1-2 win for BMW Motorrad

MANILA, Philippines - BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s Marco Melandri scored a historic first Superbike World Championship victory on the S 1000 RR recently at Donington Park circuit in the UK, with teammate Leon Haslam just a few bike lengths behind in 2nd place. This momentous race one result is the best to date for the factory team.

Having both qualified on the front row of the grid for the races, it was Haslam who took the early lead, swooping around the outside of pole-sitter Tom Sykes at Redgate Corner, with Melandri settling into third. In dry, but blustery conditions, Sykes was pushing Haslam all the time, finally taking the lead when Leon ran wide on the fourth lap at Goddards.

It was a race to be the first rider to make history and claim the first ever WSBK victory for BMW.

There were tense moments for the riders, such as when Haslam was forced into the gravel trap to avoid a braking maneuver by his teammate, but he was able to stay upright and rejoin the race, going past a Kawasaki rider with just one lap remaining. Despite a blisteringly fast last lap by Haslam, he was not close enough to challenge his teammate for the victory and Melandri crossed the finish line 0.728 seconds in front to celebrate a truly historic maiden win on the RR and the first ever for BMW Motorrad Motorsport.

It was a thrilling opening race that saw five manufacturers in the top six.

Race 2 was full of excitement and drama, which lasted until the final corner of the final lap. Having treated thousands of his British fans to yet another thrilling race at Donington, Leon had fought his way right to the front and was just seconds away from his maiden WSBK win for the team when another rider collided with him and knocked him off the track, causing Haslam to take out his teammate in the consequent crash. All Haslam could do was pick up his RR and push it over the line for a single point.

Despite the incident, it was nevertheless a historic day for BMW Motorrad, who is now third in the WSBK manufacturer standings and will go into the next round at Miller Motorsports Park in the USA full of confidence.

“It is an awesome feeling for me to put my name in the history books of a factory like BMW Motorrad. I could not have imagined dreaming of this when I was young,” said Melandri. “I just want to say thank you to BMW Motorrad in Germany, to the team at the track and to everybody involved in the project. We have been working so hard and we have never given up, even when we were encountering some difficulties. We will keep pushing, and I am more than happy,” he added.