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Cruel luck At Le Mans

After a weekend of problems due to the varying weather conditions, Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport's trio of Richard Cooper, Jose Luis Nion and Brian Parriott were heading for a hard-fought for top 15 finish, until a last lap drama ruled them out.

On the very last lap of the 24-hour marathon, Richard was riding smoothly and cruising to the finish, when his bike suddenly suffered a loss of power at the end of the pit straight. He managed to keep it going until La Chapelle, where the marshals told him that he had five minutes to get it across the finish line in order to post a result. He got a bit of a tow from another rider and then began the long, hard push 200 or so meters from the finish line. But instead of being allowed to cross the finish line, he was directed into the pit-lane by a group of marshals because he was adjudged to be outside the five-minute limit! Because of that, he and his team mates were not classified as finishers in the results.

BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s other team (Sebastien Le Grelle, Stephane Mertens and Rico Penzkofer) had suffered misfortune just before half race distance. They were on course for a tremendous top ten finish, when the bike suffered a dramatic loss of power. Stephane Mertens felt the bike slow on the front straight, so pulled the bike off the track just before the Dunlop bridge. Before long, one the team's mechanics appeared and together they tried to restart the bike. But, on hearing a strange noise, they decided that – in the interests of safety – it would be better not to continue. But before both dramas, the team had more than proved their capability and, if things had gone smoothly, one of both bikes would have been in the top ten at the end for sure.

Once again, the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team took first and second places in the Le Mans 24 hours. Last year’s race winners – Suzuki no 2, ridden by William Costes, Guillaume Dietrich and Dutchman Barry Veneman – won this year's race, 11 laps ahead of the Suzuki no 1 of Vincent Philippe, Matthieu Lagrive and Julien da Costa, with the Yamaha Acropolis Motor Expert trio of Gregory Fastre, Gregory Leblanc and Anthony Dos Santos third.

Bike No 71
Richard Cooper: "All weekend the bike has never skipped a beat and even riding in the rain when it was dark was not a problem. In fact, I really got on with it and didn't have any dramas or 'moments' at all. All weekend, we were chasing a top 15 place and – up until the last lap – I think we were achieving our goals. Our highest placing was 14th, but that felt comfortable and we believed we could hold on to that OK.

"After Brian's crash we lost well over four laps, but our team worked hard to get us back on the track quickly and gave us the chance to regain our position. The bike worked very well and we had a good set-up – for rain or dry – and all three of us were running pretty consistent lap times, so we had an idea of what we could achieve. The end was a disaster and although I tried my best to get the bike back in time, I couldn't because the distance was too great. I am absolutely gutted and even though my body should be full of aches and pains I just feel numb at the moment."

Jose Luis Nion: "I feel disappointed and sad for the whole team who have worked so hard these past days. All the effort they've put in has come to nothing and that's hard to take. The bike worked really well and was problem-free (apart from Brian's small crash) until the last lap. Today, we just didn't get any luck, but racing is like that sometimes and we have to get over it and start thinking and working towards the next race."

Brian Parriott: I crashed in the pouring rain, when the back suddenly came round without warning. I hadn't been going particularly fast or giving it too much gas – it just happened. Because of the soaking conditions, I ended up sliding a long way and ended up in the dirt and mud. I went to the bike, picked up and restarted it OK and rode it back to the pits so that my mechanics could get to work repairing the damage. My leathers were so badly covered in mud, that the rest of the mechanics asked me if I had been doing a bit of mud-wrestling! We lost about 15 minutes because of the crash, but the guys worked really well and got us back on track super fast. We then started regaining positions and were doing really good until the last lap drama."

Bike 17
Stephane Mertens: I am disappointed for sure because we all believed that a top ten finish was a real possibility and we showed that capability in the race until the moment we had a problem. I was on the bike when there was a sudden loss of power, so I had no choice but to pull off the track. I tried to restart it, but I heard a bit of a noise. Then, one of mechanics arrived and we tried to restart it again but, when the noise happened again, we thought it would be better (and safer) if we retired. Up to then I had been comfortable and really enjoying my comeback to racing after missing last season. But this kind of upset happens sometimes, so we just have to forget about it and look to the next race."

Berti Hauser (Director of BMW Motorrad Motorsport): "Is it some kind of unwritten rule that our second race of the season should end badly? Last year, our second race of the year was a bit of a disaster and this year has been exactly the same! Nevertheless, I think that we, as a team, showed the capability of the bike this weekend. Our goal was to finish in the top ten and we were in the top ten during the race, despite the ever- changing conditions. But for the dramas of the crash and then the last lap problem, I am sure we'd have finished in the top ten and that would’ve been a great result.

"Although we are all a bit disappointed about how things turned out, particularly with bike No 71 at the end, we are not complaining because the rules are the rules. If things had worked out differently this weekend, we would've finished with one bike in the top ten and the other in the top fifteen. However, racing can be cruel sometimes and today we all suffered. We’re not going to dwell on what happened in Le Mans, because we’re going to start looking forward immediately to our next race and doing everything to get a pair of good results."

 

Return to Le Mans for BMW Motorrad Motorsport

(Photos from left to right: Penzkofer at the flag, Parriott and Cooper, Nion, LeGrelle, Podium)

The BMW Motorrad Motorsport team has been making final preparations for its participation in the 2008 FIM Qtel Endurance World Championship. The first event of this year's six-round championship will take place on 19 and 20 April at Le Mans, France.

BMW Motorrad is looking forward to returning to the historic Bugatti circuit for the '24 Hours Moto of Le Mans' race. Last year, the factory team marked its return to world championship motorcycle racing with a fantastic result at the gruelling 24 hour race in France, ending with a win in their class and a highly impressive 16th overall after 776 laps on the modified R 1200 S sports boxer.

Along with many other teams, BMW has been participating in two days of testing on the Bugatti racetrack and is now able to confirm its rider line-up for this prestigious race. There will be two factory teams riding the new HP2 Sport at Le Mans. Experienced endurance rider Stephan Mertens is now free from injury and makes his return to the team on bike number 17, along with Belgian fellow countryman Sebastian Le Grelle and German rider Rico Penzkofer. British rider Richard Cooper, Spaniard Jose-Luis Nion and American Brian Parriott will ride bike number 71.

For Richard Cooper, his inclusion in the team is a "dream come true". The 24-year-old recently impressed international audiences with a fantastic ride for BMW Motorrad Motorsport in the Formula Xtreme Daytona 200 race -- the most prestigious race in America -- where he finished in fifth place, just in front of team-mate Brian Parriott. Although he appeared perfectly at home on the HP2 Sport in the USA, Cooper has really benefited from the recent shakedown test at Le Mans and is feeling extremely confident with the capability of the sports boxer on the French circuit.

"Things couldn't have gone much better for me in the USA last month, and this has fortunately continued last week in Le Mans," he said. "I rode a different bike to the one I had at Daytona and things just 'clicked' instantly. I was the fastest BMW rider in every session and I've come away much more confident, and with what I believe is a really good set-up for the race. I can't put my finger on it, but things just feel right. Our team seems really well suited too -- Jose -Luis Nion is the same size as me, so we have a similar bike set-up, and Brian speaks Spanish, which helps with team communication with Jose-Luis. It's a shame Thomas Hinterreiter is injured as he is such a valuable member of the team, but I believe he will be there in pit-lane with us anyway."

Richard's team mate Brian Parriott is looking forward to participating in what is probably the most famous and also the toughest endurance race on the calendar. The Californian was part of the works team that raced at the Bol d'Or last September and was also in sensational form at Daytona earlier this year, so he is really looking forward to joining the factory squad in Europe again.

"I love racing in Europe -- who wouldn't? For me it is especially nice to be back with the factory BMW team. I have a great relationship with everyone involved and it is a very top-notch effort. I like Le Mans a lot as a circuit and the surrounding area is very beautiful so I am very much looking forward to this opportunity. My early impressions of the HP2 Sport are that it is just fabulous -- a real race bike. I've been racing BMW boxers for a long time now and the changes from the R 1100 S to the HP2 Sport are 3,000 per cent! It seems to me that the Boxer Cup series really excited BMW and challenged the company to start building race ready machines."

This is a view that is shared by Jose-Luis Nion, who is looking forward to hustling the factory twin-cylinder sports bike around the 4.18-kilometer Bugatti circuit in front of an anticipated 90,000 spectators this weekend.

"I love the new HP2 Sport, and I believe it has great potential. It's very fast, handles well thanks to its stiff chassis and suspension, and has excellent braking capability too. The French Le Mans circuit is seriously fast and very technical, so the bike's excellent performance at low revs is important. I would love to get on the podium here -- as last year's result in Oschersleben was one of my best moments in racing -- but we'll have to see what happens. The weather can be so variable at this time of year, but as we've got lots of experience in the team, we are ready for anything."

One rider that is certainly ready for anything on the works BMW is Sebastian Legrelle. Like all of his team-mates, the Belgian rider has vast experience on the sports boxers from his early days in the International BMW Boxer Cup series, and he too has benefited from the pre-race test sessions at the Le Mans circuit.

"The two days I spent at Le Mans with the team were invaluable for getting to grips with the BMW HP2 Sport. I was soon 'up to speed' and was comfortably doing similar lap times to those from last year, so this bodes well for the 24 Hours race. The circuit isn't one of my favorites, but when you ride the HP2 Sport, it's hard not to enjoy yourself. It feels familiar to every sports boxer I have ridden before, but is so much better in every area, such as power, brakes, chassis. For me, the start of the race can't come soon enough!"

Free practice will start at the Le Mans "Bugatti" track on Thursday 17 April, at 11am, with a first qualifying session taking place in the afternoon and a night session finishing off the day's proceedings. On Friday, April 18, the second qualifying session will start at 11am. The average best lap of each rider will define the team's position on the starting grid, making it a real team effort from start to finish. From 5 to 8pm on Friday, the pit-lane will be traditionally open to the public and then the actual start of the '24 Hours Moto of Le Mans' will happen on Saturday 19 April, at 3 pm.

 

BMW Motorrad USA
Race Report - March 8, 2008

Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders Richard Cooper and Brian Parriott finished a sensational fifth and sixth respectively in the Formula Xtreme Daytona 200. Both riders had heart-stopping moments on the opening lap, with Parriott crashing, but each brushed aside any difficulties and carried on to record impressive finishes. Rico Penzkofer was hit from behind on the opening lap and crashed, almost taking out team mate Cooper in the process. He suffered heavy bruising and was unable to remount his bike and continue. Nate Kern had crashed in the morning warm-up and injured his right hand, but decided to try and start the race. However, on the opening lap, he couldn't feel the throttle so was forced to pull out.

Current Formula Xtreme champion Joshua Hayes (Honda) won the 69 lap race, with Chaz Davies (Kawasaki) second and Steve Rapp (Kawasaki) third. However, well after the post-race celebrations had finished, Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport found out that Hayes had been disqualified because of a technical infringement - and Chaz Davies was awarded the victory. This means that BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders Richard Cooper and Brian Parriott - who originally finished sixth and seventh, moved up the order to fifth and sixth places respectively.

After the news was broadcasted, Berti Hauser (Director of Motorrad Motorsport) said, "The news is fantastic for sure. We were very happy with the original results, so to now get fifth and sixth makes us even more happy and an even bigger reward for all the hard work the whole team has put in this week. To get two riders in the top ten in such a famous race is a big achievement indeed and is a testament to our great team and their never-say-die attitude.

"Richard used great strategy and thoroughly earned his result and I'm proud of the way he conducted his race today. Brian crashed in the beginning, but showed his fighting spirit and made a super result. Rico's crash was not his fault, because he was hit from behind, and I know he's sorry that he couldn't finish the race. Nate tried his best to start the race, but he knew that his hand wasn't up to it and he made the right decision to pull out. We learned a lot here because the procedure for the Daytona 200 is nothing like an Endurance race, but the team adapted to this superbly and we want to dedicate our success to Thomas Hinterreiter."

Richard Cooper - 5th: "I can't tell you how surprised, but happy I am over this result. This is my fourth time at Daytona and every time before I've had some misfortune or other. On the first lap, I nearly hit Rico, when he was nudged from behind. I managed to brake hard and just missed him, but it was pretty close! After that the race settled down and I had no problems whatsoever. I knew that a top 15 finish was the goal, but I was hoping for a top ten result, so to get fifth is amazing - particularly as this place is so special for me. The pit-stops were perfect and the bike was a dream, and that's down to all the hard work the team put in."

Brian Parriot - 6th: "That was a pretty eventful race for me, starting with the crash on lap one! I think it was because the tires might have not been warm enough, because I lost the back end without warning and was thrown up into the air and onto the windscreen, before falling. I went over to the bike, made sure all the levers were OK and started off again. I suppose I was a bit lucky, because a bit later on the course car came out and I was able to recover some of the ground I'd lost. The rest of the race was good and throughout it I felt I learnt more and more about the bike and got more and more comfortable. In fact, I felt that the bike was better then it had been all week. Before the race, I believed that a top ten was definitely possible, because I had looked at last year's race and the lap time, so I had an idea of how we would do. But to get sixth is a tremendous result and a just reward for all the hard work the team has put in."

Nate Kern - DNF: "I'm disappointed because I felt I could've got a good result here today. I crashed in the morning warm-up and badly hurt my right hand. I don't think I broke anything, but it was really sore. I decided to try to make the start and see how it felt, but once I got off the line and went through a couple of turns, I realized that I couldn't feel the throttle at all! So, for the safety of everybody, I pulled in. Congratulations to Richard and Brian though for doing such a good job and sorry to all my mechanics after all the effort they made this week."

Rico Penzkofer - DNF: "I am very disappointed with the crash. I think I was bumped from behind - there are marks on my tailpiece - and I couldn't control the bike and fell. That was that for me and I was pretty angry because we've put in so much good work this week and it would've been great to bring the bike home and get another strong finish for the team."

Results:

1. Chaz Davies, Kawasaki, 69 laps
2. Steve Rapp, Kawasaki, 69 laps
3. Larry Pegram, Ducati, 68 laps
4. Martin Cardenas, Suzuki, 68 laps
5. Richard Cooper, BMW Motorrad Motorsport, 67 laps
6. Brian Parriott, BMW Motorrad Motorsport, 67 laps
7. Bobby Fong, Suzuki, 67 laps
8. Bostjan Skubic, Yamaha, 67 laps
9. Steve Atlas, Honda, 66 laps

 

BMW Motorrad USA
BMW in the Daytona 200 - Speed Channel Broadcast

Catch Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport's race at the Daytona 200, live on Speed TV on Saturday, March 8, at 1:30PM EST. This is a historic event for all BMW fans, as Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport will be racing for the very first time in the AMA Formula Xtreme. We will all be cheering racers Nate Kern, Brian Parriott, Richard Cooper and Rico Penzkofer on Saturday as they pilot the new ground-breaking HP2 Sport motorcycles at the Daytona 200.

Join us in wishing luck and a safe contest to our riders!

 

BMW Motorrad USA
Race Report - March 3, 2008

A Great Beginning to the start of BMW Bike Week Daytona 2008

Nate Kern of BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta and Englishman Richard Cooper of Morton's BMW race teams have garnered 5 podium finishes during the opening weekend races at the Daytona Bike Week 2008. This is a great beginning to a full week of festivities and competition at Daytona Beach, Florida, which will culminate in the highly anticipated debut of the new HP2 Sport race bikes at the Daytona 200, AMA Formula Xtreme races on Saturday, March 8.

Nate Kern gives a brief overview of this very successful weekend: "Cooper and I raced in ASRA Pro Thunderbike on our No. 12 and No. 347 BMW R 1200 S racing bikes, in both the national and regional events. We had a tremendous showing. The national ASRA Pro Thunderbike is a hotly contested class that includes very eager teams with big budgets. But I am very excited to say that I finished 1st in both and Cooper finished 2nd in the national, and 3rd in the regional."

Kern and Cooper also had a podium finish in the Daytona 300 MOTO-ST endurance races on Sunday, March 2, in a very dramatic race that Kern calls a "Cinderella story." A Cinderella story, because Kern and Cooper finished 3rd overall in the MOTO-ST, racing on a very stock No. 4 BMW R 1200 S, back up bike, which is essentially a street motorcycle. Unfortunately a day earlier Kern’s No. 12 race bike was destroyed in a mishap by the German racer for BMW Motorrad Motorsport team, Thomas Hintereiter, during a practice session. Hintereiter, suffered a broken wrist and unfortunately won't be racing in the Saturday's AMA Formula Xtreme races.

Nate Kern and Richard Cooper on No. 4 R 1200 S made a late charge to take a third-place overall finish on basically a street bike. "I'm still speechless," Nate Kern said. "From our third rider getting hurt, from our top MOTO-ST bike getting absolutely destroyed. I brought my street bike to instruct at Team Hammer. Man, it’s bone stock. It even has ABS and heated grips. We were 12 seconds down with eight laps to go, Richard Cooper made up the 12 seconds in just eight laps."

Kern's teammate Cooper grabbed third on the BMW in the waning laps when the No. 6 Aprilia USA/Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Aprilia 1000R ridden by
Henry Wiles ran into fuel trouble. "As soon as I had Wiles in my sights, that was it," Cooper said. "I think I could have caught him anyway. The bike was faultless."

BMW Motorrad USA and BMW XPLOR congratulate Nate Kern, of BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta and Richard Cooper of Morton's BMW on a terrific opining weekend for this year's Daytona Bike Week and Daytona 200. We also wish a speedy recovery to Thomas Hintereiter.

For more information about ASRA/CCS or MOTO-ST races please visit www.ccsracing.us or www.moto-st.com. All photos credited to Brian Cleary and Victor Newman Photography.

 

Following the long tradition of BMW owner appreciation events at Daytona, we are very pleased to announce our BMW Bike Week Daytona 2008 race schedule.

BMW's successful racing program is expanding for 2008 and this year we will be participating in several racing events at Daytona.

March 1-2, 2008

Famed BMW XPLOR racer Nate Kern will start off a week of festivities and competition by racing in both the ASRA/CCS and MOTO-ST races on the weekend of March 1st and 2nd. Nate will race this opening weekend on his podium winning BMW R 1200 S. The British racer Richard Cooper will join him for the MOTO-ST Daytona 300 event on March 2. For those of you lucky enough to be at Daytona on that weekend make sure to show your support for Nate and Cooper on these race events.

March 8, 2008

BMW Motorrad Motorsport, following the successful debut of their new ground-breaking HP2 Sport at the 2007 World Endurance Championship series in Europe, will be making history on March 8, 2008, by participating for the first time in the 67th running of the Daytona 200.

BMW Motorrad Motorsport will bring four American and European racers to Daytona. The American racers are Nate Kern and Brian Parriott, who have brought numerous podium finishes for BMW in the US. The European racers are Rico Penzkofer and Thomas Hintereiter.

The new BMW HP2 Sport is the lightest and most powerful motorcycle to be powered by the legendary Boxer engine. It's the first truly purpose-built road racing motorcycle from BMW.

BMW Motorrad USA, BMW XPLOR and hundreds of BMW fans from all over the US will be at the Formula Xtreme event at the Daytona 200, on March 8, to cheer BMW Motorrad Motorsport, with Kern, Parriott, Penzkofer and Hintereiter, in this historic race event.

Meet the team up close and have a chance at winning tickets to this historic AMA Formula Xtreme race at our BMW XPLOR Riders Party on Friday, March 6 (see below). Visit www.amasuperbike.com for more on the races.