Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport News

Superbike World Championship, Pirelli Tyre Development Test

Kyalami, South Africa, Friday 12th December, 2008

WORK TO DO, BUT THE IMPROVEMENT CONTINUES

The final day of the three-day Pirelli test provided Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport with both challenges and improvements, but in the end, the team left Kyalami in a positive frame of mind and ready to make further progress at the next outing. Troy and Ruben continued to try as many different ideas as possible and give valuable feedback to the team instead of chasing any lap times. Troy was happy that his fastest lap, on race rubber, was not far off the pace and a sign that there is still more to come.

Italian Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) posted the fastest lap of the test, with a time of 1:39.714. Second quickest was American Ben Spies (Yamaha), with Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) third.

Troy

I am reasonably happy with what we managed over these three days and Ruben and I have certainly given the team lots of info for them to work with. There was no point chasing lap times because we wanted to try different things and see what effect they had on the bike. It was so much hotter today than the past two days and it really wasn?t worth going out in the middle of the day. I think we made the right decision because hardly anybody went out either. It did cool off later in the afternoon and it would've been good to have gone a bit faster, but my bike had a bit of a problem and I wasn't able to do it. I had a small crash today, when I lost the front end going into Wesbank, but wasn't hurt at all.

All in all, I am realistic about what we did here these three days and we ended up more or less as I expected, though possibly a bit better. The important thing is that we improved steadily throughout the three days and now we?ve got lots to work with for the next test.

Ruben

Of course, I would've liked to have gone faster at the end, but that wasn't the reason we came here. We came here to try and understand the bike and get it to do what we wanted it to do. Troy and I have different riding styles and he has a lot of experience with four-cylinders, so I always knew he would be faster than me here. But the important thing is that we have both given the team good feedback and now they will go away and work on what we have said. I am happy with our progress and happy that I finished without any crashes and now can enjoy Christmas fit and healthy and ready for next year.

Rainer Baeumel (Project Leader)

Yesterday we did go sideways a bit, but still managed to get a lot of useful information at the same time. Although our lap times weren't so good, I felt that this test was very positive and it makes me optimistic about our next test. We are a new team and I am happy because everybody worked really well together and are very motivated about this challenge. It will be good for all of us to have a bit of rest now and then come back ready to continue the good progress at the next test.

Final best lap times

1. Fabrizio (Ita-Ducati) 1'39"714; 2. Spies (Usa-Yamaha) 1'39"978; 3. Haga (Jpn-Ducati) 1'39"984; 4. Rea (GB-Honda) 1'40"035; 5. Checa (Spa-Honda) 1'40"170; 6. Neukirchner (Ger-Suzuki) 1'40"394; 7. Kagayama (Jpn-Suzuki) 1'40"675; 8. Biaggi (Ita-Aprilia) 1'40"768; 9. Nakano (Jpn-Aprilia) 1'40"968; 10. Kiyonari (Jpn-Honda) 1'41"067; 11. Troy Corser (Aus-BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1'41"102; 12. Sykes (GB-Yamaha) 1'41"562; 13. Ruben Xaus (Spa-BMW Motorrrad Motorsport) 1'41"996.