As the excitement builds towards the opening round of the 2010 Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island circuit in Australia, the Reitwagen BMW team has remained one step ahead of all their factory-backed rivals by participating in a couple of public ride days at the same racetrack where the 2010 series will kick off next weekend.
With the BMW S 1000 RR recently having been launched to rave reviews at the Phillip Island circuit, participants at the Public Ride Days held at the 4.445-kilometre track on Monday and Tuesday this week were in for a treat as they shared track space with Double World Supersport Champion and Phillip Island race winner Andrew Pitt, as well as his new team-mate Roland Resch.
The Reitwagen BMW team has been in Australia for several weeks now, having decided against participating in the official three days of pre-season WSBK tests that took place at Portimao in January. Opting instead to remain in Australia and test at Eastern Creek, as well as participating in this public track days, both riders have been able to spend precious time on their bikes prior to the official WSBK test that will take place at Phillip Island on 21 and 22 February.
Development expert and top race tuner Peter Goddard has joined the Reitwagen BMW team as team Chassis Engineer. The former World Endurance Champion is looking forward to the season opener, and although he concedes that there is still lots of work to be done to make the race package truly competitive, he believes that the BMW S 1000 RR has serious potential.
“For a first true sports bike, BMW’s development team has done a brilliant job and come up with a strong package,” he said. “Compared to development projects that I’ve been involved with in the past – such as Benelli or Aprilia – the level of the S 1000 RR is very close to what you’d have with Honda, Suzuki or Yamaha in the first year of a bike’s development. As a superstock package, it’s also very strong – even with the standard gearing – and I’d be surprised if any of the other teams will be close to BMW in that series.”
The Reitwagen BMW Team is the first satellite team to run the new S 1000 RR in the 2010 Superbike World Championship and the team has dedicated workshop space at the BMW factory team’s HQ in Germany. As the newest team in such a hugely competitive series, every hour spent on the bike is vital, even when it’s in the middle of a crowded public session at Phillip Island.
“It was pretty crowded out there for Andrew and Roland, but they were able to take advantage of six, 20-minute sessions each day. Although they’ve only had a minimum amount of time on the new bikes, they were pretty much straight away confident, so we’re just chipping away at things, and making improvements where we can. Having a bike that the riders are happy with is vital, and fortunately we’ve got a reasonable base to work from. Our engine package is basically standard at the moment and we’re 10-15 horsepower down from where we’d like to be, but how you put the power down on the track is just as important. Our goals are clear for this project and although we’ve still lots to do before the first round, we’re glad of the support from BMW and look forwards to the challenges that lie ahead.”
This is a view shared by Andrew Pitt, who spent quite a bit of time at Phillip Island showing his new team-mate the best lines around the track, but was glad of the extra track time prior to the forthcoming official test.
“It was only a public ride day, so it wasn’t a proper test as such, but we were able to get some of the basics sorted out and make the bike more user friendly before the official test next week. We were lucky enough to have great weather, although having 40 other bikes out on track each session was a challenge, especially as our BMWs were a lot faster on the straights. Still, it’s been good to take advantage of these sessions, particularly as we’re starting this project from scratch and need all the help we can get!
“There are some really good guys involved in our team, the bike’s great and has lots of potential, but there’s no point kidding ourselves, as the other teams have had years of development and testing – you can’t just turn up with a new bike and expect to be right at the front. Furthermore, the championship is so competitive this year that we’re under no illusions about how much we have to do. That said, maybe Phillip Island will help me – it’s my home circuit and I know it pretty well, so I think that if we end up in the top ten then that will be a great result from pretty much a standard bike.”
Watch this space for a preview of the first round and feedback from the first official test from Phillip Island early next week.
2010-02-22
