BMW tests Superbike at Lausitz

From BMW Motorrad

In the eight months since BMW’s announcement that it would enter the Superbike World Championship in 2009, the project has gathered pace. The new BMW S 1000 RR has been tested at various race tracks in Spain, but it has now had its first test at a track used by the Superbike World Championship - the Eurospeedway Lausitzring.

The German circuit was on the WSBK calendar up to last season and the recent two-day test gave the team a chance to compare its lap times and performance with last year’s race weekend. At the end of the test, the team and the three test riders were all happy with the progress of the bike and eager to work on analyzing all the data before moving on to the next stage in the bike’s development.

The three riders, Steve Martin, Kevin Curtain and Jeremy McWilliams said, “The basics of the S 1000 RR are very good, the engine has good power, the chassis and suspension are working well and the bike has the basis of a Superbike racer already.”

This sentiment was echoed by BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s general manager Berti Hauser, who added, “I am very happy with the professional way all three riders worked and the amount of feedback they have given us. We are under no illusions of the amount of work we have to do before the start of the season next year, but we are ready and looking forward to facing this huge challenge.

"Up to now, we have done very little work on the electronics and have preferred to get the bike’s basics working well and I think we have achieved that. If our project continues at this good pace, I think we could surprise a few people next year.”

While the main focus of attention has been at the track, a lot of work has been going on near Rosenheim, a small town about 60km southeast of BMW’s headquarters in Munich. It is here that BMW Motorrad and its partners, Alpha Technik, will prepare the Superbike race bikes in a brand new state of the art facility, incorporating 7,000 square metres of workshops and offices.

The main workshop area is split into three parts and has two dynos - one for the whole bike and another which can simulate any race track in the world. One of the three buildings will house BMW Motorrad´s Off-Road and Enduro team, while the other two will be for the Superbike project and for spares and parts.