BMW Motorrad at the 2011 WSBK Donington: Leon Haslam climbs to 3rd Place

Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport had an exciting Sunday at the second round of the 2011 FIM Superbike World Championship in Donington (GBR).  In the riders’ championship British works rider, Leon Haslam, improved to third (53 points) after notching up two fourth positions. Troy Corser (AUS) moved up to 13th (16 points). In the manufacturers’ standings BMW is fourth (53 points).

In race 1 Leon missed the podium by only 0.3 seconds. Starting second, he took the lead straight away and kept it until lap six. Later on he had some issues, but was still third starting the final lap. Just a few corners before the finish Leon dropped back to fourth. Troy made up some positions at the start, but struggled with low grip and finally finished ninth. At the start of race 2 Leon again stormed into the lead, and in the opening laps he had a thrilling fight at the front. But on lap eight he had a highsider and fell back. Right to the chequered flag Leon was fighting his way back through the field and made it to fourth. Troy finished another difficult race 13th.

Leon Haslam:

Result Race 1: 4th, Gap to 1st: 00:06.176 min / Fastest Lap Race 1: 1:29.584 min

Result Race 2: 4th, Gap to 1st: 00:13.842 min / Fastest Lap Race 2: 1:29.365 min

“It has again been a hard fought weekend for us, but we have definitely made clear improvements from Australia. In race 1 we had some issues, which were similar to those I experienced in Phillip Island, so we made some changes for the second race and it was a real improvement, especially in the second half. I made a mistake in the early laps of race 2, which dropped me back a number of places, but I was happy I was able to fight back and finish strong. We will now work hard to be ready for Assen.”

Troy Corser:

Result Race 1: 9th, Gap to 1st: 00:14.877 min / Fastest Lap Race 1: 1:29.695 min

Result Race 2: 13th, Gap to 1st: 00:34.070 min / Fastest Lap Race 2: 1:30.278 min

“We have improved the bike in some areas since Phillip Island, which is good, but we are still encountering some issues that we need to address. We are struggling with too much spin from the rear tyre, and it’s making it hard to set consistent times. The bike felt more settled and easier to ride with the changes we have made, but we are still having issues. We have a test coming up so hopefully we can make some good progress there and be ready for Assen.”

Bernhard Gobmeier (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director):

“It was very exciting. We were able to do good lap times in practice, qualifying, Superpole and the warm-up. In the races Leon had issues trying to push to the limit. He was not able to keep the line he wanted to, but he was able to fight his way back after his highsider. We are happy he has improved to third in the riders’ classification and know the areas where we have to improve. Troy suffered all weekend from a lack of grip, which was partly due to the cool temperatures. With these conditions we were not able to get the best out of his tyres. Now we are looking forward to Assen. We will use the experiences we gained in Donington to make another step forward.”

Source: BMW Motorrad