The topic of racing at EICMA

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Motorcycle fair in Milan

EICMA 2021


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The topic of racing at EICMA

The topic of racing at EICMA
Jorg Kunstle

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Motorsport

The topic of racing at EICMA

The topic of racing at EICMA
A breath of fresh air for SBK-WM, EWC & Co

At EICMA 2018, not only new models were presented, but also new teams – and entire realignments of manufacturers in racing. We have analyzed for you what that means for the Superbike World Championship, EWC, IDM and Co.

Toni Borner

11/09/2018

After the two press days at the EICMA motorcycle fair, a breath of fresh air can clearly be felt in motorcycle racing. New energy. It goes forward. The general mood is more than positive and teams, drivers, fans and officials are already looking forward to the coming season. But that is not only due to the new motorcycle models that have been presented. It is much more because there is a clear commitment to motorcycle racing from two major manufacturers.

Huge announcement from Ducati

Probably the least kept secret was the presentation of the Ducati Panigale V4R. It was already known a year ago that this device would be coming for the 2019 Superbike World Championship. At that time, WorldSBK rider Chaz Davies still had great ambitions: “I want to win the last two-cylinder title for Ducati,” he said at the time. That didn’t work out. Davies took the runner-up title for the third time in the last four years – with 12 podiums, including 2 wins, from 25 races. Technically, it was his second worst year since joining Ducati in early 2014. And yet: His team-mate Marco Melandri was only able to top the podium twice at the season opener. Once again the Reds from Bologna lost the brand championship to Kawasaki – by 111 points.

All hopes now rest on the Panigale V4 R, which sets the bar pretty high. The works drivers Davies and Alvaro Bautista will certainly be able to work well in the coming season on this basis: the displacement of the V4 S has been reduced from 1,103 cc to 998 cc, which is compliant with the rules. In the street version, the motorcycle now weighs 193 kilos. The engine has been revised and comes with 221 hp as standard – and thus even more than from the larger-capacity unit. And that’s not all: 234 hp are expected with the Akrapovic Racing exhaust system. The question remains, how do you want to get all this performance on the road and even for this Ducati is already suggesting the answer: The winglet technology was not only adapted from MotoGP, but also homologated in the series.

It was clear that Ducati would not sit idly by for a long time at the dominance of a Japanese manufacturer. Not in the Superbike World Championship, where 17 of the 31 drivers ‘titles since 1998 have gone to Ducati, as well as 17 constructors’ titles. But the big attack didn’t happen for a long time: The last red world champion is Carlos Checa – in the private Althea team and that was in 2011.

The topic of racing at EICMA

Super athlete


Ducati V4 R (2019) in the driving report

Sensational superbike base

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Endurance? IDM?

With the V4, Ducati should now also have more stability. It is already known that the German tuner Dennis Hertrampf will put a V4 at the start at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the endurance world championship in April. So far, the old V2 Panigale had been used and a lot of experience had been gained as a team. In 2017 the team won the long-distance twin world championship. The Hertrampf team missed the Bol d’Or in September, but things will continue in April: “I want to have the driver and team structure fixed by December,” Hertrampf said in an interview with MOTORRADonline.

In the IDM, however, he will continue with Suzuki, but it would certainly not be surprising if the new Panigale is also used in the German championship in 2019 – with Hertrampf or another team, that is still open. The fact is: purely on paper, this motorcycle should immediately be able to challenge the overwhelming BMW armada and fight for victories, maybe even for the title. Most recently, at the IDM, Xavi Fores showed how it works: He won the title, went to the Superbike World Championship and established himself in the world’s elite there.

BMW back in the Superbike World Championship

Rumors were already circulating a few weeks before EICMA, but this week it was confirmed in Milan: BMW is back in the Superbike World Championship. With more commitment and commitment. Quasi an interim solution between the “real” works team and the previous customer racing program. But thanks to Ducati and Kawasaki, the model is not a new one: Take an existing team for the on-track operations and manage the development in the factory. The latter is new for the chassis and aerodynamics. First time cares BMW motorcycle Motorsport has been about it again since the works team retired at the end of 2013.

“Commitment to racing” is actually not correct at BMW, but has been seen in this way by the fan base in recent years, as there were no real works outings. In national championships or in road racing such as the Isle of Man TT, however, the S 1000 RR has been one of the most sought-after and successful models for years. HP Race Support took care of engine and electronics coordination at all important championships. Just like before in the Superbike World Championship. Now, however, the focus in Munich is again on complete development. In the end, however, customers and popular sports will also be happy about it.

Purely from the ground up, the new RR with 207 hp has become stronger in the unit and weighs only 197 kilograms. In the M version, offered for the first time, the double R weighs only 193.5 kilos. The specification of BMW development: make the motorcycle one second faster on the racetrack in the standard trim.

As always, the racing machines won’t have too much to do with the series and will be thoroughly rebuilt and improved. But one thing is clear: the better the basis, the fewer changes are necessary to be competitive.

The topic of racing at EICMA

Super athlete


New presentation of the BMW S 1000 RR

Super sports car with 207 hp and 198 kg

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Sykes and Reiterberger on BMW

In the meantime, BMW has done nothing in the Superbike World Championship and has created a more than powerful base. This consists of Shaun Muir Racing for the administrative race track business, BMW Motorrad Motorsport with Mark Bongers at the helm in development and the drivers Markus Reiterberger and Tom Sykes. Sykes was Superbike World Champion in 2013, missing the title to Max Biaggi by half a point the year before. Since 2012, he has never finished the WorldSBK worse than fourth overall. Sykes is the reason why Kawasaki can dominate as much as he likes today, he made the ZX-10RR the winning motorcycle – and is still the fastest on it, as his total of 48 pole positions prove. It goes without saying that BMW and SMR are now hoping for quick and important input from him in order to lead the S 1000 RR to the top of the Superbike World Championship as quickly as possible.

Reiterberger does not need to be presented in our latitudes. The Bavarian is virtually married to the BMW brand. In 2011 he drove his first season in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, which he won this year in the overall standings. In 2013, 2015 and 2017 he was IDM Superbike champion. In 2016 he already drove one season in WorldSBK, at that time in Team Althea and also on BMW. However, things didn’t go that well and at the beginning of 2017 he split from the team from Italy and went back to the IDM. Now the 24-year-old has matured further and will get a new chance.

Endurance use of the S 1000 RR

Meanwhile, in the endurance world championship, discussions start about whether and when the new motorcycle will be used. BMW currently has delivery bottlenecks and it will be a long time before the S 1000 RR actually arrives at the dealership. For Ingo Nowaczyk’s former NRT48 team from Oschersleben, it would make sense to use the new motorcycle at Le Mans in April. The team started with zero points at the Bol d’Or at the season opener in Le Castellet. “We only postpone the teething troubles if we don’t compete in a 24-hour race and wait,” revealed ERC-BMW # 6 Team Manager Jean-Michel Pfrimmer in an interview with MOTORRADonline at EICMA. “Of course, it still depends on when we get the new material, but we want to start with it at Le Mans. There will be a lot to learn because everything is completely new on this motorcycle. “

The situation is different for the World Cup leaders in the Superstock class. The German Endurance Racing Team 56 (GERT56) achieved class victory in Le Castellet and is leading the world championship in that category. “Of course our drivers want to ride the new motorcycle,” revealed team manager Karsten Wolf MOTORRADonline. “But with a new motorcycle that always includes certain risk points. With what we have, we know how and that it works. We want to defend our World Cup lead until the final and know that we currently have a package that works and with which we have already won. “

The phrase “look from race to race” should more than apply here: Depending on the results, the teams in the endurance world championship will see which material they will continue with. Due to the season-wide season format, the material can also be changed between all races. If necessary, also the brand, as Rico Penzkofer did with his WEPOL team in front of the Bol and migrated from BMW to Yamaha. With a podium right away, not exactly unsuccessful. At the moment, other teams are probably looking to switch to Yamaha.

S 1000 RR in the IDM

In the IDM Superbike, the protagonists of the season that has just ended will remain true to their teams and structures. Bastien Mackels will get the new RR at Wilbers Racing, and Ilya Mikhalchik and Julian Puffe will most likely stay on Werner Daemen’s Van Zon team and work on the new racer. “The fact that Christof Hofer is staying is not off the table either, that will be decided in the next few weeks,” Werner Daemen told us.

Honda: surprising step in superbike

With all due respect, for the past decade – or more – Honda has not given much thought to the successes and failures of World Superbike championships. All the more surprising was the announcement at EICMA that the HRC is now taking it into its own hands again to attack the most important series production racing series for motorcycles. Together with Moriwaki and the Althea team, Kawasaki will soon be taught fear.

Honda had relied on the Dutch Ten-Kate team in recent years, now the separation takes place. As with BMW, the Honda Racing Corporation wants to take care of the development of the Fireblade CBR1000 RR SP2 at the factory. Presumably, information should of course also be collected, because in a year – at EICMA 2019 – Honda is expected to present a successor to this model. And then a real successor that doesn’t just come with a facelift. But at the moment Honda doesn’t have much to order in the series classes – except for the long-haul, where you are currently with F.C.C. TSR Honda has become world champion and has won 24-hour races.

The Japanese at Honda are known for sometimes making idiosyncratic decisions. And so this is also the case this time. The fact that Althea was awarded the contract elicits a slight smile, but it is not yet entirely clear whether this workforce should perhaps not only take care of the implementation, logistics and hospitality. With the drivers, Honda should have determined: Leon Camier already drove a strong season with the Red Bull Honda this year, although this is not reflected in the year-end ranking due to bad luck with injuries. Keeping him was sure to be a smart move. Honda is also relying on Ryuichi Kiyonari, who finished eighth overall in the Japanese Superbike this year. Kiyonari is 36 years old and took six podiums, including three wins, in the Superbike World Championship in 2008 and 2009. In 2006, 2007 and 2010 he won the British Superbike Championship “BSB” on a Honda. In recent years, the Japanese struggled mainly with injuries and not exactly competitive material. But the fact is: he has driven a Honda for most of his career – only between 2014 and 2016 he drove a BMW and Suzuki – and knows the philosophy of the HRC and the Fireblade like no other. It should advance the development work.

Honda in the World Endurance Championship

In the endurance world championship, Honda continues with two official teams, the world champions of F.C.C. With Freddy Foray, Josh Hook and Mike di Meglio, TSR Honda remain positioned as they won the Bol d’Or a few weeks ago at Le Castellet. The Honda Endurance Racing Team has meanwhile left the question of who will be the driver trio for the coming year.

In the IDM Superbike, Honda will continue with Jens Holzhauer’s team, who continues to rely on the services of Alessandro “Alex” Polita. Polita has not yet been able to visit the EICMA trade fair, which will run until Sunday. “I didn’t get a day off and still have to work,” he grumbled.

What will happen to Ten Kate?

Ten Kate actually looks after the Honda WorldSBK event – probably for as long as every Superbike fan can remember. Between 2002 and 2014, ten world championship titles were won in this environment. It all started in 2002 with Fabien Foret in Supersport. The list of Ten Kate made world champions in WSBK and WSS: Foret, Chris Vermeulen, Karl Muggeridge, Sebastien Charpentier (2x), Kenan Sofuoglu (2x), James Toseland, Andrew Pitt and Michael van der Mark. Today four-time world champion Jonathan Rea comes from the Ten Kate forge.

The fact that van der Mark has not been able to win any titles in the Supersport World Championship since 2014 is mainly due to the previous marriage to Honda, because the CBR600 can – to put it casually – now be used at classic events.

In the end, there has been a tug of war in recent years. Ten-Kate wanted more support from Honda, but they didn’t even think about it. And the fact that it is simply not possible to compete against real works outings like those of Kawasaki and Ducati, other teams have the same problem.

According to rumors, Ten Kate will remain with us in 2019 and will concentrate with one team on the Supersport 300 and stay there on Honda. But the bang for the WorldSBK project: Ten-Kate should probably switch to Aprilia, Eugene Laverty would already be determined as a driver. But whether you are doing yourself a favor is the big question, because the development of the Aprilia RSV4 has been reduced to almost zero.

Suzuki, MV and Benelli in the SBK World Cup?

The wish still remains for Suzuki to return to the Superbike World Championship, but there isn’t much to suggest that at the moment. Only Dennis Hertrampf has been working on this project for some time and has not yet written it off completely.

MV Agusta is withdrawing from WorldSBK and concentrating on the Supersport World Championship and Moto2 in the Grand Prix. However, the company demonstrated its size and strength at EICMA and was represented with an incredibly large range of models.

In Milan, Benelli also surprised with a huge trade fair appearance and a diverse range of models. The Italian manufacturer last competed in the Superbike World Championship in 2001 and 2002 with the Tornado 900 and Peter Goddard. Certainly something would also have to be “properly operated”.

Conclusion

You could really feel the excitement and joyful expectation, the positive tension, during the EICMA week. For us racing crazy people there were basically only the topics Ducati V4, BMW and Honda. Good, and of course, that Germany will have two top athletes to contend with in this world championship next year: Markus Reiterberger and Sandro Cortese. The new BMW and the new Ducati are reminiscent of old, glorious Superbike times – and hope for a new edition. And of course that four manufacturers, Honda and BMW, are committed to the Superbike World Championship. All other national series will also benefit from this. When the races get more exciting again in 2019 – you can see three of them on a WorldSBK weekend – the racing soup will be well seasoned.

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