Shinya Takeishi (JP/MFJ/20.00), 81. Mike Wohner (AT/AARR SBK/16.00), 81. Mark Albrecht (DE/IDM STK/16.00), 83. Thomas Hainthaler (DE/IDM STK/13.71), 84. Richard Balcar (CZ/AARR SBK/13.09), 85. Luca Conforti (IT/CIV/12.80), 86. Yuuta Kodama (JP/MFJ/12.00), 86. Koji Teramoto (JP/MFJ/12.00), 88. Sabine Holbrook (DE/AARR SBK/10.18), 89. Jean Foray (FR/FR EU/9.85), 90. Johannes Kanzler (DE/IDM STK/9.14), 90. Chris Schmid (DE/IDM STK/9.14), 92. Pawel Gorka (PL/AARR SBK/7.27), 93. Mika Höglund (FI/CEV AM/6.40), 94. Stefan Dolipski (DE/AMA STK/6.00), 94. Fabio Marchionni (IT/STK1000/6.00), 96. Bartlomiej Lewandowski (PL/AARR SBK/5.82), 97. Federico D’Annunzio (IT/STK1000/4.00), 97. Eric Vionnet (CH/STK1000/4.00), 99. Michael Truchot (FR/FR EU/3.69), 100. Maria Costello (GB/BMW RRC/3.56), 101. Noriyuki Tsujimoto (JP/MFJ/2.00), 102. Tatsuya Noda (JP/EWC SBK/0.00), 102. Mohamad Syahnas Shahidan (MY/MSC SBK/0.00), 102. Sandra Stammova (SI/RSA SBK GP/0.00)  

More, from a press release issued by GR Motorsports/Team WD-40:

KENNEDY breaks leg and scores points.

Mackenzie rushed to hospital for surgery.

Mixed fortunes for Sheffield based GR Motosport’s Team WD-40 Superbike and the Stauff Connect academy at Cadwell Park, the 8th round of the MCE British Superbike Championships.Taylor was rushed to hospital for surgery to remove appendix.Tarran takes Pole and Jack breaks his left leg.

MCE British Superbike practice and qualifying didn’t start well when after 6 laps Taylor pulled in feeling unwell. After examination by the BSB medical team he was taken to hospital for his appendix removing leaving Jack as the sole Team WD-40 rider. Jack now fully recovered from his high speed Thruxton spill made the most of the Teams attention getting through to Q3 securing 10th on the grid.

Race 1, was in question for Team WD-40 Superbike when Jack crashed in morning warm-up breaking his left fibia. Again Team WD-40 made use of the BSB medical team’s expertise where it was decided that Jack could races after special strapping of the leg. An extremely sore Jack Kennedy made a good start holding his10th place and sitting on the back of the leading group unable to attack because of the leg. Jack battled for the whole race to hold on bringing home a stunning 11th place and smiles as his crew lifted him off the bike at the finish.

Race 2, although now very sore Jack buoyed by the results of the first race, made another good start but finding his way a little further back in the field just outside the points. Conserving his strength Jack sat with the group until the last few laps of the 18 lap race, when he focused and pushed hard to grab more BSB points in 14th place.Two good results on the day, but leaving a feeling of what if.

Pirelli National Superstock 600 Stauff Connect Academy rider, Tarran Mackenzie continued his recent sizzling form throughout practice and qualifying pushing to his 2nd pole position of the year just 0.0002 ahead of the Championship leader. All the hard was was to no avail as Tarran was unable to maximize the position crashing out of the lead in the early stages of the race. Fortunately Taz was unhurt and able to hold onto his 3rd place in the championship as we move back to Oulton where Taz scored his first pole of the season.

Jack Kennedy: “I feel we have turned things up another notch this weekend and have come away from Cadwell stronger than before showing a great pace and two point scoring finishes. In every session we moved forward and after a good qualifying we made a few small tweeks in morning warm-up to try to further improve. Unfortunately I had a tip off and was unlucky to fracture my left leg. It’s fair to say they were the toughest races I’ve ever had but I had a consistent pace in both and dug deep to finish in 11th & 14th and with a broken fibula, I’ll take that! It’s a pity I picked up the injury because I think we could have finished higher up the order but it was a great team effort particularly by my crew chief, Andy and spanner men, Martin and Tim who always work flat out behind the scenes. Also big thanks to everyone who looked after me, marshals, medics and in particular the BSB Physio’s who did their magic me to get me back out to race. All in all I’m feeling positive and once we keep moving forward I’m happy. Hopefully my leg will be a bit stronger in two weeks time when we have the triple header at Oulton Park.

Taylor Mackenzie: “My weekend didn’t quite go to plan as I woke up Friday morning with severe stomach pains. I managed to sneak out on my bike but after I’d jumped the mountain a couple of times my appendix decided it had had enough and wasn’t keen on going for a ride much longer. I was taken to hospital later that day and after not eating for two days waiting for an operation, I eventually had it removed on Sunday. I managed to come round in time to watch all the racing from my bed on Sunday and came home yesterday (Monday). The doctor told me it should be at least 5-6 days before I can ride again…well she might of said weeks actually but I’ll pretend she said days. Joking aside I’m hoping to be back on a bike as soon as possible and will keep you all informed.

Tarran Mackenzie: “I had a very disappointing end to an awesome weekend! After setting some really good lap times in qualifying I managed to secure my 2nd pole position of the year so I was really looking forward to the race. In the race I made a big mistake at the end of the back straight, out braking myself and then hitting a false neutral. I couldn’t stop the bike and lost the front, crashing out of the race. I’m really annoyed with myself as for the past 4 races I’ve had some really strong results so I’m sorry to my team and sponsors and I’ll come back to Oulton Park even stronger! “

Brent Gladwin “I thought the saying was ‘The Luck of the Irish’ well we have Dublin’s Jack Kennedy but not much luck at Cadwell Park.

Taylor came to us early on Friday morning saying he’d been up all night with stomach pain. He had visited the med centre who advised that he could have a problem with his Appendix. Taylor as all good riders do, put the pain to one side for free practice. A few laps later he was back in the Med centre and from there onto hospital for surgical removal of his Appendix.

Jack and his crew were left to uphold the honour of Team WD-40 Superbike, which throughout practice and qualifying they did, with 10th on the grid. Unfortunately it went wrong in morning warm-up when Jack crashed breaking his left fibia. He had the leg strapped and raced to points in both races a true warrior.

Our Tarran and his Stauff Connect Academy crew never put a foot wrong all weekend until the opening lap of their race, when a mistake ended in him crashing out of the lead. The weekend left us all with the thoughts of what could have been, but now we are working toward the next BSB race at Oulton Park in 2 weeks time.

This coming weekend we have another focus, and that is our participation in the racing events of the British MotoGP at Silverstone. I am not quite sure what it is going to be other than fun. Josh Bannister is to race against the best of Europe’s Mini Moto riders, and Geoff Crust is going head to head with Niall Mackenzie and others in the reformulation of the hit 1980’s ‘Yamaha LC Pro-am Challenge.

It’s going to be a steep learning curve for everyone at Silverstone. Josh to see his level against Europe’s best and Crusty and Niall’s realisation of just how old they are, and I am not quite sure which will be the bigger shock – Oh yes and I am on the spanners. The Yamaha Pro-am and Josh’s Mini Moto will all be based down at ‘The Wing’ a highly recommended point of visit for your weekend to see both young and old alike enjoying life to the full.

More, from a press release issued by Team Traction Control:

RISPOLI NARROWLY DENIED PODIUM FINISH AT CADWELL PARK

Team Traction Control are bidding to add to their podium tally at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire as the Motorpoint British Team Traction Control had a tough weekend at the eighth round of the season at Cadwell Park but America’s James Rispoli delivered a solid performance to bag a pair of fourth place finishes in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship.

The team had high hopes for the event with both Rispoli and Andy Reid ready to push for the podium again in the Supersport class whilst Joe Francis was determined to return to the top three at the challenging Lincolnshire circuit.

In the opening Supersport race both Rispoli and Reid were battling with the lead pack for positions with the pair scoring solid points in fourth and sixth place at the finish. However in the Feature race the Team Traction Control contenders wanted more and Rispoli narrowly missed out on another podium finish in fourth place, whilst Reid crashed out whilst battling with the lead group in the early stages.

Francis experienced a difficult start with a crash in qualifying dropping him to tenth on the grid for the race and then as he was charging back through the pack he was taken out by another rider, ending his hopes of capitalising in the overall standings.

Rispoli said: “It was a solid weekend for us with two fourth places, especially as I felt quite ill first thing on Sunday morning. I got better as we got close to the race but I still wasn’t back to one hundred percent. The Feature race was good because I made a good start and then I made a gutsy pass on Glenn Irwin. I was setting a good pace and then Luke Stapleford came by me and I stuck with him for a bit but then I couldn’t quite stay with him. The weekend showed we were in the fight and have great race pace so I am happy with that plus we are now fifth in the championship. I am pretty stoked and can’t wait for Oulton Park.”

Reid said: “It was a disappointing weekend because it should have been more. When we were in the races I felt pretty strong, even through in the Feature race it was only two laps but I felt I had good pace through the Woodlands section. We were close together and there wasn’t that much room at the Mountain and so I slightly moved to the left of the track and then I ended up rolling down it instead! I live to fight another day though and that is exactly what we will be doing at Oulton Park.”

Francis said: “Practice started well for us and we got some good laps in and build up our pace with changes to the bike and in Q1 I was seventh. Unfortunately a crash in Q2 was unlucky for us and I dropped down to tenth so we knew the races were going to be tough. It was really annoying to be taken out when we could have made up ground in the championship standings at the weekend.”