Jerez de la Frontera. The 2023 season in the FIM Superbike
World Championship (WorldSBK) concluded with the finale at Jerez de
la Frontera, Spain. BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the two teams
demonstrated that the BMW M 1000 RR had the potential for top six
result in Spain as well. However, the necessary racing luck was
missing to translate that potential into the corresponding results.
The best race results were achieved by Scott Redding (GBR) and
Michael van der Mark (NED) from the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK
Team, both securing eighth positions. Garrett Gerloff (USA / Bonovo
action BMW Racing Team) once again displayed the pace for top
positions but went unrewarded this time. His teammate, Loris Baz
(FRA), had a challenging final weekend as a BMW WorldSBK factory
rider at Jerez de la Frontera.
In Superpole qualifying on Saturday morning, Redding secured eighth
position, and Gerloff ninth, placing them in the third row of the
grid. Van der Mark claimed 13th place, while Baz started in 18th. The
first main race on Saturday afternoon proved to be challenging for
both teams. After 20 laps, Baz finished in 13th place, making him the
highest-placed BMW factory rider. Gerloff was part of a group battling
for the top six but had a crash. He managed to rejoin the race and set
fast lap times, ultimately finishing 14th and earning valuable points.
Van der Mark retired after a fall, and Redding had to pit early due to
a tyre issue.
The racing action on Sunday commenced with an eventful Superpole
race. After the first lap, Redding, Gerloff, and van der Mark were in
promising positions of sixth, eighth, and tenth, respectively.
However, on the second lap, the race was red-flagged due to a another
competitor’s technical issue. After a break, the race was restarted
for eight more laps. Redding quickly moved up to sixth place, but his
performance went unrewarded as he encountered a mechanical problem,
forcing him to retire. Van der Mark worked his way up to finish
eighth, improving his start position for the second race. Baz crossed
the finish line in 14th place. Gerloff was in twelfth place after the
restart but later had an accident with a competitor, causing him to retire.
At the start of race two, Redding quickly surged from tenth place to
sixth. While he lost a few positions during the race, he eventually
finished within the top eight in eighth place. Gerloff initially
dropped back at the start but mounted another comeback, finishing in
ninth place. Van der Mark concluded the final race of the season in
twelfth place, while Baz finished in 18th.
Right after the Jerez de la Frontera finale, preparations for the
2024 season begin. The Bonovo action BMW Racing Team will participate
in a two-day test on the Andalusian track on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Gerloff and Redding will be in action, with Redding joining the team
for the upcoming season.
Reactions to the season finale at Jerez de la Frontera.
Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director: “We
would have preferred to give our Head of BMW Motorrad, Dr. Markus
Schramm, who is now retiring, a nicer farewell gift. Unfortunately,
the results ultimately did not match our expectations. We aimed to
build on the good results from the previous races. The qualifying was
extremely close, and considering the minimal time gaps, we fared
relatively well with eighth and ninth positions. In the first main
race, Scott and Garrett had good starts, but Scott unfortunately had a
tyre that provided no grip at all, rendering him unable to continue
the race. That was quite disappointing, as Scott was highly motivated
going into his final race weekend with the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK
Team. We had adjusted the package for him, which boosted his
confidence. Garrett was setting very competitive lap times in the
first race, and a fifth-place finish was certainly within reach.
Unfortunately, he slid off the track in turn two. Mickey also had a
solid performance but crashed. In the Superpole race, Scott
demonstrated that he was comfortable on the bike, which pleased me
greatly. However, he encountered a mechanical issue with the footrest,
causing him to lose the opportunity for a sixth or possibly fifth
place. Garrett maintained a strong pace but, unfortunately, had a
collision with Axel Bassani while overtaking, ending the race for both
of them. In the second main race, Scott once again gave a strong
performance. It may not have been exactly where we wanted, but I was
pleased for Scott, considering the challenging times he had been
through. Garrett was consistently fast. Michael had a solid conclusion
to the season. Loris couldn’t finish the season as he had hoped. I
want to extend a heartfelt thank you to him for his two years with the
Bonovo action BMW Racing Team, and we wish him all the best for the future.”
Garrett Gerloff, Bonovo action BMW Racing Team (SP: 9 / R01:
14 / SP Race: DNF / R02: 9): “I’m really frustrated because
I imagined this weekend going a lot different and better. Sometimes
you have a plan and you think you can execute it but things go in
another way. I was just unfortunate. We’ve been climbing and we’ve
been feeling better and better and had better and better results every
weekend, and I really thought that we had something to fight for this
weekend but I had a crash on my first lap on Friday and missed nearly
all that session. It was just kind of a bad taste in all our mouths.
Then qualifying wasn’t horrible but also not great. It was only two or
three tenths to second place but I was on the third row. Then I
crashed in the first race yesterday and today in the Superpole race
with Axel Bassani and this is not something I am proud of. It was a
difficult weekend. It is what it is. But I’m happy that we were able
to accomplish something this year like pole position and some top
fives. We can be happy with that but for sure we want more and we know
that we were capable of more. So we will be back next year.”
Scott Redding, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team (SP: 8 / R01:
DNF / SP Race: DNF / R02: 8): “Finally I got a bit of a
nice race in race two today, for once this weekend, because I was a
little bit unlucky with a few things. I’ve made a good start, felt
really good with the bike. I then made a small mistake which cost me a
little bit of time but I found my rhythm again. I was just trying to
pass Andrea Locatelli all the race so I stressed all of my front tyre.
In the end I got the better of him so I was happy for that but we
still need to improve our acceleration grip because that is my weakest
point right now. But I’m happy to finish the last race of this season
and for me it was not all about the race because the last time I was
here, I struggled a lot. So there’s reason to be happy and I want to
say thank you to all the team for a good two years. Now we look
forward to the future.”
Michael van der Mark, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team (SP: 13
/ R01: DNF / SP Race: 8 / R02: 12): “This morning, we made
a change to the set-up of the bike and I was going at quite a good
pace. I was happy with it. In the Superpole race, my first start
wasn’t great. I lost some positions. I gained them back really quick
but then we had a red flag. At the re-start, I had a nice and a good
race, finishing in P8. It was really nice to finish in the top ten so
I improved on the grid for race two. I again had a good start but
struggled a bit with the grip in the beginning. Then halfway through
the race I struggled with the front of the bike. It was quite a long
race but at the end we scored some points again which is the most
important thing. We know what to work on and I’m happy to finish the
last round of the year with some positive results.”
Loris Baz, Bonovo action BMW Racing Team (SP: 18 / R01: 13 /
SP Race: 14 / R02: P18): “It has just not been as we all
wanted to end the season. It has been a tough weekend, the same as the
entire season. We never gave up but I had a big injury. We all kept
fighting. We had so much bad luck, and this weekend again. I was
struggling with the bike Friday and yesterday, so we decided to swap
the bike for today. But then we had a technical issue this morning in
warm-up. Then the Superpole race was good. I was feeling the best I
felt all weekend. In race two again there were some problems. It was
just a lack of pace all weekend. We tried until the end. I just want
to say a big thank you to the guys who never gave up. They always
tried everything to give me the best bike. Last year was a good year
for us, this year has been tough. We had some good moments but the
injury ruined all our jobs. Now I am looking forward to surgery at the
end of the month to get all the material off the ankle and to get
ready for whatever comes in the future.”
