BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team - WSBK - Imola - Preview

Italy – Imola.

Preview.

28th – 30th June 2013

7th of 15 race weekends

Munich/Milan, 24th June 2013. The BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team is preparing for its next home round. The seventh round of the 2013 FIM Superbike World Championship will be held this weekend (28th to 30th June) at the iconic “Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari” at Imola (ITA). The workshop of the BMW factory race team is located at Crespellano, only 60 kilometres from Imola.

This season so far, factory riders Marco Melandri (ITA) and Chaz Davies (GBR) have shared four victories between them on their BMW S 1000 RRs. In the Manufacturers’ classification, BMW is currently second with 211 points. In the Riders’ classification, Marco is fourth with 156 points. For him, Imola is also a ‘home’ race as he lives nearby. Chaz follows directly behind in the points standings, in fifth with 133 points. After Sunday’s races, the teams of the Superbike World Championship will stay at Imola to conduct an official Dorna one-day-test on Monday.

Imola also hosts the fifth round of the 2013 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup. Sylvain Barrier of the BMW Motorrad GoldBet STK Team heads to Italy leading in the Riders’ classification. The Frenchman retook the series lead at the last round at Portimão (POR) by celebrating his second victory of the season with his new DDC-equipped BMW HP4. His team-mate Greg Gildenhuys (RSA) is on his way back to being 100 per cent fit after he had fractured his left heel at the Italian Monza round.

Imola from the rider’s point of view:

Marco Melandri:

“We head to Imola during a really important period of the season. From a technical point of view we have found a good direction and I would like to be on the podium in my ‘home’ race. I really like this track, even though it’s difficult, quite technical and demanding, also regarding the riders’ fitness. There is hardly any time to catch your breath, and the humid heat we’re having at the moment will not be helpful. Physically, I feel fine though. After Portimão, I was finally able to train without any problems for the first time this year. Now I want to get back the results I was denied due to various reasons.”

Chaz Davies:

“My target for Imola is to be back on the podium. The last few races have been a bit difficult for different reasons but even so, we’ve learnt quite a lot that could be useful for other races during the season. So it is a matter of taking this knowledge and using it to get a better result. I think we have a good chance to achieve our target to be back on the podium. I quite enjoy Imola. It is a circuit that seems to suit my style and I have always had decent results there. It is also one of the typical old Italian tracks, being inside the park and close to the town, so I am looking forward to it.”

Imola from a sporting point of view:

Serafino Foti (Sport Director BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team):

“There are at least two reasons which make Imola a special event for us. Firstly, the team workshop is only a few kilometres away, so Imola is our home race, the second one of the season. Secondly, as it is an Italian round we can expect a large number of passionate spectators. Especially for Marco, who lives nearby, racing there always means to be surrounded by friends and fans. The Imola track is not easy at all. It is a very technical circuit and a demanding one for riders and bikes.

“For this reason it is important that Chaz has recovered well after the crash in Portimão where he suffered an elbow injury and various bruises and is fully fit for this demanding race. We’re well prepared and focused. We know that this also goes for our competitors and they will attack, too, but we’re quite optimistic. The Portimão round was a positive one. The results and the general performance allow us to continue the season with enthusiasm.

“Sylvain had a perfect weekend in Portimão, as he won the race and retook the lead in the Superstock championship. Now he needs to continue this positive trend. Greg is getting better and in Imola he will be stronger. Of course we know that Imola is the home race for some of our competitors. It will no doubt be a challenging weekend but we are confident.”

Imola from a technical point of view:

Andrea Dosoli (Technical Director BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team):

“The two weekends without racing after Portimão were fundamental for all the guys in the team for recharging the batteries and preparing for an important and busy event in this championship. The Imola races and the Dorna test on Monday mark the end of the first part of the season and we are all motivated and focused on doing well. The ‘Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari’ is a technical racetrack. It has up and down sections where the rhythm is often broken by several slow and fast chicanes. It is a difficult and demanding layout, for the riders as well as for the bikes. The blind ‘Piratella’ corner and the ‘Acque Minerali’ turns are something special. Good handling and braking stability, combined with a smooth torque delivery, are essential on this track.

“Our BMW S 1000 RR has proved in the past to be competitive here – for example with last year’s double podium – so we are confident that we’ll be able to offer both riders a competitive package which will be enriched with some technical updates for the engine and chassis we recently tested in Aragón. In order to close the gap to the top of the ranking we will keep working hard and continue to improve our bikes. We are looking forward to the race weekend in Imola because at Portimão we saw that our development work was starting to bring results, even if the circumstances did not allow us to collect as many points as we expected.

“Coming back to Imola we obviously bear in mind the tragic accident that Joan Lascorz had there last year and we’re also thinking of the Italian rider Alessia Polita, who suffered a similar severe injury at the recent round of the CIV at Misano. I was glad to hear that Joan joined his team at their recent test and our thoughts are with Alessia and her family in these difficult times.”

Imola from Pirelli’s point of view:

With the repaving of about 70% of the surface in 2011, the Imola track reacquired a good level of mechanical grip which had been compromised for some time before that. This, however, also significantly increased the aggressiveness on the rear tyres, especially in medium-low temperatures. But as this year, the races are at the end of June, high temperatures can be expected. Due to this, and with a much stronger product in terms of mechanical resistance, Pirelli can afford not to use SC2 solutions, but to bring two rear tyres in the SC1 category: the standard SC1 rear tyre and a more reinforced derivative. If the high temperatures completely smooth out the severity of the track the SC0 blend can be used to meet all grip needs. As for the front tyres, the Imola circuit leaves quite a bit of room for the riders' taste and riding style. With an extremely technical layout generally the front tyre selection is always a mixture, without any significant critical issues for soft or more robust front tyres.

The riders in the Superbike class will have three slick solutions available for the front and as many for the rear, joined as always the rear qualifiers, the intermediate solutions and the wet tyres. On the front the Pirelli standard SC1 solution (R426) will be present in a soft blend, ideal for low external temperatures and/or medium harsh tracks, as well as the standard SC2 (R982), which is excellent for high external temperatures because it guarantees a solid tread strip. The third alternative for the front is the SC2 R753 compound development solution, an alternative to the standard SC2, which tends to be sturdier and therefore more resistant to aggressive asphalt. Among the solutions for the rear the riders will find the standard SC0, the R1261, ideal for tackling smooth asphalt and high temperatures because it provides maximum contact area on smooth asphalt in addition to its greater performance stability under thermal decline. Pirelli also brings the standard SC1 (R828) in a medium compound. The third option for the rear is a new development solution (R1431) in an SC1 blend which has never before been used by the riders and which was designed with the goal of providing higher tear resistance but equal grip compared to the standard SC1. In addition, Pirelli will bring around 600 more tyres to Imola, which will be used during Monday’s Dorna test, among them some more development solutions.

Imola is located in the Northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, about 40 kilometres south-east of Bologna. The town has a population of about 70,000. Motorsport has played a major role in Imola for many decades. The first races in and around Imola were held on public roads in the 1940s. In 1952, a permanent race track was opened on the southern outskirts of the town, which is now one of the most iconic and famous Italian circuits. When the circuit was opened in 1952, it was named the “Autodromo Dino Ferrari” after the son of Enzo Ferrari, who died at an early age. Following the death of Enzo Ferrari in 1988, it was renamed the “Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari”.

For several decades, Formula One was a regular guest in Imola. It was here, in 1994, that the series suffered one of its most tragic weekends when Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna were both killed in separate crashes. In 1967, Imola hosted its first motorcycle grand prix and the Superbike World Championship has been coming to the circuit in northern Italy since 2001. The most recent major modification of the circuit and pit lane buildings took place in 2006, while parts of the track were resurfaced in 2011.

The stop-and-go circuit is technically very demanding. It features a lot of uphill and downhill sections, as well as both fast and slow chicanes, in which the bike must brake and handle well. The changes of directions are quite challenging. In order to accelerate quickly out of the corners, the riders need a bike with a lot of power low down. The chicanes are lined with perilous kerbs, which unsettle the bike as the riders cut over them, meaning stability is key.

It is also important for the bike to handle well over crests and in the fast, flowing section with the two "Acque Minerali" corners. Overtaking is difficult in Imola, as the track is very narrow in parts. The riders must be very aggressive if they wish to improve their position during the race. As the circuit has been resurfaced on numerous occasions, it now has four different surfaces, meaning the grip level changes frequently, while the track is also very bumpy in places.

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