BMW MOTORRAD ITALIA SUPERBIKE TEAM - NURBURGRING - RACE

Over the weekend at the Nurburgring Ayrton  Badovini finished both races in the top ten. James  Toseland skidded out of race two in the extreme weather conditions without sustaining serious damage. In  Superstock, Lorenzo Zanetti remains in the race for the FIM Cup, crossing the finish line fourth to stay second in the series. Sylvain Barrier has taken a strong second place, is 4th in the standings and has closed the gap to the rider in third.

A weekend of hard work to the Nurburgring for the  BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Team .

Grid position not benefited  Ayrton Badovini  and  James Toseland  in race one without a doubt, from which they surged through the field to finish in ninth and thirteenth respectively. In race two heavy rain had a big impact on rider performance. While Ayrton managed to finish in seventh place, James was caught out by running water on the tarmac and fell, fortunately only bruising his right elbow and grazing the left.

"During the two days of qualifying” -  Ayrton said – “we headed in the wrong direction with set-up, so we took a step backwards. In the race, the bike was better suited to my riding style and it felt fairly good. I’m going home quite happy, given  the fact that we’ve shown we are top ten runners in the wet and dry conditions."

In  Superstock, Sylvain Barrier tried to counter the force of the Ducati before wisely deciding to hold second place that not only allowed him to get on the podium, but also meant closing in on Petrucci in the Cup standings – just nine points separate Sylvain from the Italian. Lorenzo Zanetti was hindered at the start by a patch of wet asphalt and was forced to start a comeback during which he engaged in a great battle with Niccolò Canepa. The fourth place finish allows him to retain second place in the Cup, 23 points behind leader Giugliano.

"In the opening laps I had a good feeling for the bike.” -  Sylvain said – “Then I heard a change in noise from my bike and it was hard to keep up with Giugliano and Petrucci. Since I had the advantage on track I decided to slow down to gain precious points in the Cup. "

Lorenzo  Zanetti, not happy at the end of the race, said: "We had some problems over the weekend and we spent a long time finding the right path. Now we must concentrate and move forward without losing sight of our goal."

Serafino Foti, sporting director of BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Team said: "It was a difficult weekend but we are quite happy with the progress from yesterday to today, mainly in the dry. Ayrton managed to maintain a good pace throughout the race, considering a bad start. James himself has improved but is still very limited by his wrist. In race two the conditions were really tough and it was important to get to the end without making mistakes . Unfortunately, James slipped, which can happen in these conditions. Fortunately there was virtually no damage.As always I want to congratulate all the team who, until late last night, were analysing all available data, allowing us to improve.In Superstock, Sylvain drove a clever race, realizing immediately that it was difficult to keep up with Giugliano and still taking second place. Unfortunately, Lorenzo suffered a very bad start and was down to 16th at the end of the first lap. With Superstock races being quite short this compromised his race. "

Superbike:

Gara 1: 1° C. Checa (Ducati) 38'59.779 - 2° M. Melandri (Yamaha) + 1.855 - 3° N. Haga (Aprilia) + 2.322... 9° A. Badovini (BMW) + 18.166 ...13° J. Toseland (BMW) + 31.617.

Gara 2: 1° T. Sykes (Kawasaki) 29'49.337 - 2° S. Guintoli (Ducati) + 4.063 - 3° J. Smrz (Ducati) + 22.759 - ...7°  A. Badovini (BMW) + 47.030

Campionato: 1° C. Checa (Ducati) p. 376 - 2° M. Melandri (Yamaha) p. 302 - 3° M. Biaggi (Aprilia) p. 281 - ...9°  A. Badovini (BMW) p. 134 ...22°  J. Toseland (BMW) p. 13 - 23°  L. Lanzi (BMW) p. 10...27°  B. Veneman (BMW) p. 3.

Superstock

Gara: 1° D. Giugliano (Ducati) 22'00.274 - 2° S. Barrier (BMW) + 4.274 - 3° N. Canepa (Ducati) + 11.241 - 4° L. Zanetti (BMW) + 11.459 - 5° L. Baroni (Ducati) + 11.711

FIM Cup: 1° D. Giugliano (Ducati) p. 140 - 2°  L. Zanetti (BMW) p. 117 - 3° D. Petrucci (Ducati) p. 94 - 4°  S. Barrier (BMW)  p. 85 - 5° N. Canepa (Ducati) p. 80.