BMW Motorrad Motorsport returns to historic Imola circuit with the WorldSBK – Leon Haslam on the second BMW M 1000 RR of the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team.

Munich. BMW Motorrad Motorsport is returning to historic Imola
(ITA) with the FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK). The
seventh round of the 2023 WorldSBK season will take place at the
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari from 14th to 16th July. The WorldSBK
has regularly visited Imola in past decades, most recently in 2019.
Leon Haslam (GBR) will ride the second BMW M 1000 RR alongside Scott
Redding (GBR) in the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team.

Haslam is no stranger to BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the WorldSBK.
The 40-year-old Briton has competed in a total of 316 WorldSBK races
between 2003 and 2022, finishing as runner-up in the championship in
2010. In 2011 and 2012, he raced as a BMW Motorrad Motorsport factory
rider with the BMW S 1000 RR, earning a total of eight podium
finishes. In the current 2023 season, Haslam competes with the ROKiT
BMW Motorrad British Superbike Team aboard the BMW M 1000 RR in the
British Superbike Championship (BSB), where he has already achieved
six podium finishes, including two at the recent round at Snetterton (GBR).

Imola is a track with a rich tradition, but as it has not been on the
WorldSBK calendar in recent years, it is still unfamiliar to some. The
ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team is already familiar with the circuit
from the past, as are Haslam and Loris Baz (FRA). However, Redding has
not raced there before, and Garrett Gerloff (USA) will also make his
Imola debut, as will the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team.

Quotes ahead of the Imola round.

Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director:
“First of all, many thanks to Leon for being available at
short notice to be with us at Imola. We know each other well from the
past, where we celebrated success together, and this season he has
returned to the BMW Motorrad family in BSB and is familiar with the
new BMW M 1000 RR. He also has a lot of WorldSBK experience, and we
are confident that he will quickly get back up to speed at Imola.
After his crash at Donington, Tom Sykes is on the road to recovery and
was discharged from the hospital on Sunday after a week, and we all
send him our best wishes. Michael participated in a track day last
week, however a return for Imola would still be too early, and we have
jointly decided that he will sit out this weekend, and then we will
reassess the situation. Now we are excited about Imola. Scott showed a
clear upward trend in Donington, which was confirmed by his
fourth-place finish in the second race. Garrett was also fast and
consistently strong there and we want to continue that at Imola.
However, a major topic will be the high heat expected over the weekend
which can be challenging for humans, machines, and tyres.”

Garrett Gerloff, #31 BMW M 1000 RR, Bonovo action BMW Racing
Team: “It’s going to be an interesting weekend, I think.
It’s a track that I’ve never been to and it looks like it could be
technical. But I feel good learning new layouts and this circuit being
mainly a left-hand corner dominant one with some elevation changes and
being tighter, it kind of reminds me of the tracks I raced in America
a lot. I’m hoping this connection is a solid one and it does help me
to learn it a bit faster, but I think there’s going to be a few people
that haven’t been there or at least haven’t been there for a while. I
just hope it will be a good weekend and we can keep improving like we
did at Donington.”

Scott Redding, #45 BMW M 1000 RR, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK
Team: “Imola is new track for me so it’s another element to
the weekend, I always like new tracks! I hope for a good weekend and
to keep the momentum from Donington.”

Loris Baz, #76 BMW M 1000 RR, Bonovo action BMW Racing Team:
“It has been a tough season and tough couple of weekends with
completely no luck unfortunately at the last two rounds, which is a
shame, because I feel strong again on the bike. I just need to have a
calm weekend, so I hope Imola will be that one. I’m sending my best
wishes again to Tom Sykes and Michael Ruben Rinaldi who were involved
in the crash at Donington and I hope they can come back soon. For me,
I’m really happy to come back to Imola. It’s a track that I always
loved a lot and I have good memories there. It’s really an old school
circuit with an atmosphere that is so different than the rest of the
venues. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m sure we can be fast
there. I have experience on this track, I know the layout and
everything. I just hope we can put all of our bad luck behind now and
have a nice and calm weekend on the BMW M 1000 RR. I know the guys in
this team never stop working incredibly hard and I feel it’s
definitely time to get our normal mojo back and rediscover the pace
that we had in the beginning of this season.”

Leon Haslam, #91 BMW M 1000 RR, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK
Team: “It’s a fantastic opportunity. Obviously I have a lot
of history with Imola. We took the championship in 2010 down to the
last round at Imola. I have a lot of history from this circuit and
it’s fantastic to ride again for BMW Motorrad Motorsport. We are
riding the BMW M 1000 RR in the UK so I’m looking forward to work with
Shaun Muir and all the guys from the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team.
We will see. I have no real big expectations, I just want to try to
enjoy and hopefully we can get some good information and some good results.”