BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

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BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

16 photos

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

1/16
The racing boxer with starting number 17 was anything but easy prey.

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

2/16
Pit stops and driver changes always went smoothly.

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

3/16
… and got off to a strong start.

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

4/16
… and after the black and white checkered flag ended the race after 24 hours, Rico Penzkofer crossed the finish line in 16th place..

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

5/16
BMW works driver Rico Penzkofer.

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

6/16
The BMW sports boxer at the pit stop.

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

7/16
Three years after the end of the BMW Cup, BMW competed in Le Mans with a specially constructed racing boxer.

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

8/16
After the race you could only see satisfied and happy faces among those responsible for BMW.

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

9/16
The sports boxer had to assert himself for 24 hours over a distance of 3,244 kilometers.

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

10/16
The BMW held out until the last lap without a technical defect …

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

11/16
BMW works driver Markus Barth got into the saddle after team-mate Thomas Hinterreiter.

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

12/16
Thomas Hinterreiter was the first of the three BMW works drivers to start from position 37 …

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

13/16
After the exhausting race and the pleasing 16th place, the BMW team really had reason to celebrate.

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

14/16
Although the BMW motorcycle was inferior to the predominantly Japanese competitors in terms of performance, the drivers (here: Rico Penzkofer) were able to fully exploit the advantages of the German motorcycle in the corners and when braking.

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

15/16
New horse in the racing stable: the BMW racing boxer on the technical basis of a BMW R 1200 S..

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW

16/16
Works rider Markus Barth, Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport.

BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Price boxer from BMW

BMW competes in a motorcycle road world championship with a factory machine. It hasn’t been around for 50 years? even if it is “only” the World Endurance Championship. The racing boxer developed from the R 1200 S premieres at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

B.MW still has a reputation in international motorcycle racing like Donnerhall, even if exactly 50 years have passed since the last real works outing in road racing, which was completed in the 500 World Cup in 1957 with a sixth place overall for Walter Zeller on a BMW RS 50.

In 2007 there is hardly a racing discipline that does not have more or less justified hopes for a BMW entry. There was heavy speculation about the three-cylinder 800 cm³ project about a BMW entry in the MotoGP World Championship. In the meantime, however, the Weibblauen have made a clear decision to hand over the fully developed project including naming rights to development partner Oral Engineering. “The engine would not be competitive anyway,” said an insider, “and in many details it is similar to the failed Aprilia MotoGP engine. However, a number of really innovative ideas have also been implemented. “

This is exactly what points in a different direction. A 1000cc four-cylinder riddled with high-tech elements, in a correspondingly adapted version, suitable for the Superbike World Cup, is hardly denied seriously.

The BMW motorcycle works commitment becomes real with a new variant of the venerable boxer in the open class of the endurance world championship, for the first time on April 21st and 22nd at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. You can clearly see the purpose of the new racing cow. The pit crew is pleased with the elaborate quick-change system on the front wheel, as does the single-sided swing arm at the rear, which is already standard. Guesses BMW would take the opportunity to ?? as widespread in automobile sport? Bringing ABS brakes to motorcycle racetracks has not yet been confirmed. If the BMW has no chance of overall victory due to its performance deficit compared to the superbikes common in the endurance world championship, it will grow to be a secret favorite if the sluices of heaven should open permanently in the Sarthe.

The driver team consists of the Belgian evergreen Stephane Mertens, the Austrian Thomas Hinterreiter as well as Rico Penzkofer and substitute Markus Barth. What the Bavarian boxers in Le Mans and the other 24-hour races on 7/8 July in Barcelona, ​​on 11/12. August in Oschersleben and the Bol d ?? Or in Magny Cours on 15./16. September can tear will have to be seen as well as the further path of the “Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport”. Because the use in the rather subordinate endurance world championship should certainly not be the end of the sporting commitment.

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