BMW MOTORRAD ITALIA SUPERBIKE TEAM - SILVERSTONE - RACE

Silverstone was an uphill struggle for the  BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Team  this weekend.  Ayrton Badovini, after two falls during practice and qualifying, collected twelve points which consolidates his eighth place in the standings.  James Toseland , still not 100%, finished both races and manage seven points. Overall the  BMW Motorrad Italia STK Team  had a positive weekend.  Lorenzo Zanetti  scored a second place finish to open up the championship, while  Sylvain Barrier fell while in fourth place.

Technical decisions that had shown not positive results slowed  Ayrton Badovini’s progress in Race 1, where at first he battled with rival Aitchison for eighth place and then found himself battling for ninth with Corser and Biaggi. In Race 2 he fought with Aitchison and Lascorz and eventually won the tenth place that means he keeps his eight place in the World Championship table.

"This was a defensive race: sometimes this happens during a championship.” Ayrton said after the debrief with his engineers. “I was not 100% after two crashes, both in terms of psychological and physical condition. I had some pain in my wrist, among other things, which I think is dislocated. We are happy with the bike, for which we collected data and information that will help us to further development. Now we go on the summer break, we will reinvigorate and come back even more competitive in September for the final stage of the season. I want to thank the whole team this weekend which was able to give me two good bikes despite the two falls. "

In Race 1  James Toseland was hindered by set-up choices and the Englishman couldn’t make it into the points, finishing twelfth behind Max Biaggi. In Race 2, James lapped steadily from the half-way stage, gaining more confidence in the bike.

"On Friday morning I had concerns for the weekend due to both physical and psychological stresses.” James said at the end of races “I’m therefore very happy to have been able to complete both races. I had no grip in Race 1 but the bike was fine in the second. Beyond the result, for me it was important to finish both races after five months off track. It has boosted my morale because the fracture was really bad and now I'm coming through it. "

In the  Superstock race,  Zanetti started to attack, duelling with Petrucci and Giugliano. In the second part of the race he held second place until the last lap when he was overtaken by Canepa. Lorenzo retaliated, overtaking the Italian rider and regaining second place. The result means that Zanetti has consolidated his second place in the FIM Cup closing the gap to the championship leader, who is now eleven points ahead. Silverstone reopened the championship and the Brescia rider will be attacking in the remaining races of the season.

"I felt good” said Lorenzo on the podium “Early in the race I tried to find the rhythm. Unfortunately with the tyre degradation I started to lose grip and I had to fight to maintain the position. The championship is now wide open with just a few points behind the leader. The team worked very well and I am convinced that we are going the right way to fight for the championship to the last race. "

Serafino Foti, Sports Director of BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Team at the end of race day, said: "It was quite a weekend with Ayrton suffering the most with two falls, and James still not being in perfect form. It was difficult to do more with a set-up that wasn’t perfect and both drivers injured. I think we got the best results possible under the circumstances, and I’m happy as usual that everyone did the best they could and gave their full commitment to the team. Now we will analyze the data to understand what went wrong, what worked well and what to do. What is important is that James is back, and finished the two races.In Superstock Barrier fall, but apart from that we had some luck with the leader Giugliano falling, which closed the gap by 20 points. That's racing. The Superstock Championship this year is at the highest level and in almost every race times are improved over last year. Now our bike need technical advances to help us be more competitive at the next race. "

SUPERBIKE

Gara 1: 1. C. Checa (Ducati) 38'06.477 - 2. E. Laverty (Yamaha) + 3.304 - 3. M. Melandri (Yamaha) + 4.782... 10.  A. Badovini (BMW)  + 25.725 ...12.  J. Toseland (BMW)  + 45"578.

Gara 2: 1. C. Checa (Ducati) 38'03.361 - 2. E. Laverty (Yamaha) + 2.274 - 3. M. Melandri (Yamaha) + 3.675... 10.  A. Badovini (BMW)  + 19.705 ...13.  J. Toseland (BMW)  + 27"235

Campionato: 1. C. Checa (Ducati) p. 343 - 2. M. Biaggi (Aprilia) p. 281 - 3. M. Melandri (Yamaha) p. 272... 8.  A. Badovini (BMW)  p. 116.... 22.  L. Lanzi (BMW)  p. 10...23.  J. Toseland (BMW)  p. 10...27.  B. Veneman (BMW)  p. 3

SUPERSTOCK

Gara: 1. D. Petrucci (Ducati) 21'36.434 - 2.  L. Zanetti (BMW)  + 3.431 - 3. N. Canepa (Ducati) + 3.465... Rit  S. Barrier (BMW)

Campionato: 1. D. Giugliano (Ducati) p. 115 -  2. L. Zanetti (BMW)  p. 104 - 3. D. Petrucci (Ducati) p. 94 - 4.  S. Barrier (BMW) p. 65