After the major European roadracing series are all ended, Canadian Superbike champion Jordan Szoke still has the lead in the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy standings, and it looks like it could be his year to win.
Szoke took the lead in the standings after winning every CSBK race this season, sweeping the series for the second year in a row. But that wasn’t enough to guarantee him the Motorrad trophy, as he discovered last year. Because the CSBK season is so short, racers in other series have the opportunity to potentially rack up more points, and Szoke can’t do anything about that.
But now, with Europe’s BSBS, IRRC, and AARR series all completed, nobody has passed Szoke in the standings. Second-place Vincent Lonbois was close, with 407.36 points to Szoke’s 410, but he can’t rack up any more points in IRRC now, and neither can third-place Michal Prášek (395.60 points in the AARR series).
Unless the rules somehow permit those riders to travel elsewhere to gain more points, Szoke only faces a challenge from two riders now: Michael Dunlop and Ian Hutchinson.
Dunlop and Hutchinson, last we heard, were both scheduled to race at this month’s Macau GP. Dunlop is sitting on 332.20 points; Hutch has 327.50 points. It’s unclear how many points Macau would be worth, but if it’s in the 85-point range, both riders could challenge Szoke.
However, as it stands right now, it’s looking like Szoke is the closest he’s ever been to taking the prestigious BMW in-house award, and the lovely cash prize that accompanies it — both welcome wins, we’re sure.
It would be a lot more interesting competition if they had an end of season Race of Champions