Markus Reiterberger is the new leader of the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy – Privateer BMW Motorrad team Penz13.com writes history in the Endurance World Championship.

Munich, 27th August 2014. The BMW Motorrad Race Trophy has a new leader again: with a successful outing in the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC), young German Markus Reiterberger stormed to the top of the rankings. Reiterberger and his SUPERBIKE*IDM team mate Bastien Mackels (BE) joined the Penz13.com team for the “8 Hours of Oschersleben” (DE) last weekend. Supported by the experts from BMW Motorrad Motorsport, they claimed a historic pole-position and took the Superstock win with the #13 BMW S 1000 RR. Also in the FIM Sidecar World Championship (SWC), the South African Motorcycle Championship (SAM) and the British Superbike Championship (BSB), privateer BMW Motorrad riders claimed podium positions this weekend.

BMW Motorrad Race Trophy: Reiterberger storms into the lead.

For the eighth time now, the lead in the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy has changed: Markus Reiterberger is the new man at the top of the rankings. Reiterberger and Bastien Mackels, both regular riders in the International German Motorcycle Championship (SUPERBIKE*IDM) with team Van Zon Remeha BMW, raced in the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) last weekend. They joined the Penz13.com Franks Autowelt Racing Team for the “8 Hours of Oschersleben”. By taking a stunning outright pole-position and the win in the Superstock class, Reiterberger and Mackels also had a huge points haul for the Race Trophy. Reiterberger stormed into the lead with 203.75 points to his tally. He is the seventh privateer BMW Motorrad rider to be at the top of the Race Trophy. Mackels improved to fourth on 174.00 points.

Former leader Michael Dunlop (199.38 / Isle of Man Tourist Trophy and BSB) is now second, while SUPERBIKE*IDM rider Marco Nekvasil (AT / 174.50) currently sits in third. As early as next week, the situation in the top positions of the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy rankings could completely change again, as the French Superbike Championship (FSBK) will hold its next round, as well as the Brazilian Superbike Championship (BRSBK).

FIM Endurance World Championship at Oschersleben.

The “8 Hours of Oschersleben” marked the third round of the 2014 Endurance World Championship. The endurance race was part of the “German Speedweek”, held at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. The Penz13.com team's team principal Rico Penzkofer (DE) competes in the Superstock category of the EWC. For its home race, it joined forces with the SUPERBIKE*IDM squad of Van Zon Remeha BMW, whose team manager Werner Daemen (BE) rode for Penzkofer’s endurance team during his active career. In preparation for the weekend and at the track they were supported by the specialists from BMW Motorrad Motorsport. Reiterberger and Mackels shared duties on the #13 BMW S 1000 RR with Pedro Vallcaneras of Spain.

The trio was meant to write history at Oschersleben: in Friday’s qualifying, they stormed to a sensational outright pole-position, being faster than all the competitors from the higher Superbike class. This was the first-ever pole-position by a Superstock bike in the history of the Endurance World Championship. In Saturday’s race, the Penz13.com team repeated its home win from last season: After eight hours with unpredictable weather, rain and difficult conditions, Reiterberger, Mackels and Vallcanareas took victory in the Superstock class. In the overall race classification, they claimed a strong fourth.

British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park.

Cadwell Park (GB) hosted round eight of the 2014 British Superbike Championship (BSB) this weekend. The two races were held on Monday, which was a bank holiday in England. After celebrating a double-victory two weeks ago at Oulton Park (GB) with his BMW S 1000 RR, this time Lady Luck was not on Ryuichi Kiyonari’s (JP) side. The Buildbase BMW Motorrad rider had to accept two DNFs. In race one, he was in the lead, when a technical issue with the ignition forced him to retire. This issue was quickly fixed for race two. But again Kiyonari was not meant to see the chequered flag as he crashed in wet and difficult conditions. His team-mate James Westmoreland (GB) was 11th in race one, but also retired in race two. Patric Muff (CH / Batham’s Prize Winning Ales) finished 14th and 13th respectively, while his team-mate Michael Rutter (GB) crossed the line in 19th and tenth.

However, despite not finishing either of Monday’s races, Kiyonari secured a guaranteed spot in the 2014 British Superbikes Showdown, which starts after the ninth round of the season. The top six riders in the championship then become the “Title Fighters” for the final three events. A special showdown points system applies for these six riders to make sure the title race will be exciting up to the very last round.

In the race for the Superstock class, Lee Jackson (GB) claimed another podium with his RR from Buildbase BMW Motorrad by finishing third. Hudson Kennaugh (ZA / Linxcel Moto Racing) was fifth. 

South African Motorcycle Championship at Durban.

After a long break, the 2014 South African Motorcycle Championship (SAM) resumed this weekend with round five of the season at Durban (ZA). In the highest category, the SuperGP class, privateer BMW Motorrad rider Lance Isaacs (ZA) continued his streak of podium finishes. He rode to second in the first race, which had to be red-flagged and re-started after lap one. In race two, he finished third on his BMW S 1000 RR, entered by Black Swan Racing. As a result, Isaacs collected valuable Race Trophy points and improved from 14th to ninth in the rankings. His new team-mate Brent Harran (ZA), who joined the team recently, had a turbulent debut on the RR. In race one, he crashed before the red flag came out. He had to re-start from the pits and fought his way up to finish a strong fourth. Unfortunately, the crash resulted in an issue with the front braking system, which prevented him from starting in race two. In the Super M class, Janine Davies (ZA) put in a strong fight-back in both races. From the back of the field, she worked her way up to ninth and eighth respectively.

FIM Sidecar World Championship at Oschersleben.

The “German Speedweek” at Oschersleben also was the stage for the seventh round of the 2014 FIM Sidecar World Championship (SWC). This weekend, two races were held: a 12-lap sprint race on Saturday and a 21-lap race on Sunday. Privateer BMW Motorrad duo Uwe Gürck (DE) and Manfred Wechselberger (AT) stepped onto the podium on Saturday by crossing the line in third. On Sunday, they encountered some tyre problems and finished fourth. With these results, Gürck also collected points for the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy.

2014 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy – Current Standings.

Status: 27th August 2014

16. Daniel Rivas Fernandes (ES/CEV/101,00), 17. Michel Amalric (FR/FSBK/100,00), 18. Matthieu Lussiana (FR/BRSBK/99,50), 19. Michael Rutter (GB/IOMTT/BSB/96,33), 20. Leon Bovee (NL/IDM/95,25), 21. Ryuichi Kiyonari (JP/BSB/93,00), 22. Gianluca Vizziello (IT/CIV/90,00), 23. Andy Rey (FR/FSBK/82,00), 24. Uwe Gürck (DE/SWC/81,72), 25. Eeki Kuparinen (FI/CEV/80,00), 26. Federico D‘Annunzio (IT/WSTK/78,00), 27. Febrizio Perotti (IT/CIV/75,00), 28. Alessio Corradi (IT/CIV/73,75), 29. Stefan Nebel (DE/IDM/73,50), 30. Hudson Kennaugh (ZA/BSB/73,00), 31. Marc Neumann (DE/IDM/70,50), 32. Denni Schiavoni (IT/CIV/68,75), 33. Janine Davies (ZA/SAM/67,50), 34. Björn Stuppi (DE/EWC/61,95), 35. Hayato Takada (JP/EWC/MFJ/61,95), 36. Thomas Hainthaler (DE/IDM/60,00), 37. Marco Muzio (IT/CIV/55,00), 38. Mark Albrecht (DE/IDM/51,00), 39. Florian Drouin (FR/FSBK/48,00), 40. Jean Foray (FR/FSBK/45,00), 41. Florian Brunet-Lugardon (FR/FSBK/41,00), 42. Marco Sousa (CA/CSBK/41,00), 43. Jörg Steinhausen (DE/SWC/40,80), 44. Nicolas Pouhair (FR/FSBK/36,00), 45. Daisaku Sakai (JP/MFJ/EWC/34,73), 46. Sergiy Grygorovych (UA/IDM/30,00), 47. Robert Muresan (RO/WSTK/30,00), 48. Kohji Teramoto (JP/MFJ/EWC/28,96), 49. Lucas Barros (BR/BRSBK/27,00), 50. James Westmoreland (GB/BSB/22,00), 51. Patric Muff (CH/BSB/19,33), 52. Camille Hedelin (FR/FSBK/18,00), 53. Lucas Teodoro (BR/BRSBK/18,00), 54. Tim Robinson (CA/CSBK/17,50), 55. Luciano Ribodino (AR/BRSBK/16,50), 56. Alessio Velini (IT/CIV/15,00), 57. Shinya Takeishi (JP/MFJ/EWC/10,73), 58. Imre Toth (HU/WSBK/6,50), 59. David Datzer (DE/IDM/6,00), 60. Rémi Boitel (FR/FSBK/6,00), 61. Martjin Polinder (DK/IDM/3,00), 62. Peter Sebestyen (HU/WSBK/3,00), 63. Filip Altendorfer (DE/EWC/2,45), 63. Florian Bauer (DE/EWC/2,45), 63. Rico Löwe (DE/EWC/2,45), 66. Didier Grams (DE/Macau Grand Prix/0,00)

It is still possible to register for the 2014 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy on the website www.bmw-motorrad.de/motorsport. The deadline for registrations for the current season is not until 2nd November 2014, entry is free. Regardless of when the registrations are received, each participant will receive points for all the race events he/she has competed in since the start of the scoring period on 15th February 2014. So the ranking can also continuously change as new participants are added.

BMW Motorrad Motorsport website:

www.bmw-motorrad.com/motorsport