After getting a first-place finish in the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy last year, Canadian Superbike racer Jordan Szoke is about to kick off his title defense—but the competition already has a head start.
Founded in 2014, the BMW Motorrad Race Trophy replaced BMW’s World Superbike program. Instead of funding a factory superbike racing program, this series lets BMW funnel money to independent roadracing teams around the globe.
These teams accumulate points in their own respective series, and are ranked against each other in the Race Trophy standings. You can find more details about this year’s rule changes here.
The BMW Motorrad Race Trophy championship is already underway, with racers in other series putting points on the board. For now, Spain’s Carmelo Morales is leading the pack, with 87.50 points grabbed in his country’s CEV circuit racing championship. IOMTT hero Ian Hutchinson is second, with 78.38 points earned in the British Superbike series. Another IOMTT master, Michael Rutter, is third, with 65.38 earned in BSB.
Last year, Szoke had a perfect CSBK season, earning him 450 points, including bonus points for title wins, pole positions and so on. Although other riders might have a head start, once Szoke gets rolling (first CSBK race is May 28, at Shannonville), he usually builds up a lot of points pretty quickly.
