WSBK 2011: BMW Tests S1000RR Alone in Australia

BMW has just completed the private testing of the WSBK contending S1000RR racers last January 28. The test was held at Eastern Creek circuit which is not featured on the race calender, but the hot temperatures were nonetheless helpful for bike development. BMW completed over 1,453 km of testing with Corser setting a time of 1:29.5 and Haslam a second slower at 1:30.5 as he continues to learn the machine.

BMW will next complete testing at Phillip Island circuit on the 2nd and 3rd of February. Once again, these will be valuable private tests where engineers can obtain highly accurate comparative data without traffic on the circuit. The final preseason 2011 testing will be held on the 21st and 22nd of February when BMW will join the entire 2011 WSBK field on track. The times for this test will be interesting, though still not necessarily indicative of relative performance since we won’t know who is running what fuel loads, tire compounds, or specific program.

Troy Corser: “I am pretty happy with the progress that we made on my bike. We worked on electronics, traction and rear wheel activation. In all areas we made some good steps. I also tried some chassis, geometry and fork setting. We concentrated on these areas to give us some information and to understand what we need to do if we get the same situation. The lap times got better and better as we improved the bike and the better the circuit became. The lap time we got to quite comfortably is very good for this track.”

Leon Haslam: “We mainly worked on the electronics, just trying to dial it in. We also focused on setting up the chassis to get a base set-up, because in the hot conditions the bike behaves very differently. We had a few issues but we are making progress with the bike. Certainly you always want to go faster and make things happen quicker. But we got in a lot of testing, which is good, and are definitely improving. I am very confident the team will give 100 per cent and that it should be good. I am just looking forward to the next test in Phillip Island. This is a track where we also race, so we know what lap times we should be doing. It will definitely be a good guideline for us.”