Victories for BMW riders in the BSB, the Alpe Adria Road Racing Championship and the MotoAmerica.

Munich. BMW racers have extended their 2018 success by four wins and a total of 13 podium finishes at the weekend. In the British Superbike Championship (BSB) Superstock race at Oulton Park (GBR), Keith Farmer (GBR) celebrated his first win of the season, Chrissy Rouse (GBR) was third. At the International Road Racing Championship (IRRC) season-opener at Dutch Hengelo, Danny Webb (GBR), Didier Grams (GER) and Erno Kostamo (FIN) raced onto the rostrum. The 2018 season in the Alpe Adria Road Racing Championship (AARR) kicked off with a double win for Michal Filla (CZE) and podium finishes for Arnaud Friedrich (GER) and Karel Hanika (CZE) at the Slovakiaring (SVK). Luca Salvadori (ITA) raced onto the podium in the Italian National Trophy 1000 (INT). In the MotoAmerica, Travis Wyman (USA) enjoyed a perfect weekend at the VIRginia International Raceway (USA).

British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park, Great Britain.

The first Monday in May is a public holiday in Great Britain – and thus the ideal day for Oulton Park (GBR) to host the British Superbike Championship (BSB). Race one of the Superbike class (BSB SBK) was dominated by a number of crashes. Unfortunately, BMW riders Michael Laverty (GBR / Tyco BMW Motorrad) and Peter Hickman (GBR / Smiths Racing) were among those to crash out. The best-placed BMW rider was Jakub Smrz (CZE) from the Lloyd & Jones Bowker Motorrad team.

In race two, Hickman was the best BMW rider, finishing 11^th. Laverty fought his way up to 13^th after starting from 27^th on the grid and secured important championship points. Laverty’s teammate, Christian Iddon (GBR), was unable to take part in the races following a big crash in practice, in which he fractured his hand in several places.

Peter Hickman: “The bike’s good and we’ve got good pace in practice and qualifying but when it comes to race day, nothing seems to be coming together at the same time. I’ve had two crashes this weekend, which isn’t like me, and neither were my fault, but they’ve obviously knocked my confidence. It was affecting me in the second race and I had a few slides which saw me drop back but I kept plugging away and put in my fastest lap towards the end to at least salvage a result from the weekend.”

In the Superstock (BSB STK) race, Tyco BMW Motorrad rider Keith Farmer claimed his first win of the season. He had started from pole position and emerged victorious from a thrilling three-way battle to take the top spot on the podium. Chrissy Rouse (GBR / Quinnstheprinters.com BMW) came home third, just 0.9 seconds behind Farmer. Alex Olsen (GBR / ASTRO – JJR Racing) was fourth.

Keith Farmer: “It was great to get pole position in qualifying but after a small mistake on the start we dropped back a bit, but I had a good pace and was enjoying riding the bike. I managed to get to the front and take our first race win of the season. Hopefully we can fire off more wins. A massive thank you to the whole Tyco BMW team - from the mechanics to the hospitality. I’m mega happy with the whole weekend.”

International Road Racing Championship at Hengelo, Netherlands.

The International Road Racing Championship (IRRC) kicked off the 2018 season at Hengelo, in the Netherlands. Over the course of the two races, the BMW riders claimed a total of four podium finishes and twelve top-ten results. Danny Webb (GBR) finished runner-up in both races on his BMW S 1000 RR, run by the Wepol Racing by Penz 13 team. As the two victories went to guest starter Nigel Walraven (NED), who is not competing in the championship, Webb picked up the maximum 25 points towards the overall standings both times.

Didier Grams (GER / G&G Motorsport by BMW Motorrad) finished third in race one to join Webb on the podium. Marek Červený (CZE / Wepol Racing by Penz 13) came home fourth, ahead of Erno Kostamo (FIN / Markka Racing) in fifth. They were followed home in seventh and eighth place by Jamie Coward (GBR / Wepol Racing by Penz 13) and Kamil Holan (CZE / Mc Race). In race two, Kostamo took third place with Červený once again just outside the podium positions in fourth. Coward was sixth this time, while Holan finished eighth and Grams tenth.

Alpe Adria Road Racing Championship at the Slovakiaring, Slovakia.

The Slovakiaring near Bratislava (SVK) hosted the opening round of the 2018 Alpe Adria Road Racing Championship (AARR). The Superbike class (AARR SBK) produced one podium finish for the BMW S 1000 RR: Karel Hanika (CZE) from the Mercury Racing team finished runner-up in race two. He also set the fastest race lap. The Czech rider had previously finished fourth in the opening race. The next-best BMW racer in the Superbike class was Christopher Kemmer (AUT / Bertl K. Racing Team), who came home sixth and fifth. Hanika’s team-mate Matej Smrz (CZE) was eighth in both races.

In the Superstock class (AARR STK), BMW rider Michal Filla (CZE / BMW Sikora Motorsport) and Arnaud Friedrich (GER / Team LRP Poland) twice made it a BMW one-two. Filla won both races, setting the fastest lap time in each. Friedrich, who is contesting his first season in the AARR, twice finished as runner-up. Defending champion Michal Prášek (CZE / Rohac and Fejta Motoracing Team) came home fourth in both races.

Italian Superbike Championship at Mugello, Italy.

The Italian Superbike Championship (CIV) was at Mugello (ITA), in Tuscany, at the weekend. The best-placed BMW rider was Luca Vitali (ITA / DMR Racing), who finished both races in fifth place. His team-mate Axel Bassani (ITA) was eighth and sixth. Christian Gamarino (ITA / Tutapista Corse) twice finished seventh.

Italian National Trophy 1000 at Mugello, Italy.

Mugello (ITA) also hosted round two of the 2018 Italian National Trophy 1000 (INT). After a one-two on the opening weekend, the BMW S 1000 RR was back on the podium in third place, courtesy of Luca Salvadori (ITA). Federico D’Annunzio (ITA) who finished fourth, just 0.187 seconds outside the podium places.

MotoAmerica at the VIRginia International Raceway, USA.

BMW rider Travis Wyman (USA / Weir Everywhere Racing) claimed his second Superstock win of the season in race two of this season’s MotoAmerica series (MA STK). Wyman enjoyed a perfect weekend at the VIRginia International Raceway (USA) by securing pole position, setting the fastest lap time, and winning the race with a lead of over ten seconds. Timothy Bermisderfer (USA / Big’un Motorsports) finished sixth.

Two Superbike races (MA SBK) were held at the weekend, with BMW rider Danny Eslick (USA / Scheibe Racing) finishing eighth and seventh.