BMW Motorrad BoxerCup 2003 - Race in Daytona

Thrills, excitement and a Photo-FinishThe BMW Motorrad BoxerCup 2002 offered
nailbiting excitement to the very last race. The international BMW Motorrad
brand cup, which is being held for the third time this year, began the same way
the last one ended - with lots of excitement. At the opening race on March 9th,
2003 in Daytona Beach/USA the spectators were thrilled by the top class racing
action which was characterised by breathtaking changes in position and riveting
duels. Roberto Panichi of the Dream Car Team won the race on the finishing
line. He was victorious thanks to a mere five hundredths of a second lead on
the American rider Brian Parriott of the BMW Motorrad Team USA and the German
Markus Barth of the BMW Group Niederlassungen Racing Team.

Panichi: "It's uncomparabile. With its unique atmosphere Daytona is the most
exciting race track in the world. I am very happy to have won here."

47 racing boxers lined up for the start on Sunday. During the week's training
on the 5.7 km of the Daytona Speedway the spectators and BMW fans already
enjoyed the show tremendously. 22 teams from 9 countries, including a US team
for the first time, took part in the first race of the BoxerCup season 2003.
The BMW Motorrad BoxerCup thus has more international participants than any
other racing series in motorcycle road sports.

The trio Andy Hofmann (CH), Sébastian Legrelle (B) and Fernando Cristóbal (E)
got off to the best start closely pursued by Guillaume Dietrich (F) and Jason
Perez (USA). The fastest qualifying rider, Richard Cooper (GB) was not able to
defend his pole position. He fell coming out of the first bend of the infield.
The whole race offered the spectators riveting action. Groups of up to ten
bikes only three tenths of a second apart thundered through the 32 degree
banked curves and filled the Daytona oval with their incomparable boxer sound.
All spectators held their breath as Hinterreiter (A) and Parriott (USA) made
contact with their cylinder heads in a high-speed duel. A few swerves and both
were back on track again.

Permanent changes in position kept the excitement on the boil when the riders
Caesar (B) and Atlas (USA) fell (both were unharmed) and the race had to be
stopped in the eighth round on the instructions of the race management.

After a restart, Markus Barth led the pack closely followed by Dietrich,
Panichi and Cristóbal. Dietrich fell after making a mistake; Parriott, Hofmann,
Hinterreiter and Legrelle then kept battling for the lead. Permanent changes in
position were the hallmarks of this second race too before Panichi crossed the
finish line with an invisible lead.

As in the years before, Daytona once again proved: BoxerCup races are not won
only by riding skill. Clever tactics and last-moment-overtaking often are the
decisive factors. This is precisely what makes the race so incredibly exciting
for the spectators and riders.

Winner Panichi after the race: "You have to find the right position from which
you want to launch your attack quickly. I let myself drop back a bit to come
out of the slipstream and overtake with that little bit of extra speed."

The result achieved by the first female BoxerCup rider is also very remarkable.
The 25 year old Italian Rosana Scoleri of the Italian Dream Car Team finished
her first BMW Motorrad BoxerCup race with a respectable 33. place. Overjoyed
she said: "The start was very exciting for me. I like the fast Daytona track. I
love riding fast." With a smile she continued: "The banked curves were
something quite new for me and I like the fact that I left 13 men behind me".

The first BMW Motorrad BoxerCup race in the USA was also a great media event.
The American sports Speed Channel broadcast the race live allowing 50 million
spectators to follow the exciting action on their TV screens. A ten-minute
summary of the race will be shown on Eurosport.

Position Start no. Rider Team Nationality
1 99 Roberto Panichi Dream Car Team Italy
2 46 Brian Parriott BMW Motorrad Team USA USA
3 6 Markus Barth BMW Group Niederlassungen Racing Team Germany
4 5 Andy Hofmann Motorrad Senger Racing Team Deutschland Switzerland
5 7 Thomas Hinterreiter BMW Motorrad Austria-Hinterreiter Austria
6 45 Sébastien Legrelle BMW Motorrad Belgium /Herpigny Motor Belgium
7 16 Fernando Cristóbal Auto Sport Busquets Spain
8 69 Alessandro Tomassoni Dream Car Team Italy
9 40 Federico Aliverti VIP Motociclismo Italy
10 23 Tripp Nobles Foothills BMW USA
11 35 Norbert Rebholz Das Boxer Team Germany
12 13 Michael Galinski Hakvoort-Klipfel Racing Germany
13 54 Laurry Fremy Team Reseau France France
14 65 Peter Öttl Karl Maier Team Witec Germany
15 41 Klaus Nies Bernhardt + Röhrich Germany
16 4 Dirk Buylinckx BMW Motorrad Belgium / Bavarian Motorsport Belgium
17 12 Ricky Orlando BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta USA
18 11 Robert van der Molen BMW Motorrad Team Nederland Netherlands
19 29 Nate Kern BMW Motorcycles of Cherry Hill USA
20 77 Barry Burrell BMW Motorrad Team Great Britain Great Britain

The next dates

2. Race: Oulton Park, 5. May, (GB, British Superbike Championship)

3. Race: Le Mans, 24. May, (F, MotoGP France)

4. Race: Mugello, 7. June, (I, MotoGP Italy)

5. Race: Barcelona, 14. June, (E, MotoGP Catalunya)

6. Race: Assen, 28. June, (NL, Dutch TT, MotoGP Netherlands)

7. Race Spa Francorchamps, 5. July, (B, Master of Endurance)

8. Race: Sachsenring, 26. July, (D, MotoGP Germany)

9. Race: Brünn, 17. August, (CZ, MotoGP Czech Republic)

The BMW Motorrad BoxerCup results are available on the BMW Motorrad Homepage at
www.bmw-motorrad.com/boxercup or can be obtained via e-mail or SMS newsletter
which you can subscribe to at the above address.

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