BMW S 1000 RR: Markus Reiterberger is crowned 2013 IDM champion.

With the Manufacturers’ title already secured, BMW Motorrad HP RaceSupport can now also celebrate the Riders’ title in the IDM – Difficult EWC finale for BMW teams at Le Mans – Double victory for the BMW HP4 in Italy.

Hockenheim/Le Mans/Munich, 23rd September 2013. After securing the Manufacturers’ title two weeks ago, BMW had even more reason to celebrate at last weekend’s penultimate round of the 2013 International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM) at Hockenheim (GER), as the fight for the Riders’ title was decided, with one round to spare.

In his first full season in the closely-fought IDM Superbike category, young German Markus Reiterberger was crowned 2013 champion. At Hockenheim, he extended his lead in the Riders’ classification by winning both races on his BMW S 1000 RR and can no longer be overtaken at next month’s season finale at Lausitzring (GER). Reiterberger’s VanZon Remeha BMW Team is one of the partners who count on the direct on-site backing of BMW Motorrad HP RaceSupport. With one more round still to go, BMW has already achieved its two main goals for the 2013 IDM season, which were to successfully defend both the Manufacturers’ and the Riders’ titles.

Nineteen-year old Reiterberger headed to the penultimate round with a comfortable lead and took his chance to secure his first IDM title in style. He qualified for pole position with his RR and then won both of Sunday’s races. Thus, he extended his advantage in the Riders’ championship to 82 points, with only 50 more points up for grabs at the final round.

Hockenheim was a successful round – not only for Reiterberger – but with RR riders claiming five of the six available podium positions. Race one saw a pure BMW podium, with Arie Vos (NED / VanZon alpha Technik BMW by Herpigny) and Damian Cudlin (AUS / RAC Racing) finishing second and third respectively. In race two, Cudlin finished second behind winner Reiterberger.

In the Riders’ classification of the IDM Superbike category, Reiterberger now leads with a total of 264 points, while Cudlin is second with 182 points. In the Manufacturers’ rankings, BMW leads with 563 points and an impressive 255 points advantage over its closest rival. In the IDM Superstock category, Bastien Mackels (BEL) of the VanZon alpha Technik BMW by Herpigny Team defended his lead by winning one of the Hockenheim races with his RR. He now leads his class with 304 points and an advantage of six points.

“It was another great weekend in the IDM for us,” said Berthold Hauser, General Manager BMW Motorrad HP RaceSupport. “We started the season with two clear goals. With our partners, we wanted to defend the titles in the Manufacturers’ and the Riders’ classification and we are happy and proud that we have achieved both of these targets even before the final round of the season. Two weeks ago at Sachsenring, BMW secured the Manufacturers’ crown and now Markus Reiterberger can celebrate his first Riders’ title in the series. Congratulations to ‘Reiti’ who showed a really strong performance this year and a big ‘Thank you’ to all BMW teams and riders who in cooperation with our specialists made this another great IDM season for BMW. But the season is not over yet. Now we are all looking forward to the final round in three weeks’ time at the Lausitzring where for sure we will see more exciting races.”

The other big event for the partners of BMW Motorrad HP RaceSupport was this weekend’s “24 Heures Moto” at Le Mans (FRA). The famous 24-hour race marked the final round of the 2013 FIM Endurance World Championship. At Le Mans, Lady Luck was not on the side of the BMW teams. BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent and riders Sébastien Gimbert, Sylvain Barrier (both FRA), Josh Waters (AUS) and Jake Zemke (USA) aimed for a top result in the Superbike class. In fact, they led the race for nine hours with their #99 BMW S 1000 RR. But after 14 hours of racing they had to retire due to a mechanical problem.

The Penz13.com Franks Autowelt Racing Team, which started as the title defender in the FIM World Endurance Superstock Cup, had to retire after six hours of racing. Having collided with another opponent earlier in the race, it left the team with a technical problem, which could not be repaired. Even with the support of the BMW Motorrad HP RaceSupport experts the team could not fix the #13 RR and had to recognize that their race was over. It was the first DNF for the German squad in the EWC since the beginning of 2010. Despite this, in the overall classification, the team around former racer Rico Penzkofer (GER) still finished the season in third.

“24-hour racing has its own rules and this is, unfortunately, what our partners had to experience at Le Mans,” commented Berthold Hauser. “Together with the teams we had worked hard to prepare for this famous 24-hour classic and the efforts initially seemed to pay off. The first part of the race was really exciting and it was great to see the #99 RR in the lead for such a long time. This made it all the more disappointing when the strong performance was not rewarded. It was also a pity for the Penz13.com team. The squad and our specialists tried everything to bring the #13 RR back on track but it was not meant to be.”

In addition to the Endurance World Championship and IDM races, there were also BMW bikes in action at last weekend at Mugello (ITA) for the final round of the 2013 Italian Championship (CIV). There, Team Thevent successfully entered a BMW HP4. The bike was raced by Mika Kallio (FIN) who stood in for the team’s regular CIV rider, Sébastien Gimbert, who was on duty at the French 24-hour race. Kallio turned out to be the man to beat at Mugello, winning both races on the BMW HP4.