BMW Motorrad Motorsport - WSBK - Imola - Preview
Italy – Imola.
Preview.
23 – 25 September 2011
11 of 13 race weekends
Munich/Stephanskirchen, 19th September 2011. This weekend (23rd to 25th September), Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport travels to the iconic „Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari“ in Imola (ITA). This is the venue for the eleventh of thirteen rounds in the 2011 FIM Superbike World Championship. At the beginning of the month, the team demonstrated the potential of the BMW S 1000 RR in both wet and dry conditions at its home race at the Nürburgring (GER). The two factory riders Leon Haslam (GBR) and Troy Corser (AUS) are now determined to back that performance up as they return to Italy for the third time this year.
After ten of the 2011 race weekends, Leon is fifth in the Riders’ Championship on 176 points, while Troy is fifteenth on 67. Between the two of them, they have scored 243 points for Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport this season. In the Constructors’ Championship, towards which only the best result at each race counts, BMW currently lies in fourth place with 214 points.
Following the race weekend at the Nürburgring, BMW Motorrad and Leon agreed to continue working together into the 2012 season. The second factory rider for the coming season will be announced at a later date.
Leon Haslam:
„I am really excited that we can continue working together next season and am very happy that I can have one more year with BMW Motorrad. With the changes we made this year, along with the changes we are making for next year, we are really excited about next season. For now, however, we focus on the last three rounds of this year.
I am looking forward to Imola. We have made good progress with the bike and it is one of my favourite circuits. I really enjoy racing there and the atmosphere is always fantastic. The track is very bumpy and very undulating. You really need to have your bike set up properly, as the circuit is very demanding with different tarmac in places and a lot of changes of direction.”
Troy Corser:
„The track is very bumpy in places. It has four different surfaces around it where they resurfaced some parts of the circuit. It is very fast, particularly through the back part, which is known as ‘Acque Minerale’. It is important that the bike turns very well on the throttle on the crests coming over the hill and I think this is the case with our bike and engine. The brakes also play a big part there. They help to make the bike more stable.
I am confident that we can get a good result with our bike. If we can get everything sorted out for Superpole and qualify in the front or second row, I hope we can get some podiums during the run in at the end of the season.”
Bernhard Gobmeier, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director:
„The last race weekend at the Nürburgring showed that we are definitely on the right track. Leon was able to clock very good lap times in both wet and dry conditions. Towards the end of the race he was one of the fastest out there. Unfortunately he crashed out, otherwise there were definitely podium finishes in it – maybe even more. For that reason, what we saw at our home race puts us in a very positive frame of mind ahead of the run in.”
Background:
Imola is located in the Northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, about 40 kilometres south-east of Bologna. The town has a population of about 69,000. Motorsport has played an important role there since the 1940s. The first races in and around Imola were held on public roads. The foundations for the first racetrack were laid in 1950 and it was opened in 1952.
The circuit was originally called the „Autodromo Dino Ferrari“, named after Enzo Ferrari’s son, who died at an early age. When Enzo Ferrari died in 1988, it was renamed the „Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari“. The Motorcycle World Championship held its first race in Imola on 7th September 1967, while the FIM Superbike World Championship made its debut in Emilia-Romagna in 2001. In 2011 the series returns to Imola for the ninth time.
Following the deadly crashes that took the lives of Formula One drivers Ayrton Senna (BRA) and Roland Ratzenberger (AUT), the circuit was modified in 1994. The site was then the subject of extensive renovations in 2006, during which it was modified to meet the latest safety standards. What used to be the final chicane – the „Variante Bassa“ – was completely rebuilt. A long straight which veers slightly to the right now runs between „Rivazza“ and the „Tamburello“ corner. The layout of the circuit, which is negotiated in an anti-clockwise direction, is not the only thing to have been changed. A new pit lane building was erected, as well as a media centre and tower, which houses the race management team.
Imola is a real challenge for motorcycles, and not just as a result of the many bumps that are characteristic of this circuit. Imola also features several chicanes, the first of which comes straight after the start-finish straight. For this reason, the bike must be excellent when it comes to braking, steering into corners, and accelerating out of bends. Stability is also important, as almost every chicane is lined with kerbs, which unsettle the bike as the riders cut over them. At the same time, overtaking is very difficult in Imola. The rider must be very aggressive if he wants to move through the field during the race.