Wild card starter Markus Reiterberger dominates the FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship at Jerez on his BMW S 1000 RR.

Munich. The circuit of Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain saw plenty of race action at the weekend. The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) held its penultimate round at the Andalucian track. At the same time, Jerez hosted the 2017 season finale of the FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship (STK1000). It was dominated by German BMW rider Markus Reiterberger who competed in the last STK1000 race of the year with a wild card. In South America, the BMW teams and riders have been in action in the SuperBike Series Brasil (BRSBK).

MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

The 2017 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) held its last European round at Jerez de la Frontera (ESP) before heading to the season finale in Qatar in early November. It marked the home round for Althea BMW Racing Team rider Jordi Torres. The Spaniard struggled in Saturday’s race one and had to settle for 13^th. In Sunday’s race, he achieved a top-ten result by crossing the line in tenth. His team-mate Raffaele De Rosa (ITA) had to retire in race one after a crash on the opening lap and was 13^th in the second race.

Jordi Torres: “We made some big changes to the bike between Saturday and Sunday so it behaved differently in race two, with corner entry a little easier and better feeling at the front. I overtook a few riders early on but in the end couldn’t do more than tenth. It’s not the result I would have wanted of course, particularly racing here at my home track, but we struggled with the new asphalt.”

FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship at Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

It was the perfect dress rehearsal for Markus Reiterberger (GER) and the Van Zon-Remeha-BMW team in the FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship (STK1000). In preparation for their 2018 entry in the championship they competed with a wild card in the 2017 season finale at Jerez de la Frontera (ESP). Reiterberger dominated the action on his BMW S 1000 RR. In qualifying, he secured pole position by setting a new lap record. He then also delivered a fantastic race performance, taking the win with an advantage of over five seconds. Fellow BMW rider Federico Sandi (ITA / Berclaz Racing Team) was fighting with Reiterberger at the top but then dropped back in the closing stages of the race and eventually crossed the line in seventh. Marco Faccani (ITA / Althea BMW Racing Team) followed immediately behind in eighth.

Markus Reiterberger: “It is an unbelievable feeling for me that we have won this race. We continued to make progress during the practice sessions. In qualifying, I was topping the time sheets for a pretty long time but then Mike Jones put in an extremely strong lap of 1:42.1. I honestly doubted that I could go faster than that but we put another fresh tyre on and I pushed to the limit. I went all-out on risk, the bike was working perfectly and I succeeded in securing pole position in this closely fought field. In Sunday’s warm up, we made another good step forward with the traction control and so we were well prepared for the race. I had a decent start and was in the lead but then Federico Sandi passed me. I watched him for some time and saw that I could go much faster than him, especially into the corners, so I overtook him again and then did a number of fast laps. I gave it all to build a gap. After three or four laps I had an advantage of over four seconds and in the end it was just about controlling it. It was a perfect weekend for us with pole position and the race win. Thanks to the entire team for giving me such a brilliant bike. We are a small team but we achieved a lot. This weekend was only about preparing for next year and so we all can be very satisfied.”

SuperBike Series Brasil at Goiânia, Brazil.

The SuperBike Series Brasil (BRSBK) held its seventh and penultimate round of the 2017 season at Goiânia (BRA). In the first of the two races, BMW rider Joelsu “Mitiko” (BRA / JC Racing Team) crossed the line in fourth place. His team-mate Davi Lara Costa (BRA) also claimed a top-ten result by finishing eighth. In the second race, fourth place went to Danilo Lewis (BRA) on his Tecfil Havoline Racing Team RR. “Mitiko” was fifth on that time and Lara Costa came home in ninth place.