BMW Motorrad BoxerCup 2004 - Motorcycle Racing at the Highest Level.

BMW Motorrad BoxerCup: Motorcycle Racing at the Highest Level. Table of Contents. 1. BMW Motorrad BoxerCup 2004: Continuing more than 80 Years of Racing Tradition with the Sports Boxer. 2. Opening Race in the USA - Daytona Beach on 6 March. 3. Seven Races in Europe - Dates and Race Tracks. 4. Riders and Teams. 5. BMW R 1100 S Racing Machine and Technical Regulations. 6. Scoring and Prize Money. 7. BMW R 1100 S BoxerCup Replika. Racing Machine in Road Trim. Annex. Review and Highlights of the 2003 Season. Best Riders and Portraits of Some Riders. Media Contact.

1. BMW Motorrad BoxerCup 2004:
Continuing more than 80 Years of Racing Tradition with the Sports Boxer.
The world of racing and outstanding achievements in the sport is inseparably
linked to the world of BMW motorcycles. Racing has been part of the
marque from the very beginning, making BMW world famous and contributing
significantly to the well-known superiority and reliability of BMW production
motorcycles.

Now, in 2004, the BMW Motorrad BoxerCup is bringing back even more
excitement to the world of motorcycle racing!
Promotion of young talented riders: the new "YoungStar" category to be
introduced on the occasion of the Daytona opening race.

Ever since this racing series was established five years ago -
initially as a national event in Belgium and France in 1999 and 2000 -
BMW Motorrad BoxerCup races with large-volume production-based
BMW Boxers derived from the R 1100 S have thrilled aficionados
of the brand everywhere. Going international in 2001, these races then received
increasing popularity in the course of time.

A new category will be introduced when the Cup's inaugural race takes
place on 6 March 2004 in Daytona: The so-called "YoungStar" category gives
riders under the age of 21 the opportunity of clinching an extra prize.

The winner in this category will receive a MINI Cooper at the end of the season.
The sound of the Boxer and thrilling struggles for the lead by top
international riders will leave spectators spellbound once again in 2004. This
year too, the first race of this brand trophy will be held in Daytona/Florida
during the famous Bikeweek preceding the even more famous 200 Miles of Daytona
on the impressive concrete oval of Daytona Beach and naturally drawing a huge
crowd.
International line-up of riders - attractive prizes.

The next seven races will be in Europe, taking place on the occasion of various
MotoGP, British Superbike and Endurance events. With up to 36 places on
the grid, the 18 teams will be coming from 10 different countries, renowned
riders battling it out for really attractive prizes. Apart from a total of more
than 90,000 € in prize money, the first three riders in the overall rating will
be
winning cars and motorcycles at the end of the season worth approximately

122,000 €. The 2004 BoxerCup will see the introduction of the "YoungStar"
category for young riders under the age of 21. The winner of this category
will also receive a vehicle, making the BMW Motorrad BoxerCup the most
rewarding motorcycle brand trophy in the world.

Also this year, BMW Motorrad BoxerCup aficionados will have the opportunity of
watching top-class riders most of whom already jockeyed for top
position last year. Stéphane Mertens, who won the BoxerCup twice and did not
compete in 2003, will surely provide some thrilling moments.

More than forty riders, 27 of whom have participated several times, will be on
the starting grid of the inaugural race held in Daytona. One of them is
Katja Poensgen from Germany, but there will also be numerous single-race riders
from the US participating. During the entire race series the US will
be represented by the San José BMW team with top rider Brian Parriot in the
saddle, who showcased some spectacular riding already last year.

Road races with BMW motorcycles for more than 80 years.
Boxer motorcycles proudly bearing the white-and-blue logo have been writing
racing history for no less than 80 years. Even the very first BMW motorcycle,
the R 32, entered the "Ride through the Mountains of Bavaria" in 1923, its very
first year in the market, thus participating in a reliability trial on public
roads quite common at the time, without receiving any penalty points and
without encountering the slightest problem. With development engineer Max Friz
in the saddle, this outstanding machine thus proved the superior reliability of
its concept and design from the very beginning.

This was followed by countless further achievements to this very day.
Everybody still remembers the races with Georg ("Schorsch") Meier, who in 1938
beat the previously dominating Nortons on the Isle of Man with his
compressor BMW. And nobody has forgotten the world speed records set up by
Ernst Henne in 1929 (216.75 km/h or 134.39 mph) and 1937 (279.5 km/h or 173.29
mph), the latter of which remained unbeaten for almost 14 years. This was
followed by countless national and international wins scored by solo racing
machines and sidecar motorcycles with RS power units - flat-twin engines in
racing trim, with overhead camshafts driven by a side shaft. BMW was indeed
acknowledged as unbeatable in the World Sidecar Championship, winning this
title no less than 19 times with an RS power unit up to 1974.

Participating in the toughest off-road races in the world since 1926.
Since 1926 BMW has scored equally outstanding success in off-road racing, with
hardly the smallest gap between the various victories: Whilst the Six-Day Race,
in which BMW brought home a number of wins, used to be the toughest test for
man and machine, desert rallies were the greatest challenge ever
since the late '70s. And with BMW motorcycles taking part in these gruelling
races for more than 20 years, two-cylinder Boxers proudly bearing the
white-and-blue logo scored outstanding victories in the Paris-Dakar Rally in
1981, 1983, 1984, and 1985, linking the name BMW inseparably to this legendary
event. After winning the Rally once again in 1999, BMW motorcycles finished
first, second, third and fourth in the year 2000, again proving their superior
performance in a most impressive manner.
The new challenge scheduled to come next was simply obvious:
the BMW Motorrad BoxerCup.

Now dating back five years: the BMW Motorrad BoxerCup.
Launched in 1999, the BoxerCup was originally created by the BMW Sales Network
in Belgium and France where these races took place as purely
national events for the first two years. In the light of the great enthusiasm
and the big crowds drawn by the races, the series was then developed into a
brand trophy with an international status and broad-scale involvement by other
European countries. With the support of the BMW Group, BMW Motorrad
subsequently took over the management and organisation of all races in 2001 and
gave the series its official name: BMW Motorrad BoxerCup.

Ever since there has been a wide range of very different riders, many of
them great names in the racing world, with internationally renowned racers as
well as an increasing number of young talents joining in the events. Stars in
the racing scene such as Luca Cadalora, Kevin Schwantz and Jorge Martinez have
already participated as guest riders, and Jürgen Fuchs, the former German Grand
Prix rider, has been entering BMW Motorrad BoxerCup races several times.
Stéphane Mertens, the World Endurance Champion, brought home overall victory in
the event in 2001 and 2002. Randy Mamola, four-times runner-up in the World
Grand Prix Championship and drifting artiste, acts as the Cup's ambassador.

Forming part of the programme in the World MotoGP Championship races as well as
international Endurance and Superbike Championships,
the BoxerCup races have become genuine eye-catchers throughout Europe.
Particularly in the classic Grand Prix events such as the legendary Dutch TT
in Assen/Netherlands the races take place in front of huge crowds of up to

100,000 spectators. And the German Grand Prix at Sachsenring, in a region where
people have always been thrilled by motorcycles, draws a very large number of
spectators. After all, this is the first time in decades that people are able
to admire BMW racing machines in road racing events.
Television broadcasts especially by Eurosport as well as other national and
international TV stations will reach interested people throughout Europe. Since
2002 the racing series has held the official status of the European UEM
(Union Européenne de Motocyclisme) Motorsport Federation, and in 2003 the
BMW Motorrrad BoxerCup moved "to the other side of the ocean", taking place in
America for the first time. The opening race for the new season was held in
Daytona Beach/Florida in March as part of the Bikeweek.

This makes the BMW Motorrad BoxerCup the first brand trophy to be held on two
continents. And being broadcast in the USA on the very popular TV Speed
Channel, the event will certainly be watched by millions of enthusiasts
throughout the country.

The particular appeal of the BoxerCup races is that all riders use identical
machines, the rules and regulations not allowing any technical modification of
the street-legal BMW R 1100 S which might boost engine output and
performance on the road. So the only factor that counts is the rider's skill,
his courage and his tactical ability in struggling for leadership in the race.
This guarantees thrilling races, exciting manoeuvres on the track and tough
fights for the best position up to the very last second.

In the 2003 season alone there were 6 winners from 5 different countries
in 9 races and the overall winner was only determined after the last, extremely
exciting event.

Identifying with the motorcycles is of particular interest to both the
spectators as such and the real motorcycle aficionados. After all, they will be
watching
the BMW R 1100 S in action on the race track, with machines basically identical
to their production counterparts but with professional riders in the saddle
developing a standard of performance and racing skill most impressive to the
"normal" motorcyclist.