Salt Lake City – Races.
Monday, 30 May 2011.
Weather conditions: Cloudy with sunny spells.
Temperature: Air: 13 – 14 °C, Track: 20 – 24 °C
Number of riders participating: 21 from 13 teams
Fastest lap Race 1: Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) 1:49.779 min
Fastest lap Race 2: Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) 1:48.827 min
It has been a disappointing weekend for Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport in the fifth race weekend of
the FIM Superbike World Championship in the United States: Finishing the first race in Utah eighth, Leon
Haslam (GBR) managed to achieve the best result for the team. In the second race Leon came in 13th.
His team mate Troy Corser (AUS) was 13th in race 1, whereas in the second race he crashed. Leon
leaves Salt Lake City fifth in the riders’ championship (95 points), while Troy lies 14th (49 points). In the
manufacturers’ standings BMW is still fourth with 117 points.
In race 1, Troy made an incredible start from sixth and passed the top five riders on the way to the first
corner. He was able to defend his position for the first five laps, but then faced serious tyre wear. After
setting the second fastest lap of the race on lap four, his lap times dropped, and Troy only finished the
race 13th. Leon fought his way from 12th up to sixth, but had to conquer issues with his traction control
during the race. He finished eighth.
In the second race Troy crashed on lap three when he touched the kerb of “First Attitude” corner with his
engine casing. He could not finish the race. Leon finished 13th.
Leon Haslam:
Result Race 1: 8th, Gap to 1st: 00:22.267 min / Fastest Lap Race 1: 1:50.986 min
Result Race 2: 13th, Gap to 1st: 00:37.455 min / Fastest Lap Race 1: 1:50.596 min
“This was a race weekend to forget. We have identified some issues, and we have to solve these. I am
confident the entire team will work hard to take us further up the order soon. We need to go away from
here and regroup if we want to be strong for the next races. We must now look to move forward with the
bike.”
Troy Corser:
Result Race 1: 13th, Gap to 1st: 00:36.573 min / Fastest Lap Race 1: 1:49.926 min
Result Race 2: DNF
“We are disappointed with the way the weekend has ended. I felt like we had a good setup for both the
wet and dry conditions, and I was really confident going into today’s races. In race one I got away well and
led the early laps. The bike felt good for the first five to six laps. Then the grip from the rear tyre became a
real issue. I don’t know why it happened, so we need to have a look at the data and see. In race two I
decided to take it a bit easier in the early laps to save the tyres, but I began to lose too many positions. So
I then started to push and clipped the kerb with my engine casing and lost the front – crashing out of the
race. On the whole it was a difficult weekend and one we need to analyse in more detail.”
Bernhard Gobmeier (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director):
“This was a very disappointing weekend. We cannot be satisfied with results like these. We ended up
way behind our own expectations. We now have to analyse the reasons for our weak performance. We
have to and we will work hard to perform better soon.”
