Cremona. In the ninth round of the 2024 season, the FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) ventured into new territory, racing for the first time at the Cremona Circuit (ITA). At the WorldSBK debut on the track in Emilia Romagna, the BMW Motorrad factory riders gave strong race performances after an unlucky qualifying session. The best result came from Garrett Gerloff (USA / Bonovo action BMW Racing Team) with fourth place in Sunday’s second main race. Michael van der Mark (NED / ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) battled his way to seventh place in both main races. Scott Redding’s (GBR / Bonovo action BMW Racing Team) best race result was 12th on Sunday afternoon. Championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR / ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was still unable to race after his heavy crash on Friday at Magny-Cours (FRA). The mild pneumothorax he sustained requires more time to heal.
BMW Motorrad factory rider Markus Reiterberger (GER) stepped in for the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team at Cremona. His task was to prepare for Razgatlioglu’s comeback. Among other things, a new, additional engine was used, which meant Reiterberger had to start both main races from the back of the grid and serve two long-lap penalties in each race. Nevertheless, he managed to fight his way back and score points both times. Just one week after the season finale of the FIM Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC), Reiterberger made the transition to World Superbike very successfully.
The first crucial session of the weekend was Superpole on Saturday morning, which turned out to be turbulent. In the decisive final minutes, when the BMW riders were aiming for good grid positions, yellow flags were waved due to crashes by other riders, and lap times were cancelled. As a result, the BMW M 1000 RRs lined up from the fourth row of the grid.
Starting from 15th place, van der Mark mounted a strong comeback in the first main race on Saturday afternoon. When the race was red-flagged after 17 of the planned 23 laps – due to technical issues – van der Mark had already fought his way up to seventh. Gerloff, who had started from 11th, climbed up to eighth place. Redding was classified 13th. Reiterberger, who had started from the back of the field and served his two long-lap penalties, fought his way up and finished 14th.
The best BMW rider in Sunday morning’s Superpole race was Gerloff in ninth place. That improved his grid position for the second main race, placing him on the third row. Van der Mark and Redding finished 12th and 13th, with Reiterberger in 16th.
In this second main race, the only direction for the BMW riders was forward. From ninth place, Gerloff moved up to fifth by mid-race, and in the penultimate lap, he overtook Alex Lowes (GBR / Kawasaki) to claim fourth. Van der Mark rocketed from 16th on the grid to 10th at the start and eventually secured seventh place by the finish. Redding initially dropped back at the start but fought his way back to finish 12th. Once again, Reiterberger started from the back and crossed the line in 15th.
Razgatlioglu remains the championship leader. After missing two race weekends, his lead margin is now 13 points. The championship continues next weekend at MotorLand Aragón in Spain. Whether Razgatlioglu can race there will be decided at the given time.
Reactions after the Cremona round.
Sven Blusch, Head of BMW Motorrad Motorsport: “I think we managed to minimise the damage in regards of the championship this weekend. It was definitely not an easy weekend. First and foremost, we’d like to extend a big thank you to Markus Reiterberger. It was great to see how well Reiti integrated into the team, and the whole crew was impressed with his approach. It was really enjoyable to have him on board here. His support for the BMW family was very important, and we truly appreciate his efforts. Garrett fought his way forward after a difficult qualifying session and did an outstanding job today, particularly in race two, where he put in a great performance to finish fourth. He also showed his excellent tyre management skills. Mickey had a tough start to the weekend but was able to demonstrate strong pace in both main races, finishing P7 each time. Unfortunately, Scott had a challenging weekend, but we hope to improve in the upcoming races.
Overall, we are very hopeful that Toprak can return at Aragón. The entire BMW family sends their best wishes from Cremona. The battle for the championship is now fully underway, which is fantastic for the fans, and we hope to be back in the mix with the full squad next weekend.”
Garrett Gerloff, Bonovo action BMW Racing Team (SP: 11 / R01: 8 / SP Race: 9 / R02: 4): “Qualifying was just a struggle for me, all the competitors were going so fast. It was also really difficult to make up ground in the Superpole race, but luckily I was able to move to P9, so to the third row, which did help me in the second long race. But like I said, everybody was going so fast until the first six laps were over and it’s really hard to make forward progress. But then once everybody started to lose grip, I had an advantage and I was able to move forward. The only unfortunate things is that I lost my rear brake half way through the race, that did not help me at all. Anyway, I’m still really happy with how the bike feels and with the whole Bonovo team and how we’re working together. It’s not a podium like last weekend but I’m still really satisfied with how I’m riding and I hope to continue that in the next races.”
Michael van der Mark, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team (SP: 17 / R01: 7 / SP Race: 12 / R02: 7): “It was a tough weekend, especially the start of it was difficult. We’ve struggled with the feeling of the bike and the set-up. In Superpole we did a good lap but it unfortunately got cancelled. For the races, we analysed the data and made some small changes on the electronics and the riding style. During the weekend we understood the bike better and how to ride the circuit. I learned a lot, so let’s say it was a tough weekend but also very interesting, with a lot of things we’ve learned. It was nice to see that we made so much progress and I need to be happy with P7 in the two main races, also with some good points.”
Scott Redding, Bonovo action BMW Racing Team (SP: 15 / R01: 13 / SP Race: 13 / R02: 12): “The weekend was up and down. It has been a little more difficult than I had expected it to be here but today I had a good feeling in the warm up. We had changed a lot on the bike overnight. It’s always a gamble if it’s better or worse. I felt better. Then in the Superpole race, I felt not bad. I got some rhythm in the race but I missed a bit of something really to the group in front. In race two, I am kind of not sure what happened to the track temperature rising. I felt not bad in the middle of the race but in the beginning, I was losing the front tyre a lot so I had to change my riding style. I had lost the group in front but managed to close the gap to them. I just struggled really to find a good rhythm here at Cremona but we finished the weekend more positive than we started so it’s good.”
Markus Reiterberger, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team (SP: 14 / R01: 14 / SP Race: 16 / R02: 15): “The weekend was very nice and exciting, but also very exhausting. Getting on such a powerful and demanding bike after such a long FIM EWC race at Le Castellet was not easy. Nevertheless, it was a really great experience for me. The most important thing was that we accomplished our goals and tasks so that Toprak can continue to fight for the championship as soon as he returns and I believe we fulfilled that task well. At the same time, I was able to see how fast I still am and managed to set some great lap times. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite translate that into results in race two. But still, we’ve seen that we can deliver a good performance, and that was nice. For that, I’m very thankful to BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the team.”
