Munich. The circuit of Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain
saw plenty of race action at the weekend. The MOTUL FIM Superbike
World Championship (WorldSBK) held its penultimate round at the
Andalucian track. At the same time, Jerez hosted the 2017 season
finale of the FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship (STK1000).
It was dominated by German BMW rider Markus Reiterberger who
competed in the last STK1000 race of the year with a wild card. In
South America, the BMW teams and riders have been in action in the
SuperBike Series Brasil (BRSBK).
MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at Jerez de la
Frontera, Spain.
The 2017 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) held its
last European round at Jerez de la Frontera (ESP) before heading to
the season finale in Qatar in early November. It marked the home round
for Althea BMW Racing Team rider Jordi Torres. The Spaniard struggled
in Saturday’s race one and had to settle for 13th. In
Sunday’s race, he achieved a top-ten result by crossing the line in
tenth. His team-mate Raffaele De Rosa (ITA) had to retire in race one
after a crash on the opening lap and was 13th in the second race.
Jordi Torres: “We made some big changes to the bike
between Saturday and Sunday so it behaved differently in race two,
with corner entry a little easier and better feeling at the front. I
overtook a few riders early on but in the end couldn’t do more than
tenth. It’s not the result I would have wanted of course, particularly
racing here at my home track, but we struggled with the new asphalt.”
FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship at Jerez de la
Frontera, Spain.
It was the perfect dress rehearsal for Markus Reiterberger (GER) and
the Van Zon-Remeha-BMW team in the FIM Superstock 1000 European
Championship (STK1000). In preparation for their 2018 entry in the
championship they competed with a wild card in the 2017 season finale
at Jerez de la Frontera (ESP). Reiterberger dominated the action on
his BMW S 1000 RR. In qualifying, he secured pole position by setting
a new lap record. He then also delivered a fantastic race performance,
taking the win with an advantage of over five seconds. Fellow BMW
rider Federico Sandi (ITA / Berclaz Racing Team) was fighting with
Reiterberger at the top but then dropped back in the closing stages of
the race and eventually crossed the line in seventh. Marco Faccani
(ITA / Althea BMW Racing Team) followed immediately behind in eighth.
Markus Reiterberger: “It is an unbelievable feeling
for me that we have won this race. We continued to make progress
during the practice sessions. In qualifying, I was topping the time
sheets for a pretty long time but then Mike Jones put in an extremely
strong lap of 1:42.1. I honestly doubted that I could go faster than
that but we put another fresh tyre on and I pushed to the limit. I
went all-out on risk, the bike was working perfectly and I succeeded
in securing pole position in this closely fought field. In Sunday’s
warm up, we made another good step forward with the traction control
and so we were well prepared for the race. I had a decent start and
was in the lead but then Federico Sandi passed me. I watched him for
some time and saw that I could go much faster than him, especially
into the corners, so I overtook him again and then did a number of
fast laps. I gave it all to build a gap. After three or four laps I
had an advantage of over four seconds and in the end it was just about
controlling it. It was a perfect weekend for us with pole position and
the race win. Thanks to the entire team for giving me such a brilliant
bike. We are a small team but we achieved a lot. This weekend was only
about preparing for next year and so we all can be very satisfied.”
SuperBike Series Brasil at Goiânia, Brazil.
The SuperBike Series Brasil (BRSBK) held its seventh and penultimate
round of the 2017 season at Goiânia (BRA). In the first of the two
races, BMW rider Joelsu “Mitiko” (BRA / JC Racing Team) crossed the
line in fourth place. His team-mate Davi Lara Costa (BRA) also claimed
a top-ten result by finishing eighth. In the second race, fourth place
went to Danilo Lewis (BRA) on his Tecfil Havoline Racing Team RR.
“Mitiko” was fifth on that time and Lara Costa came home in ninth place.