Alcañiz. Sunday’s FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK)
races resulted in mixed emotions for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
at MotorLand Aragón (ESP). In the Superpole race, Tom Sykes (GBR)
once again rode his new BMW S 1000 RR to fifth place. However, he
had to be content with 12th position in the second main
race on Sunday afternoon. Team-mate Markus Reiterberger retired from
the Superpole race due to a technical issue and crossed the line
15th in the afternoon’s race.
It was a successful start to Sunday, with Sykes claiming second place
in warm-up and Reiterberger in fifth. In the following Superpole race,
Sykes repeated his performance from Saturday’s race one to claim a
top-five place. Reiterberger was forced to retire with an issue with
the primary gear. Sykes was in fifth place with his RR on the starting
grid for race two, while Reiterberger began the race from
11th position. Sykes was able to defend his position before
taking a wide line through one turn and slipping back a few places.
The British rider lost more ground towards the mid-point of the race
before crossing the line in 12th place. Reiterberger also
had a difficult time, finishing in 15th place.
The BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team now moves to Assen in the Netherlands,
where the fourth round of the 2019 WorldSBK season takes place this
coming weekend (12th to 14th April).
Quotes after race two at MotorLand Aragón.
Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director:
“Overall, we feel that we had a very good weekend that unfortunately
ended in a disappointing way. We are pleased, but of course it’s a
shame that we had such a tough final race after the good results in
the first main race, and in the Superpole race. Both riders told us
that the tyres had very little grip, but that alone cannot be the
reason. Markus had a few problems with the electronics in the second
race. We would have liked to have carried the positive feelings into
the next race, but we will just try and forget about it and pick up
where we left off in the Superpole Race.”
Shaun Muir, Team Principal BMW Motorrad WorldSBK
Team: “We had a very good Superpole yesterday which set us up
for the weekend. We obviously then started today’s Superpole race in a
good situation. Tom fought really well; Markus had a technical issue
which sadly put him out and had to start from 11th in
today’s main race. But Tom had a strong Superpole Race; he battled
through. We can obviously see where the deficiencies are with the bike
but I think overall it has been a promising weekend and we’ve made
some good steps forward. Clearly, the main race was difficult for us
to watch. Markus again had a technical issue and Tom was really
struggling with grip. Once he was in a group of riders, he was clearly
faster in the corners but slower on the straights and he was always in
a difficult situation. It was a long race for him and one by one he
got picked of. Eventually he brought the bike home with points. Not
where we wanted to be but two strong races out of three has not been
too bad this weekend.”
Tom Sykes: “Honestly, it has been a very positive
weekend for the entire BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team. I honestly feel
that we have again made some steps forward. I am very impressed and
also there have been a lot of people inside the racing paddock who
have commented on the potential of the BMW S 1000 RR, so I think we
are heading in the right direction and are definitely making good
progress. Again – to repeat myself – considering the limited amount of
track time we have had, I think it’s even more impressive than our
expectation. Everything was good, we were top five in most of the
sessions, we almost – with the exception of my mistake in Superpole –
almost showed an incredible potential speed. And then in the final
race, it’s not a big problem, just if I am being blunt, we did not
have the correct rear traction, which is a shame because the bike did
not change and on the same tyre I was so fast during the race weekend.
So with my honest opinion and with my experience I certainly feel we
perhaps did not have a tyre that was to its full potential. It made my
race very difficult and longer than anticipated and it’s a shame as
our speed was certainly good enough to be inside the top five or top
four again. So it was a bit of a disappointment on a great weekend but
this is part of racing. Sometimes these things happen and we will be
making up for this moving forward.”
Markus Reiterberger: “After my fall yesterday, I was
not sure how I would feel, but I was back to normal this morning and
the medical check gave me the green light. I felt great during warm-up
and I managed to produce eight to ten really fast laps. That meant
that I was ready for the race. We changed the ratio a bit for the
Superpole race as the wind was so strong, so we were expecting some
slipstream duels. It didn’t feel so bad during the early laps,
however, I suddenly got a warning in the cockpit and also heard some
noises and had to park up the bike. That was annoying, as it meant
starting the second race from 11th place. I made a normal
start but once again it was another rider who knocked my handlebar –
this time it was Michael van der Mark. I was just about able to stop
myself from falling again. I recovered from that but then I had two
massive highsiders that I was just about able to deal with. Something
was not quite right and I think, but am not sure, that it could have
been a problem with the tyres. In any case, it proved impossible to
ride it out and I just wanted to get over the line for the points. Now
we will analyse what the problem was, carry on working and start
afresh at Assen.”