Bmws Breakthrough In Motorsport
Bmws Breakthrough In Motorsport
BMW is set to enter the World Superbike Championship in 2009.
While the BMW 325is parts maker has long been involved in “car” motorsport and has also competed on “biking” events like the Paris Dakar rally its recent entry in the Le Mans 24 hour race was the first time in 5 decades BMW ran its own works road racing team.
For many years BMW has run the Boxer Cup championship for R1100S machines and the PowerCup for the K1200R. It has also provided significant sponsorship to the MotoGP championship.
The boosted motorsport activities have been echoed in its production model range. The K1200S K1200R and the new R1200S all show a new sportier face to a vehicle maker whose products were once considered the two wheeled equivalent to a comfortable pair of slippers.
BMW isnt just on road racing. In fact its 450cc enduro prototype marked at a greater involvement in offroad competition. Furthermore BMW signed just last week a deal to completely acquire the Husqvarna brand from previous owner Claudio Castiglioni. Results are a readymade and to race range of offroad machines and the bikes with retained Husqvarna branding instead of BMW badges.
Reports say the decision to enter WSB might come after a behind the scenes brainstorming with the concept of a MotoGP bike but the productionbased championship is arguably a more fitting slot for BMWs image. Racing in WSB will give a marketing spur to its more roadbased bikes.
Back in 1992 BMW developed a boxer twin superbike to take on the allconquering Ducatis in WSB. Called the R1 the BMW prototype utilized an allnew 1000cc DOHC watercooled boxer twin with around 160bhp. It doesnt anymore fit todays standards but back then it was enough to compete.
In the bikes later development BWM decided the design wouldnt be competitive enough to assure the success required to make the investment worthwhile and backed out from the idea of racing.
Now the firm is back. Its latest project utilizing a fourcylinder engine guarantees to be truly competitive. Inside the factory is the new Codenamed 190/190 which targets 190bhp at the crankshaft and a 190kg wet weight in roadgoing trim. If it bangs that race versions should have no problem in meeting the 210bhp needed to be competitive in WSB and trimming down to the 162kg minimum weight limit for the series.
BMW isnt officially commenting on the project but an insider told the reporters that there would be an announcement about its race plans before the year ends. The insider also hinted that there would be a huge surprise at one of this years major bike shows insinuating a prototype of the new machine could loom.
BMW will be racing in 2009. Nevertheless showing a prototype will allow it the luxury of testing relatively publicly for a year on the tracks used by the WSB series without having to try to hide the bike. Moreover production versions of the 190/190 could go on sale before its race debut.
About the writer: Hailey Kerr is a Business Administration graduate. She is currently part of a business consulting firm in Massachusetts. Hailey loves to write and enjoys doing her favorite hobby during her free time cooking French cuisines.
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