Here are a couple updates from the world of racing:
First up – BMW is consolidating is World Superbike racing effort. Currently, the German manufacturer has two teams in the WSBK series, their factory BMW Motorrad team and the BMW Italia team.
For the 2013 season, though, BMW will only run one team, the Italia team; they’ll take over the racing side of things, by looking for sponsors, sorting out the chassis, and so on. BMW Motorrad will continue to develop the S1000 RR motorcycle, of course, so they’ll also remain in charge of improvements to the WSBK bike’s powertrain and electronics package.
Asphalt and Rubber says Marco Melandri will likely move to BMW Italia from his current factory team, as he’s signed a multi-year contract, but there’s a bit of uncertainty for the future of BMW’s other riders.
In other racing news – Kuryakyn is looking for a racer to go to Pikes Peak.
Kuryakyn had originally committed an entry to this year’s Pikes Peak International Hillclimb; unfortunately, the race had to be rescheduled from its original run date in early July after Colorado (where the race is run) was struck by serious wildfires.
Now, the race has been re-scheduled for Aug. 12, and it turns out Kuryakyn’s Racing For a Wish team is already tied up that weekend, running in the AMA Pro test in Indianapolis. So, they’re looking for a rider to take on Pikes Peak for them; the rider will get to run a race-prepped AMA XR1200 Harley-Davidson, and Kuryakyn will throw in a couple sets of free tires for the race. There will be some fees involved, though.
You can read more about the deal here, including how to contact Kuryakyn if you’re interested in racing for them. Check it out – this could be your big chance to race Pikes Peak, on the first year the course is fully paved.
1. Hey, Bondo like these XR1200 things. Is he available to ride it?
2. BMW Racing Team Translation Part 2: “70 years ago we partnered up with the guys who are now kicking our asses. It didn’t work out too well then, either. It just ain’t right”
Never mind, CSBK is at Mont Tremblant that weekend.
Maybe they should ask Crevier ???
Translation:” We’re tired of getting our asses kicked by these fucking
Italians and Japanese. We don’t want to spend as much money to continue to get
our asses kicked. Therefore, we will spend less money and get our asses kicked
the same amount. German efficiency at its finest.”