BMW Motorrad GoldBet STK eager to celebrate success in Portugal

Munich/Milan - This weekend (7th to 9th June), the BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team will be in action in the south of the Iberian peninsula. The “Autódromo Internacional do Algarve” near Portimão (POR) will host the sixth round of the 2013 FIM Superbike World Championship.

Marco Melandri

Photo by: Dave Dyer

In the Riders’ classification, Marco is currently fourth with 127 points. Chaz follows directly behind, being fifth with 112 points. In the Manufacturers’ classification, BMW is third with 175 points, with a gap of 33 points to the lead.

Last week, the BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team conducted two days of testing at Spanish “Motorland Aragón”. In preparation for the next rounds, Marco and Chaz tried several new settings and updated components.

After a four week break, the 2013 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup resumes at Portimão, contesting its fourth round of the season. The BMW Motorrad GoldBet STK Team and riders Sylvain Barrier (FRA) and Greg Gildenhuys (RSA) are eager to celebrate more successes with the brand new BMW HP4.

After they were involved in a heavy crash at the previous round in Monza (ITA), both riders are fully fit and ready for the Portimão weekend.

Portimão from the rider’s point of view:

Marco Melandri: “Portimão is a pretty technical track, similar to Assen and Donington. There are some very slow turns and some very fast corners. It is undulating with some blind crests. In general Portimão has a quite unique layout and consequently, it is not easy to find a good set-up.

In addition, the track is very bumpy so we need to improve a bit more to be competitive. As it is very difficult to overtake there, it will be important for us to have a good qualifying.”

Chaz Davies: “Portimão is a great circuit. Because of its character, it is one of my favourite tracks. It is difficult to find the right set-up but I always enjoy riding there and I have been competitive there in the past. It is fun as it has a lot of elevation changes, and some of them are quite steep. I am looking forward to the weekend. The first priority is not to encounter some of the issues we had at the last couple of races. Then my plan is to qualify well and to push for a podium.”

Portimão from a sporting point of view:

Serafino Foti (Sport Director BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team): “After the Donington races we had two positive days of testing at Spanish Aragón last week. Even if we were a little bit hampered by the weather conditions, Marco and Chaz could test new solutions which will be useful at this next race weekend in Portimão.

The Portuguese track is very technical, with uphill and downhill sections. For our riders it will be important to start the round with a good base in order to be able to continue their work over the weekend with confidence. We are sure that from the two days of testing we found the solutions we were looking for. Now we are focused on the next races.”

Portimão from a technical point of view:

Andrea Dosoli (Technical Director BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team): “The whole team is looking forward to the next races in Portimão. It is a track where in the past we have shown a good speed but for a series of unlucky circumstances we did not claim the expected results. It is a very busy time for all our guys. After Donington, we went to Aragón for an important test where we could work on the main issues we had experienced in England.

We have partly fixed or better understood them so we now want to see the results of this work in Portimão. Our competitors are becoming stronger and stronger so we must keep our heads down and work harder in order to improve the performance of our machine. Only in this way we will be able to maintain the competitiveness of our package and give our riders the chance to win races.

The Portuguese racetrack with its elevation changes and several uphill and downhill sections requires a lot of work, not only on finding the right chassis setting but also the right riding dynamic strategies.

We need to find the best compromise between handling and stability, trying to keep our performance as consistent as possible. We expect that our RR will suit the characteristic of this racetrack as it has done in the past.”

BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team