29.09.19
Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
The BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team headed into the final two European races of the 2019 season looking to replicate the podium success in yesterdays race 1 with Tom Sykes. Tom lined up on the grid in P6 with team mate Markus Reiterberger in P19. Tom again got off to a credible start slipping into P4 on the opening lap. Tom from lap 3 began to fade backwards and with grip issues for the BMW S 1000 RR he would end the finishing the race in P8. Markus Reiterberger’s weekend did not improve from yesterdays race 1 as he lined up on the 7th row however found the race difficult. Markus ended his race in P17 again just missing out on the points.
The final race of the weekend approached and with the amended grid position for the top 9, this meant Tom Sykes would take his new position in P8. Again Sykes got his BMW S 1000 RR off the line well but couldn’t manage the pace of the front runners and with some speed deficits found it difficult to hold positions – final result P8. Markus’s weekend was looking very difficult to improve and with starting from P19 he had his work cut out. Reiterberger however managed to salvage a point from the final race finishing in P15.
The BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team will now turn their attention to the final two rounds where they team will jet off to South America and finally Qatar for the last race of 2019.
Shaun Muir - Team Principal
“The Superpole race was quite difficult for all of us. Tom struggled a bit on the faster parts of the circuit. He settled into a position we had to be happy with although it was a bit disappointing after yesterday. Markus really struggled and overall it has been a difficult event for him. In the main race, Tom got a really good start and was with the front guys but sadly he could not find the confidence and performance he had yesterday. He was a second per lap slower and finished way off the top-3 or top-4.
The whole team needs to have a look at the data and the information and try to understand why this happened. After such a great Saturday it was disappointing to take a step backwards and we need to try to rectify this for Argentina.”
Marc Bongers - BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director
“Sunday was disappointing for us. The set-up changes we tried out in the warm-up did not have the desired effect for Tom. We were unable to back up the performance we showed on Saturday. The track temperatures were significantly higher, even in the earlier Superpole race. After a strong start, we fell back through the field. We also started strongly in race two, but then lost roughly a second per lap to our rivals, which meant we had no chance of challenging for a spot on the podium.
We are lacking mechanical grip when accelerating in the lean position. This becomes all the more important as soon as the track temperature starts to rise. We must now see whether we can react in time for the next races, in order to learn as much as possible and to end the season strongly.”
Tom Sykes (GBR)
“I am obviously a bit disappointed with today but we were struggling in certain areas with the bike and I really tried to ride around some of the issues. But we certainly made some progress in terms of a couple of things and feel quite confident in some areas and just need to work again now on another part of the chassis to enable us to be stronger over the distance. So it was a slightly disappointing day given the result on paper but also a day where we got a lot of information so hopefully we can build on this and move forward.
There are a couple of difficult rounds coming up for us but we keep our head down, keep trying to progress and just keep the information coming before we go into the winter break.”
Markus Reiterberger (GER)
“The weekend was really tough. I think that our results do not show our potential and are for sure not where we want to be – neither me nor the team. We need to find a solution to improve my feeling for the bike so I can ride faster. I want to reach the top ten – that is my goal for the final two rounds of the season. I want to thank the entire team for their hard work and sorry for the bad results.”
