BMW Endurance Racing....

Highlander179 · 07-06-2007, 05:27 AM

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=29518

BMW To Race In 24 Hores Frigo de Motociclisme Endurance Race At Catalunya
Jul 05, 2007

From a press release issued by Kel Edge Photography:

BMW's endurance racebike.
BMW READY FOR ANOTHER TOUGH CHALLENGE.

The BMW endurance racing team are in Barcelona preparing for their next challenge - the 24 Hores Frigo de Motociclisme at the Circuit Cataluyna in Barcelona. Although the race is not part of the World Endurance Championship series, it will give the team a chance to continue the development of the 1200s bike they raced so successfully in the Le Mans 24 hours earlier this year.

Since then, the bike has benefited from a weight reduction of some five or six kilos, improved aerodynamics and other small touches. The rear Brembo disc and caliper are lighter then before, as is the lower triple clamp. A new windscreen and subtle revisions to some of the streamlining has given the bike a better shape through the air.

For this race, the team are allowed to use four riders, so they have called up Briton Richard Cooper. Richard may only be twenty-four years of age, but he is an experienced BMW rider and shows BMW's commitment to youth. He joins the threesome who finished top in their class at Le Mans (and 16th overall) - Marcus Barth, Thomas Hinterreiter and Rico Penzkofer.

Berti Hauser (Team manager)
This race was in our schedule for the season and it gives us a chance to put into practice what we learnt at Le Mans. It gives us a good opportunity to test the ideas from that race and continue our development programme for this bike. We learnt a lot in Le Mans and we feel that our pit work will now also be better because we have a bit more experience of this category. Our target at Le Mans was to finish the race - and we did that - and our target this time is just the same. Of course, I'd like a top ten finish here, but you can never tell what's going to happen in a 24 hour race. We want to make this a good race for all the BMW fans in Spain and show that we are a sporty brand. We chose Richard because he has experience of this kind of bike and because he is young. We want to show that young riders can have fun in this kind of team, on this kind of bike.

NakedRider · 07-06-2007, 06:06 AM

Wow. That's sweet. Do I see TWO balance pipes on the headers? It also looks like the O2 sensor has been moved up between the two.

Good luck.

R1100SPORTour · 07-06-2007, 12:11 PM

If they make a nice street version of that bike I'll buy one.With a nice seat to take a passenger,full size hardbags and a real centerstand.Especially since it already has that nice 23 liter tank...
Would make great SPORTourer!
Dave traded the R1200S and R1200ST in on the 1200Adventure?!

NakedRider · 07-06-2007, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by R1100SPORTour

Dave traded the R1200S and R1200ST in on the 1200Adventure?!

Yes I did. Having a blast on it. Just added a full Remus with the Wunderlich power controller for a little more top end kick.

Skoeter · 07-09-2007, 02:05 AM

Interesting... gone is the belly pan. And they state: "...improved aerodynamics ..."

Deans BMW · 07-09-2007, 04:07 AM

It crashed on lap 8, I have no other details

Skoeter · 07-09-2007, 04:10 AM

Ahh... could explain it..

Highlander179 · 07-09-2007, 05:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Deans BMW
It crashed on lap 8, I have no other details

Yes, I saw that and was quite dissappointed, as Im sure the team was. I did notice a couple other BMWs in the event aside from the factory team.

Quote:

BMW OUT, BUT NOT DOWN!
After a successful and very positive qualifying, BMW Endurance racing team’s attack on the 24 Hores Frigo at Barcelona came to a premature halt after eight laps due to a crash. Thomas Hinterreiter crashed at a long left-hander and although he was uninjured, the R1200S was too badly damaged to continue. The bike was later brought back to the pits and given a complete check-up, but the team was only able to confirm that their race was over.

Thomas Hinterreiter
That was a great pity, because practice and qualifying had gone well and we were all looking forward to the race. I’m not sure exactly what happened but I think I lost the front end in the second left-hander. Luckily I wasn’t injured at all, but unfortunately the bike was not in such a good shape, so that was the end of that.

Berti Hauser (Team manager)
Endurance racing is always full of ups and downs and this time it was a down. Of course we are all a bit disappointed with what happened, but Thomas wasn’t hurt and that is the main thing. It’s true that our actual race was short, but we are all very pleased with what we achieved in qualifying. We were able to continue the bike’s development and put into practice a lot of the stuff we learnt about during the Le Mans 24 hour race earlier in the year and that will be very useful for our next race.
Here at Barcelona we had a new rider, Richard Cooper, and we are delighted the way he slotted into the team without any problems at all. We knew he had experience of riding BMWs, but joining a new and established team is not always easy. However, within a very short time, he was just part of the set-up. We leave Barcelona in a very positive mood, taking with us all the data and information back to our workshops. There we will analyse it all and continue the work making the R1200S a better bike for the next race in Oschersleben in August.

Skoeter · 07-09-2007, 05:20 AM

That is sad news and all the best of luck for the guys. Until Oschersleben then...