BMW S 1000 RR Racer Carmelo Morales siegt beim Saisonauftakt in Spanien – Doppelsieg der BMW Fahrer in Italien.

Munich. Successful start to the season in Spain and Italy: the first races of the year in the Spanish Championship (RFME CEV), the Italian Superbike Championship (CIV) and the Italian National Trophy 1000 (INT) took place at the weekend. The BMW teams had plenty of cause to celebrate. In the RFME CEV, champion Carmelo Morales (ESP) began his title defence with a win. His Graphenano EasyRace team-mate, Julian Miralles (ESP), reached the podium in the open class. Luca Vitali (ITA) also secured a podium finish at the CIV season-opener. In the Italian National Trophy 1000, Federico D’Annunzio and Luca Maurizio Salvadori (both ITA) claimed a one-two result for the BMW S 1000 RR.

Spanish Championship at Albacete, Spain.

Albacete, Spain, hosted the season-opener for the Spanish Championship (RFME CEV) at the weekend. BMW rider Carmelo Morales (ESP) and the Graphenano EasyRace SBK team arrived in Albacete as reigning champions and Morales showed in the first race that he and his team are taking the title defence seriously. The team used Saturday for fine-tuning the BMW S 1000 RR and Morales secured fourth place in qualifiying. He also announced that his objective was to win the race. The champion proved his point: Morales won the season-opener and also recorded the fastest lap of the race. His team-mate Julian Miralles (ESP) rounded off the team's success by finishing second to reach the podium in the open class.

Carmelo Morales:

“I am delighted as the first race of the year is normally pretty nervy and it is not easy to win. I was also on the second row of the grid and I didn’t get off to a particularly good start but our speed was very good and I was able to fight my way up, place by place. It's always great to win but it is even better to do in such a beautiful race. I would like to thank the team for all their work and I hope that the season will continue in this vein.”

Italian Superbike Championship at Misano, Italy.

The Italian Superbike Championship (CIV) visited the Adriatic coast for the first race of the year at Misano (ITA). BMW rider Luca Vitali (ITA) kicked off the new season with a podium finish. The DMR Racing rider had to retire early from the first race on Saturday but he improved his performance on Sunday to claim third place with his BMW S 1000 RR. His team-mate Axel Bassani (ITA) finished fifth in both races. Alex Bernardi (ITA), also competing for the DMR Racing team, logged top-ten results both times, finishing eighth and tenth.

Italian National Trophy 1000 in Misano, Italy.

The Italian National Trophy 1000 (INT) is a new addition to the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy for 2018. The races in the series are taking place as part of the Italian Superbike Championship (CIV). In the season-opener at Misano (ITA), the BMW S 1000 RR racers celebrated a one-two result: Federico D’Annunzio (ITA) won ahead of his compatriot Luca Maurizio Salvadori. A total of four BMW riders finished in the top five. Remo Castellarin secured fourth place, followed by Alessandro Polita in fifth.

MFJ Superbike All Japan Road Race Championship at Motegi, Japan.

The MFJ Superbike All Japan Road Race Championship (MFJ) season started at Motegi, north of Tokyo (JPN). Many teams used the weekend to prepare for the eight-hour race at Suzuka (JPN), including the BMW customer team Tone RT Syncedge 4113 and the two riders Tomoya Hoshino and Atsumi Cocoro (both JPN). A race took place in two parts, emphasising the endurance character of the event at Motegi. Hoshino finished in eighth and eleventh positions, while Cocoro crossed the line in 20^th and 17^th.