WSBK: Best Result This Season For BMW Motorrad Motorsport Team
Corser stretchered off in race one
Ruben Xaus gave Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport their best result so far with a superb seventh in the first race at Monza today. He then followed it up with a solid ninth in the second race to make it his best weekend in five rounds and shows that he and the bike are making progress every time out.
His team mate Troy Corser was involved in a horrific crash on the opening lap of race one, when he was hit in the neck and back of head by another rider’s fallen bike. Troy was winded and was stretchered off, but fortunately he was able to get back to the pits under his own steam. Despite being bruised and battered, Troy decided to take part in the restarted race, but suffered another crash on the approach to the Parabolica on lap one. Luckily he was not injured seriously but he and the team decided to err on the side of safety and therefore not take part in race two.
Italian Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) won the first race, much to the delight of the home fans, with team mate Noriyuki Haga second and Ryuichi Kiyonari third. American Ben Spies (Yamaha) won race two, to make up for the disappointment of running out of fuel in race one whilst contending the lead. Second was Michel Fabrizio , with Kiyonari third again.
Ruben – Race 1: 7th, Race 2: 9th
I am happy to give the team our best result of the season so far and happy that I managed another top ten finish in he second race. My seventh place result is also for Troy and the whole team because everybody has worked so hard for this. My race two result could’ve been better, but I made a really bad start and then got nudged by somebody in the chicane. I recovered and was happy fighting for eighth with Smrz, Parkes and Laconi but I just couldn’t get past Smrz for eighth.
But generally, my race pace was good today and I think our result is also very good considering how little time we have in practice and qualifying. If we continue to make this good progress, we will be fighting for places even further up.
Troy – Race 1: DNF, Race 2: DNS
I got hit by another bike on the first lap of the first race and was lucky not to get hurt. I was on my knees and a bike caught the back of my head and forced my helmet down on to the tarmac and gave it a big thump. I managed to get off the track and on to the grass, but I was winded so I just laid down on the grass. I could see that some straw bales were protecting some other riders and I thought that there would be a red flag. I just wanted to get my breath back, but the marshals insisted on putting me on a stretcher and taking me to the ambulance. As soon as I had got my breath back, I got up and walked back to the pits for the restart of the race. The team didn’t put any pressure on me to start the race, but I felt OK and decided to try. Unfortunately, I got sucked into a four or five rider draft going into the Parabolica and found myself going in a bit too hot. I tried to brake as normal and drift a bit wide but Muggeridge came across and I had to choose between hitting him or braking harder than normal and possibly crashing. I put more pressure on the brakes and I guess you know what happened then! Yep, a crash. I went along the tarmac and then the gravel feet first, flipped a couple of times and was very lucky not to hurt myself any more. I felt pretty bruised and battered and we decided not to risk anything by starting the second race. It was all a big shame because I thought we’d get some good results today. But anyway, congratulations to Ruben for getting seventh and showing everybody that we are improving all the time.
Berti Hauser (Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport)
This weekend was one of both shadows and sunshine, but I am happy that Troy survived the horror crash in race one and was able to take part in the restart. I’m also happy that he didn’t hurt himself when he had the second crash and the decision not to start race two was definitely the right one. He has been riding with an injured hand all weekend (a crack in the bone of his left hand) and there was no point risking any further injury.
The sunshine was Ruben’s seventh in race one and a ninth in race two. He’s improving for sure and it shows that we are pushing hard, going forward and getting more and more competitive.
I want to take this opportunity to send my best wishes to Max Neukirchner and hope he has a speedy recovery after that terrible crash.
Results
Race 1: 1 Fabrizio (I-Ducati), 2 Haga (J-Ducati), 3 Kiyonari (J-Honda), 4 Kagayama (J-Suzuki), 5 Rea (GB-Honda), 6 Sykes (GB-Yamaha), 7 Ruben Xaus (E-BMW Motorrad Motorsport), Troy Corser (Aus-BMW Motorrad Motorsport) DNF,
Race 2: 1 Spies (USA-Yamaha), 2 Fabrizio, 3 Kiyonari, 4 Rea, 5 Biaggi (I-Aprilia), 6 Sykes, 9 Ruben Xaus (E-BMW Motorrad Motorsport), Troy Corser (Aus-BMW Motorrad Motorsport) DNS,
Points: 1 Haga 200, 2 Spies 146, 3 Fabrizio 125, 4 Haslam 103, 5 Sykes 90, 6 Biaggi 81, 15 Ruben Xaus (E-BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 40, 16 Troy Corser (Aus-BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 35,