If the official teams based in the South of Europe, such as Ducati and Yamaha in Italy, Honda and Kawasaki in Spain, do not have too much difficulty riding on the transalpine circuits and across the Pyrenees, on the other hand the situation is more complicated for the German manufacturer whose Superbike team is managed from England by Shaun Muir Racing and the endurance team by the Belgian Werner Daemen.
This is why BMW will not participate in the tests from June 23 to 25 in Misano, nor those from July 8 and 9 in Barcelona. Yet there is work to be done, because if with the pole position and the lap record, BMW highlighted the speed of the S1000RR at Phillip Island, for various reasons Tom Sykes only finished in 9th, 6th and 10th positions in races. In the general classification, Sykes and Eugene Laverty are only in 10th and 15th place after three races.
Unable to easily move from one country to another, BMW gave up on the Italian and Spanish circuits and retreated to one of the few permanent German circuits, the EuroSpeedway in Lausitz, in the east of the country. .
“Thanks to extensive measures, we were able to return to our jobs at BMW relatively quickly after the lockdown” said BMW Motorsport director Marc Bongers, describing the time since returning from the start of the season in Australia in early March to Ivo Schützbach of Speedweek. com.
“There were restrictions, for example on the test benches, but we were able to develop more or less normally, even if the first weeks took us away from the workshop. The situation with suppliers was difficult at first, but fortunately it quickly returned to normal. »
“We were able to do important work on our electronics and also in the wind tunnel,” explained the Dutchman. “We have a new fairing and a new radiator. We also used the time for intensive analysis to see where we needed to improve. It is now important for Tom and Eugene to get back on the bike before the World Championship continues. We also hope to be able to confirm developments in order to have the right direction for next year. »
As for the EWC, the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team made its first post-containment outing on the Zolder circuit in Belgium. In the absence of Ilya Mikhalchik who cannot yet leave Ukraine and Markus Reiterberger, who is unavailable, Kenny Foray was the only rider from the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team trio to take to the track. He was able to test the three S 1000 RRs prepared for the next two EWC races, the 24 Heures Motos and the Bol d'Or.
According to Kenny Foray : “It’s really great to be in Zolder. It was the first time I had been able to drive in three long months. We tested a few parts and at the end of the day I did a few spins for fun. It was an incomparable feeling! »
To Werner Daemen, the team manager: “In Zolder we focused on testing new parts and Kenny did a really good job. We tested teamwork to always be faster. Of course, we followed the new safety measures imposed by Covid-19 to get used to them for the next tests and races. »
WSBK teams participating in the tests from June 23 to 25 in Misano
Aruba.it Ducati: Scott Redding, Chaz Davies
Barni Ducati: Leon Camier
Go Eleven Ducati: Michael Rinaldi
Brixx Ducati: Sylvain Barrier
Motocorsa Ducati: Leandro Mercado
Kawasaki: Jonathan Rea, Alex Lowes
WSBK teams participating in the tests on July 8 and 9 in Barcelona
Kawasaki: Jonathan Rea, Alex Lowes
Aruba.it Ducati: Scott Redding, Chaz Davies
Honda: Alvaro Bautista, Leon Haslam
Pata Yamaha: Michael van der Mark, Toprak Razgatlioglu
Barni Ducati: Leon Camier
Outdo Pedercini Kawasaki: Sandro Cortese
Orelac Kawasaki: Maximilian Scheib
GRT Yamaha: Garrett Gerloff, Federico Caricasulo
Photos © BMW
