BMW Motorrad Motorsport. Superbike World Championship 2009.

BMW Motorrad's new challenge. BMW S 1000 RR SBK racebike. Riders. Troy
Corser, # 11. Ruben Xaus, # 111. SBK team structure 2009. Superbike
World Championship 2009 race calendar. Contacts. The 2009 Superbike
World Championship promises to be more exciting than ever, with BMW
Motorrad Motorsport making its debut in the ultra-competitive series
and taking on no less than six other manufacturers, four Japanese and
two European. Although this is BMW's first attempt in World
Superbikes, their racing heritage goes back 86 years, starting with
their R 32 motorcycle in 1923. Since then BMWs have raced successfully
on the Isle of Man and at other world-famous racetracks and have
enjoyed many successes. The last success of the official BMW factory
team was Walter Zeller's runner-up place in the 1956 World
Championship. BMW officially returned to roadracing in 2007 with the HP2
Sports Boxer taking part in the Endurance Championship 24 hour classics
in 2007 and 2008. BMW's first ever 'Superbike' success took place at
Daytona, USA, in 1976, when American Steve McLaughlin won the AMA
Championship Superbike race in a thrilling photo-finish with team-mate
Reg Pridmore. Both were riding R 90 S BMWs prepared by Butler &
Smith, BMW's American importers. Back then the 'Superbike' class was a
support race to the main event, but nine years later the first ideas
for a Superbike World Championship (a world championship for
production-based motorcycles) began to grow. The series was born in 1988
and since then has become the hallmark for close-fought, competitive
racing, without sacrificing any of its friendly paddock atmosphere. It
may be all-out combat on the track, but off it, it has an atmosphere
unmatched by any other world championship. BMW Motorrad have a very
long history, but they are the 'new boys' of the Superbike World
Championship. The company has decided to enter the series at, without a
doubt, the hardest and most competitive time in its 21-year history.
Any new manufacturer joining the series is going to face a tough time
and BMW are under no illusions about the challenges ahead. BMW are
entering World Superbike because it is a championship where fans and
customers identify with the brand and the bikes. And fans will not have
long to wait for the S 1000 RR roadbike from which the racebike is
derived: it will make its public debut in early summer 2009.