Tamburini wins in Portimão and takes the lead in the 2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy – Podium finishes for the BMW S 1000 RR on the Isle of Man.

Munich (DE), 10th June 2015. The 2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy has a new leader: Roberto Tamburini (IT). The Motoxracing rider won the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup (STK1000) race last weekend at Portimão (PT), which was held at the Portuguese round of the FIM Superbike World Championship (WSBK). With the points he scored in Portugal, Tamburini climbed to P1 in the Race Trophy rankings. In the races for the Superbike World Championship, BMW riders Ayrton Badovini (IT), Gábor Rizmayer (HU) and Imre Tóth (HU) had to cope with extremely changeable weather conditions. In international road racing the highlight of the year has started: the Isle of Man TT (IOMTT). The privateer BMW Motorrad riders have contested their first two races at the legendary event. In Tuesday’s Superstock race, Michael Dunlop (GB) and Lee Johnston (GB) raced to the podium on their BMW S 1000 RR machines.

2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy.

Over the last week, a further number of new participants have registered for the 2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy. Currently, 88 privateer BMW Motorrad riders from 61 different teams and 19 different nations are taking part. The new leader is Roberto Tamburini (IT / STK1000) with 180.00 points. Matthieu Lussiana (FR / MT1GP) dropped to second with 177.78 points. Markus Reiterberger (DE / IDM SBK) is currently third with 133.81 points (see full rankings below / the results of the IOMTT Superstock race are not included in the totals yet).

FIM Superbike World Championship in Portimão, Portugal.

The “Autódromo Internacional do Algarve” near Portimão in southern Portugal hosted the ninth round of the 2015 FIM Superbike World Championship (WSBK). Riders and teams had to cope with changing weather conditions: while it was hot and sunny on Friday and Saturday, a rain shower and strong winds mixed things up in Sunday’s first race. Coming from tenth on the grid, Ayrton Badovini (IT) of BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team soon made up positions and was on course to achieve another top-five finish. However, it started to rain during the final stages of the race. With six laps to go, the track was so wet that all the riders pitted to change to rain tyres. Over the remaining wet laps, Badovini brought his BMW S 1000 RR home safely in seventh. Gábor Rizmayer (HU) from BMW Racing Team Tóth finished 19th, his team-mate Imre Tóth (HU) 20th.

For race two, conditions had changed again. Now it was dry and sunny again and track temperatures had increased by over ten degrees Celsius. Badovini struggled to find his rhythm and was 12th. Rizmayer and Tóth crossed the line in 18th and 19th respectively. On Monday after the races, the WSBK teams stayed at Portimão for an official test day.

FIM Superstock 1000 Cup in Portimão, Portugal.

Portimão was also the venue for the fifth round of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup (STK1000) – and it was a privateer BMW rider who dominated the weekend. On Saturday, Roberto Tamburini (IT) of the Motoxracing team secured pole-position by setting a new Superstock lap record on his BMW S 1000 RR. In Sunday’s race he was initially in the runner-up position. When halfway through the race no less than five riders were battling right at the front, Tamburini took the chance to turn things to his advantage. With a determined move he took the lead and started to pull away from his rivals. He crossed the line with an advantage of more than four seconds. It was Tamburini’s second win of the season. In addition to these two wins, he has scored two second places on the podium so far. With three races to go, he is second in the Riders’ championship with a gap of 25 points to the leader.

Matthieu Lussiana (FR) finished 19th on his Team ASPI BMW S 1000 RR. Federico D’Annunzio (IT / FDA Racing Team) was 20th, Eric Vionnet (CH / Motos Vionnet) 28th.

Isle of Man TT, Great Britain.

The most legendary road racing event of the year is running: it is race week at the Isle of Man. The privateer BMW Motorrad riders and the experts from BMW Motorrad Motorsport, who are on site to support them, are experiencing turbulent days as bad weather causes massive delays in the schedule. However, they have already been successful with their BMW S 1000 RRs.

The Superstock race, which had to be postponed until Tuesday, ended with two privateer BMW Motorrad riders on the podium. Michael Dunlop (GB / MD Racing) finished second after a close battle with the eventual winner Ian Hutchinson (GB). Dunlop, who scored a historic triple for BMW Motorrad at last year’s IOMTT, had decided shortly before the event to return to the BMW S 1000 RR Superbike and Superstock machines. The podium was completed by his fellow BMW rider Lee Johnston (GB /  East Coast Construction / Burdens). In total, five BMW riders finished within the top-seven: Peter Hickman (GB / Briggs Equipment UK BMW) was fifth and David Johnson (AU / Smiths Racing) sixth. Guy Martin (GB / Tyco BMW) was one of the riders battling for the win, but he lost time when his bike would not start properly after the pit stop and finished the race in seventh. Michael Rutter (GB / Penz13.com Bathams) was 11th just outside the top-ten.

For Guy Martin’s Tyco team-mate and Michael Dunlop’s brother, William Dunlop (GB), the IOMTT unfortunately came to an early end. He suffered a broken rib and severe bruising when crashing during Monday’s Superstock practice lap and was forced to retire from the rest of the event.

In the first Superbike race on Sunday, William Dunlop was the best-placed BMW rider, coming home in fifth. Rutter followed directly behind in sixth, while Hickman, Johnston and Johnson completed the top-ten by finishing eighth, ninth and tenth. The highlight of the IOMTT, the prestigious Senior TT, is scheduled for this Friday. The IOMTT is part of the new BMW Combined Road Race Challenge (BMW RRC), which combines the four major road racing events of the year and counts towards the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy.

2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy – Current Standings.

In 2015, the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy comprises a total of 19 international and national championships. Registration is possible until 30th June 2015. Participants in the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy can once again compete in multiple championships in 2015. However, the points scored in the different championships are not added together, but are calculated separately for each individual race series. The current standings only include points from the race series in which the participant has scored the most Race Trophy points. You can find all the information on the 2015 BMW Motorrad Race Trophy, including the regulations and registration form, online at the BMW Motorrad Motorsport website:

www.bmw-motorrad-motorsport.com

Status: 10th June 2015

16. Dominik Vincon (DE/IDM STK/68.57), 17. Florian Drouin (FR/FR EU/61.54), 18. Pekka Päivärinta/Kirsi Kainulainen (FI/SWC/61.33), 19. Gareth Jones (AU/EWC SBK/60.00), 19. Pedro Vallcaneras (ES/EWC SBK/60.00), 21. Matej Smrz (CZ/IDM SBK/58.76), 22. Krasen Kanchev (BG/AARR STK/55.56), 23. William Dunlop (GB/BMW RRC/55.11), 24. Eeki Kuparinen (FI/CEV AM/52.80), 25. Pepijn Bijsterbosch (NL/IDM STK/52.57), 25. Lucy Glöckner (DE/IDM STK/52.57), 27. Sebastian Porto (AR/MT1GP STK GP/51.56), 28. Martin Choy (BG/AARR SBK/50.67), 29. Stephen Mercer (GB/EWC STK/48.00), 29. Marco Nekvasil (AT/EWC STK/48.00), 29. Hayato Takada (JP/EWC STK/48.00), 32. Marek Szkopek (PL/AARR STK/44.56), 33. Nicholas Kershaw (ZA/RSA SBK GP/42.19), 34. Iván Silva (ES/CEV PR/41.60), 35. Lukáš Pešek (CZ/AARR SBK/41.33), 36. Tommy Bridewell (GB/BSB SBK/40.38), 37. Laurent Aymonin (FR/FR EU/39.38), 38. Bartlomiej Wiczynski (PL/AARR STK/38.67), 39. Michael Rutter (GB/BMW RRC/37.33), 40. Léon Benichou (FR/FR EU/34.46), 41. David Johnson (AU/BMW RRC/33.78), 42. Mike Roscher/Anna Burkard (DE/SWC/32.13), 43. Luca Oppedisano (IT/CIV/32.00), 44. Michal Fojtik (CZ/AARR STK/31.89), 45. Michael Laverty (GB/BSB SBK/31.24), 46. Ireneusz Sikora (PL/AARR SBK/30.67), 47. Ryuichi Kiyonari (JP/BSB SBK/29.71), 48. Marcel Irnie (CA/AMA STK/24.42), 49. Barry Burrell (GB/EWC STK/24.00), 49. Stefan Capella (GB/EWC STK/24.00), 49. Gary Mason (GB/EWC STK/24.00), 52. Billy McConnell (AU/BSB SBK/23.62), 53. Wojciech Wrobel (PL/AARR STK/22.67), 54. Emilien Jaillet (FR/FSBK STK/22.15), 55. Uwe Gürck/Manfred Wechselberger (DE/AT/SWC/20.80), 56. Peter Hickman (GB/BSB SBK/19.81), 57. Camille Hedelin (FR/FSBK STK/19.69), 58. Johannes Hoffmann (DE/IDM STK/19.43), 59. Milos Cihak (CZ/AARR SBK/18.67), 60. Nicolas Pouhair (FR/FSBK STK/18.46), 61. Daisaku Sakai (JP/MFJ/18.00), 62. Martin Jessopp (GB/BMW RRC/17.78), 63. Guy Martin (GB/BMW RRC/14.22), 64. Jeremy Cook (US/AMA STK/13.33), 65. Marc Neumann (DE/IDM STK/11.43), 65. Lee Jackson (GB/BSB SBK/11.43), 67. Jean Foray (FR/FR EU/9.85), 68. Chris Schmid (DE/IDM STK/9.14), 69. Thomas Hainthaler (DE/IDM STK/6.86), 70. Richard Balcar (CZ/AARR SBK/6.67), 70. Mike Wohner (AT/AARR SBK/6.67), 72. Yuuta Kodama (JP/MFJ/6.00), 72. Fabio Marchionni (IT/STK1000/6.00), 72. Koji Teramoto (JP/MFJ/6.00), 75. Johannes Kanzler (DE/IDM STK/4.57), 76. Sabine Holbrook (DE/AARR SBK/4.00), 76. Shinya Takeishi (JP/MFJ/4.00), 76. Eric Vionnet (CH/STK1000/4.00), 79. Michael Truchot (FR/FR EU/3.69), 80. Pawel Gorka (PL/AARR SBK/2.67), 80. Bartlomiej Lewandowski (PL/AARR SBK/2.67), 82. Federico D’Annunzio (IT/STK1000/2.00), 82. Noriyuki Tsujimoto (JP/MFJ/2.00), 84. Maria Costello (GB/BMW RRC/1.78), 85. Wolfgang Gammer (AT/AARR SBK/0.00), 85. Mika Höglund (FI/CEV AM/0.00), 85. Tatsuya Noda (JP/EWC SBK/0.00), 85. Jordan Szoke (CA/CSBK PR/0.00)