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BMW works superbike, superstock HP4 and series HP4 in the test

Track test on the Imola slope

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BMW invited us to test the BMW works superbike, the BMW Superstock 1000 and the BMW HP4 on the Imola slope and to poke holes in the developers. PS man Pascal Eckhardt was offered a glimpse into the future.

D.he exotic track in the Imola city park and the factory BMWs from the Superbike World Championship – what an offer from the PS editorial team! After my IDM career, I hadn’t expected to be able to whip such exquisite material around a racetrack at all. But then it was time.

BMW works superbike, superstock HP4 and series HP4 in the test

Track test on the Imola slope

BMW S 1000 RR against BMW HP4

With the production BMW S 1000 RR I do the first laps on the completely new course “Enzo e Dino Ferrari”. So much has already been written about the motorcycle, which now shows up in packs during racing training – I’ll save that at this point. But with the enormous series performance, it was the perfect bike to be able to focus on the following tasks.

Then it got exciting with the BMW HP4. On the one hand, the electronic suspension, which BMW has built into the HP4 as a series, offered a lot of talking point, plus real insights, and on the other hand, the HP4 worked astonishingly better than the BMW S 1000 RR in two places. In the “Acque Minerale” and the “Variant Bassa” chicane before the start and finish, the uneven road surface causes a lot of unrest in the chassis. The BMW HP4 mastered the task very well, hurried through these sections of the route much more calmly and – compared to the basic RR – simply gave me greater security at high speed. Otherwise, the same applies to this BMW as to the production bike: a brutal acceleration is followed by a hurricane of power the closer it is to the limiter. But we already know, so continue!

I was then able to find out what the new electronic suspension of the BMW HP4 is really capable of on the Stocksport version. Sylvain Barrier used the DDC, as the electronics helper on the fork and shock absorber is called, for the first time at the Superstock 1000 championship here in Imola – and won straight away. What a debut for a system that is only just beginning in motorsport. "It’s exactly like in the series," assures the technical director of BMW Motorsport Motorrad, Stephan Fischer. “Only the springs are much harder than on the production motorcycle, and the software has been modified. Shims and valves are absolutely standard. ”I’m getting excited. I know stock sport bikes from my own racer past, but of course not this new technology – especially not in race trim. In order to be able to drive completely impartially, I decide to talk to Stephan Fischer and GoldBet BMW team boss Andrea Buzzoni, who is also responsible for the Superstock, about details after my test laps.

BMW Superstock HP4 with DDC

A striking difference becomes apparent when you sit on it. The Superstock 1000 winner from the Imola weekend, Sylvain Barrier, sits extremely above the motorcycle. So extreme that I began to worry that it was more of a personal quirk and had nothing to do with drivability. After the first chicane I open the gas and the BMW HP4 goes off like a rocket. Brutal how this engine powers and turns upwards vehemently – as a stock sport bike mind you! This Race-HP4 completely dwarfs the series HP4 in terms of engine tuning. Now at the latest, Sylvain’s seating position pays off. After the Curva Tosa up the mountain, it becomes even more impressive: The BMW is aggressive with the driver, tearing, tugging and stretching the front wheel in the air. Incredibly exhausting! But the sitting position makes work easier.

However, what works completely inconspicuously is the DDC. No wonder, because where you always have to find the best compromise between agility, accuracy and braking stability with a conventional chassis, you can now use the developer tool
Intervenes in the software in such a way that the chassis is specifically coordinated for individual sections of the route, i.e. stored in the computer. Example: After a long straight, the fork is tightened accordingly for the braking maneuver, while the rebound stage is opened at the rear so that the rear wheel stays on the road, the bike stays stubbornly on track and the driver can brake brutally late. The setting is then automatically reset so that the bike steers agile again in the following corners and allows tight lines. I’ll make it short: it already works very well in this racer. So good that you don’t notice the changing chassis conditions. But it fits from curve to curve, from braking point to braking point – at least at the speed that seems appropriate to me without risk on the few test laps on this unusual track.

DCC not via GPS, goal via test kilometers

Again, the Acque Minerale and the Bassa variant are the most impressive reference points for me. Where the series HP4 was already superior to the BMW S 1000 RR, the Stocksport HP4 makes both look old and easily puts away the critical points. With the tight set-up, I can even hit the curbs before the start and finish. The electronic landing gear takes care of the problem and apparently my maneuver exactly meets the taste of the set-up, because Sylvain Barrier also regularly takes the boundary marking with him.

Incidentally, the DDC settings are calculated using the recorded meters traveled, not GPS – that would be far too imprecise. A lot of test kilometers must have been completed for this. According to Barriers technician, the preparation of the DDC operation was a gigantic effort. Countless data were collected and programmed accordingly, compared with similar curves, tried out and processed. Everything has to be right not only for Imola, but also for the next races, because the team will now regularly compete with the DDC.

Downloadable setup and electronic rear brake?

When I talked to Andrea Buzzoni about the future of racing the evening before, the Italian, who had been in the Superbike World Championship for decades, went into raptures about the DDC. In his vision there will be a download portal for all known racetracks in the near future, through which the customer can download the appropriate setup. Ingenious – you drive to the Nurburgring for race training, download the race team’s setup and off you go. No lengthy tuning, no unnecessarily destroyed tires. As I think about it, it feels more and more like a revolution. The whole procedure for tuning the chassis will change – from screwdriver to laptop.

In the following conversation, which unfolded in the pits on the test day, Stephan Fischer sees even more potential for the electronics package on the racetrack. “I would like to work more with the electronic rear wheel brake today,” says the Bavarian. “Only the drivers are still very skeptical.” In theory, however, in his opinion, this only offers advantages. “As a wheelie control, it is much more useful than taking the ignition back, as is the case at the moment.” Such a brake would
also make sense through curves. With an automatically lightly actuated rear brake, the motorcycle could be stabilized very well or maneuvered smoothly through chicanes. When braking, for example, you could first pull the motorcycle back into its springs. “There are enough examples where that makes sense and would support the driver in his concentration,” says Fischer.

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Of 2,000 variables, the driver is still the most important

But he doesn’t even want to speak of a revolution through the DDC, because electronics has long since had a large grip on motorcycle racing. “With the conventional options from pressure level to frame to swing arm pivot point, we have around 2,000 variables, of which we change 100 to 200 permanently. With software control, there are over 50,000 parameters, of which we have 2,000 to 3,000 in view and work with them. You are furthest in MotoGP. And now the electronic chassis is added. "

But who should understand that? Does the future motorcyclist have to be a recording genius or do the laptop kings decide between victory and defeat? Stephan Fischer is certain that the dynamics of a motorcycle always make the driver important. “It’s different with the car. You need a very good driver, but everything else is handled by the electronics. But working with the body, shifting weight, makes the motorcyclist an all-important point. If you don’t add any more bikes, computers won’t be able to change that in the long run either. ”A reassuring thought for me – with PS I should probably go to tests like the one on the Imola race track.

BMW SBK works motorcycle

49 Pictures

Images: BMW works superbike, Superstock HP4 and series HP4 in the test

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Marco Melandri (right) gives the PS man Eckhardt last tips in Imola before riding the factory BMW.

However, the electronics mainly contribute to drivability in the engine. The top-end performance of the World Cup rocket is intoxicating, but it seems downright harmless in the lower two gears. Some other journalists suspected a specially played, soft-washed scribbler mapping, but I am of the opinion that the bike is just particularly easy to ride, the power does not use so brutally and the engine is therefore extremely clean. It sounded like a speed cutter at work, even though the BMW took the gas cleanly, but the technicians explained to me that the ignition is changed in the lower speed range in order to improve the performance and the torque. That’s just factory material. Every screw or data, no matter how small, is fine-tuned so that the maximum comes out. And that sometimes feels like it’s about cycling – and that’s exactly why it’s so easy to ride reasonably fast on a factory racing machine.

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