Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport officially launched its second season in the FIM
World Superbike Championship with a presentation at
BMW Group Classic in Munich on Friday. With riders Troy Corser (AU) and Ruben Xaus (ES) set to commence battle for the first World Championship points of the year at Phillip Island (AU) on February 28th, the team gave international media representatives the opportunity to get an idea of the current progress of the project.
BMW Motorrad officially launched its 2010 World Superbike season at a celebration held in Munich with riders Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus appearing on the S1000RR.
In the presence of Infront Motor Sports CEO Paolo Flammini, World Superbike Championship Director Paolo Ciabatti and a selection of other guests, Corser and Xaus laid on a spectacular show at BMW Group Classic, riding onto the stage on two
BMW S1000RR machines. Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport recorded 17 top-ten finishes in 2009, its debut season in the World Superbike Championship.
General Director of BMW Motorrad Hendrik von Kuenheim said: “Even back in the initial development phase of the BMW S1000RR we were clear that we wanted to build a supersport bike for the road with genes from the race track. Our aim was to be battling for pole position in the supersport segment straightaway – and we did that in impressive fashion. Never before has one of our new motorcycles enjoyed such positive press reviews. Showcasing the potential of this bike on the track as well as on the road is a logical move for BMW Motorrad. The World Superbike Championship pits us against our direct competitors, and we are looking to show that we can match or even get the better of them.”
Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport Berthold Hauser added: “Our goal is to close the gap to the leading teams. We are aiming to finish in the top-five as regularly as possible and pick up our first podium. That’s the ambitious aim we have set ourselves for our second year in what is an extremely challenging World Championship. However, we are well aware that our competitors have not been standing still either. The World Superbike Championship brings us up against six motorcycle manufacturers who have established themselves on the race track. You can set yourself aims in sport and make plans to achieve them, but you cannot dictate results – those have to be earned out on the track. Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport is working flat out to make this possible.”
The team is sticking with the experienced rider pairing of Corser and Xaus for its second year in the World Superbike Championship. Together they have notched up no fewer than 507 starts and 44 wins in this series. The ambition of two-time world champion Corser remains undiminished: “I definitely want to win another World Championship before the end of my career. The next step along the road to achieving that goal is to collect as many top-five finishes as possible this season. You can sense the determination of BMW Motorrad to climb the ladder.”
Xaus is also aiming high for the coming season: “I’m very happy to be competing as part of such a strong works team and to be playing my part in this project from the ground up,” explains the Spaniard. “We are looking to take the next step in 2010 to ensure that our goals become reality in the not too distant future.”
A new addition to the team is Davide Tardozzi, a man with a proven track record in Superbike racing. The Italian will head up team management and operational control at the race tracks. Rainer Bäumel will continue as Head of Overall Project Management and Project Management Engineering.
Following the tests in Portimao (PT) and Valencia (ES), Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport is now preparing for the first race weekend of the World Superbike Championship in Australia. Further tests are scheduled at the Phillip Island Circuit on February 20th through the 22nd ahead of the first race weekend of the season there commencing on the 26th.
