Endurance World Championship: second place on the podium for BMW Team Penz13.com at the legendary Bol d’Or.

Munich. The FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) 2017/18 season has started with a great result for the BMW teams: at the Bol d’Or at Le Castellet (FRA), Wepol BMW Motorrad by Penz13.com raced to second place on the podium, and a total of three BMW S 1000 RRs finished the endurance classic in the top five positions. In the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), Jordi Torres (ESP) of the Althea BMW Racing Team claimed a sixth and a fifth place in the Portimão races (POR). The British Superbike Championship (BSB) was in action at Oulton Park (GBR) at the weekend, with two podium finishes for the BMW riders in the Superstock class. At Sepang International Circuit (MAS), Muhammad Farid Badrul Hisam (MAS) extended his overall lead in the Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSC).

FIM Endurance World Championship at Le Castellet, France.

The 81st edition of the legendary Bol d’Or at Le Castellet in Southern France marked the 2017/18 season curtain raiser in the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC). Five private BMW teams, supported on site by BMW Motorrad Motorsport, were in the strong field of nearly 60 teams. Three of them finished the 24-hour endurance classic in the top five, securing a fantastic result for the BMW racing family.

The BMW array was led by team Wepol BMW Motorrad by Penz13.com that had returned to the EWC for a one-off appearance – and celebrated second place on the podium. Team Principal Rico Penzkofer (GER) formed his squad for the Bol d’Or at very short notice, with Markus Reiterberger (GER), Alessandro Polita (ITA) and Danny Webb (GBR) sharing duties on the #13 BMW S 1000 RR. Starting from 11th on the grid, the team worked its way towards the front over the 24 hours. After 21 hours, they had reached the podium positions, running in third, and then in the 23rd hour, they further improved to second place. Reiterberger held the position until he crossed the line on the RR.

Team Völpker NRT48 Schubert Motors by ERC also gave an impressive performance. The young team, with riders Stefan Kerschbaumer (AUT), Jan Bühn (GER) and Lucy Glöckner (GER), debuted in the EWC Superbike class and fought for the podium to the chequered flag. Glöckner gave her all to secure third place for the #48 RR. After an exciting finish, the team was fourth, missing the podium only by 0.9 seconds. The top five were completed by another BMW, the #21 RR of IVRacing BMW CSEU, ridden by Karel Hanika (CZE), Fabrizio Lai (ITA) and Julian Mayer (AUT). The other two BMW teams retired during the race: Tecmas Team BMW and LRP Poland.

Markus Reiterberger: “I’m really happy. Second place at the Bol d’Or is a result none of us had expected. We hoped for it and we knew we could get it if everything worked well. In the beginning, we had a problem with the starter relay and dropped several positions but we fought back and in particular my both team-mates from road racing did a brilliant job. It all worked really well and our consistency was the key to success in this race. It was superb team work and a really great weekend.”

Alex Polita: “I’m really happy, because the Bol d’Or was my first endurance race and the first on a race track in a long time. We had a problem in the night practice and it was difficult to ride in the dark, but in the race we could push with our team mates. To finish on the podium here makes me really happy.”

Danny Webb: “It is an amazing feeling, to stand up there and see all the people and get to spray champagne; it’s an incredible feeling. I haven’t had this for a while and to do it at World Championship level is just incredible. We were an outstanding team, Alex, Reiti and the whole team. I want to say thank you for the opportunity.”

Rico Penzkofer: “I’m more than pleased with this result. This time lady luck was on our side and others had the bad luck, but in a few weeks’ time it’s not important – you just look at the results. I’m happy we could show what we are capable of. We know that Markus is always fast, but what Danny and Alex showed was amazing. They didn’t know the track and both rode in the dark for the first time. It makes me really happy that they were able to set such fast times.”

MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at Portimão, Portugal.

The tenth round of the 2017 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) was held at Portimão in the south of Portugal. On the challenging track, Jordi Torres (ESP) of the Althea BMW Racing Team secured two strong results. He finished Saturday’s race in sixth and was fifth on Sunday. His team-mate Raffaele De Rosa (ITA) ended the first race in 11th but failed to finish race two.

FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship at Portimão, Portugal.

Portimão (POR) also hosted the seventh race of the 2017 FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship (STK1000). Sébastien Suchet (SUI) of the Berclaz Racing Team was the highest placed BMW rider, crossing the line in seventh. His team-mate Federico Sandi (ITA) was again fighting for the podium but had to retire due to a technical issue.

Federico Sandi: “Of course I am not happy because, like in the previous races, I had the podium in reach, but that is racing. I am a little bit disappointed but our performance makes me positive for the coming rounds in France and Spain.”

British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park, Great Britain.

With the tenth round of the 2017 British Superbike Championship (BSB) at Oulton Park (GBR) the “Showdown” for the title began. One of the six riders fighting for the championship crown is BMW racer Peter Hickman (GBR / Smiths Racing BMW). He was unlucky in race one that was held in mixed conditions. Hickman was third after the opening lap but then dropped some places. When the race was red-flagged after 15 laps, he had to settle for eighth. In race two, Hickman crossed the line in fourth place. In the overall standings, he is currently fifth, 41 points behind leader Leon Haslam (GBR, Kawasaki). Christian Iddon (GBR / Tyco BMW) also secured a top-ten finish in the tricky conditions with ninth in race two.

In the Superstock class (BSB STK), two races were held at Oulton Park and on both occasions, a BMW rider stepped onto the podium. In the first race, Chrissy Rouse (GBR / Mission Racing) finished third. He was followed by three more BMW racers in the top-six: Michael Rutter (GBR / Bathams SMT Racing) was fourth, Adam Jenkinson (GBR / Northern Escalator Installations) fifth and Josh Elliott (GBR / Tyco BMW) sixth. In race two, it was Elliott’s turn to ride onto the podium in third. Jenkinson was seventh and Rutter eighth that time.

Malaysia Superbike Championship in Sepang, Malaysia.

The 2017 Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSC) resumed at the weekend with the fourth and penultimate round at Sepang International Circuit (MAS). In the Superbike class (MSC SBK), Muhammad Farid Badrul Hisam (MAS / HKM Times Bike Racing Team) made a huge step towards winning the title. He was second in race one and added another victory to his tally in the second race. With those results, the BMW rider extended his overall lead and has the best title chance when the final round is held in November.

There was also a podium finish for a BMW rider in the Superstock class (MSC STK). Shahrulnizam Ramli (MAS / Kakikloudkartel Racing Team) was third in race two. In the first race he had finished tenth. Nasarudin Mat Yusop (MAS / BMW Motorrad Malaysia Team) crossed the line in fifth both times.

MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship at the Barber Motorsports Park, USA.

The 2017 season of the MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship (AMA) drew to a close with the final round held at Barber Motorsport Park (USA). Jason Di Salvo (USA / Scheibe Racing / Hayes Brakes) ended the season with two strong results, claiming eighth place in first race and fifth in race two. Martin Biernacki (USA / MB Motorsports Racing) crossed the line in 12th and 11th positions.

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:

SERT FIGHTS BACK TO 7TH AT BOL D’OR ENDURANCE

Fifteen-time Endurance World Champions Suzuki Endurance Racing Team were unlucky to miss-out on a podium position following a chain derailment and two Stop-and-Go penalties at this weekend’s Bol d’Or opening round of the 2017-2018 series at Paul Ricard Circuit in southern France.

SERT riders Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and new team rider Gregg Black were fighting in-and-around the top-three positions aboard their new 2017 GSX-R1000 for three-quarters of the 24-hour race at the 5.791km circuit in Castellet, until the issue cost them valuable time on Sunday morning, but in true SERT fashion, the team continued to fight back after pushing the machine back to the Suzuki garage and rejoining the race several laps later.

SERT also suffered a brake issue earlier-on after taking the lead for the second time on Saturday afternoon, but incurred two penalties for pushing the bike outside the designated areas and also for a pitbox infringement by one of the team members, but fought throughout to record a total of 670 laps and seventh position overall after taking a total of 28 pitstops.

The race, watched by more-than 60,000 fans at trackside, started positively with opening rider Philippe third into the first corner from fourth qualifying position on the grid, taking a momentary lead before SRC Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet took the lead at the end of the opening lap. The lead changed several times in the opening hours between eventual winners GMT94 Yamaha and FCC TSR Honda France, as SERT settled in with the new machine.

After four hours, after stints by both Frenchmen Philippe and Masson, Briton Gregg Black took over at the fifth pitstop and chased back the leaders, at one stage regaining the lead and taking part in an exciting battle with GMT94 Yamaha’s Mike Di Meglio that lasted until darkness fell.

Ten hours in, SERT was still holding a strong third position with 295 laps completed, two laps behind GMT94 Yamaha and just behind FCC TSR Honda France, all three teams having pitted 11 times. This continued as Masson took over at the halfway stage and at that time one lap separated the top three.

With less than 10 hours to go, and under one of several Safety Car situations because of accidents, Suzuki were still in the mix, this time behind new leaders FCC TSR Honda and GMT94 Yamaha with 410, 410 and 409 laps respectively and just 90 seconds separating them.

In what was one of the most gruelling Bol d’Or races in years, just 29 of the 59 competing teams made it to finish with leading contenders like SRC Kawasaki, YART Yamaha, Team Tecmas BMW, Yamaha Viltaïs Experiences and April Moto Motors Events just a few suffering mechanical issues or crashes.

Said Team Manager Dominique Hébrard: “We were aware of the new Suzuki GSX-R1000 capacities during qualifying, but for this, we were venturing a little bit into the unknown and now we are looking forward to the next round.”

On another positive note, Junior Team LMS were back in action aboard their new GSX-R1000 Suzuki with Robin Camus, Cedric Tangre and Hugo Clere – taking third position in the Superstock class and 10th overall – under the leadership of Damien Saulnier.

More, from a press release issued by Wepol BMW Motorrad by Penz13.com:

Le Castellet, France. Sensational One-Off Comeback for Rico Penzkofer’s Wepol BMW Motorrad by penz13.com at the opening round of the 2017/2018 FIM Endurance World Championship at the 24 hours of Le Castellet with the “Bol d’Or”. The Saxonian team conquered the podium after the day long race distance in second position.

On track, riders Markus Reiterberger (GER), Alex Polita (ITA) and Danny Webb (GBR) did a brilliant job as did the team in pits. Even a couple of problems on course of the 674 laps of the Paul Ricard Circuit could not prevent the team from earning a well-deserved first EWC podium.

After the first pit-stop the S 1000 RR refused to start and a faulty starting relay had to be changed. That meant, that the team dropped down to 46th position with the problem occurring so early.

But apart from that, all went well until 7 o’clock in the morning, when the exhaust holder broke towards the end of a stint of Reiterberger. The team could fix the problem in a record time and went back on track, fighting for the Top-5.

During the last hours all went good until the very last pit stop after that a one minute penalty was imposed due to a slight mistake at it. But even that could not stop team manager Rico Penzkofer and riders Markus Reiterberger, Alex Polita and Danny Webb to step on the Bol d’Or’s podium to take over some silverware.

Without knowing if this one-off will remain a one-off and what the future holds for Wepol BMW Motorrad by penz13.com, the team now sits in second position of the FIM Endurance World Championship, holding 43 World Championship points.

The race was won by the reigning world champions of GMT94 Yamaha with David Checa, Mike di Meglio and Niccolo Canepa, that of course took over the championship lead with 60 points.

Markus Reiterberger – Rider:

“I’m really happy, the second place in Bol d´Or is really good. It’s a result, none of us had expected, we hoped for it and we knew, we could get it, if everything works well. The qualifying was tough for everyone of us, we all had some problems and we had to start from eleventh. The race itself took off with a good start and I could bring the bike back in fourth position, but then the starter relay did not work and we lost many positions, dropping out of top 40. We fought back over the whole race and during the night and especially my both Road Racing team mates did a brilliant job. Besides the starter relay and the broken exhaust we had no problems. It all worked really well and our consistency was the key to success in this race. It was superb team work and a really great weekend..”

Alex Polita – Rider:

“I’m really happy, because the Bol d´Or was my first Endurance race and the first on a race track in a long time. We had a problem in the night practice and it was difficult to ride in the dark, but in the race we could push with our team mates. I am really happy because to finish at the podium here, makes me really happy.”

Danny Webb – Rider:

“It is an amazing feeling, to stand up there and see all the people and one get’s to spray champagne, it’s an incredible feeling. I haven’t had this for a while and to do it on World Championship level is just incredible. We were an outstanding team, Alex, Reiti and the whole team – even with the problems we had in the race they got it fixed quickly. The team was exceptional and I want to say thank you for the opportunity.”

Rico Penzkofer – Team Principal:

“I’m more than pleased with this result, this time the luck was on our side. Today some others had the bad luck, but in a few weeks time this it’s not important any more, if you just look at the results. I’m happy we could show, what we are capable of but the best for us was to keep up with the other BMW bikes, that didn’t have any problems. We know that Markus is always fast, but what Danny and Alex showed, was amazing. They didn´t know the track and rode in the dark for their first time. That they reached such times makes me really happy.”