Two World Championship events with the BMW M 1000 RR in one weekend – and much celebration at BMW Motorrad Motorsport on a truly ‘Super Weekend’. At the third round of the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) at Assen (NED), Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR) and the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team celebrated a sensational victory in the second main race on Sunday after finishing second on Saturday. In the FIM Endurance World Championship, the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team started the 2024 season with a second-place finish at the Le Mans (FRA) 24 Heures Motos.
WorldSBK at Assen.
At the WorldSBK event at Assen, Razgatlioglu was on course for victory in the first main race on Saturday. In extremely changeable conditions, starting from third place, he was on his way to taking the lead when the race was red-flagged, thus finishing second on the podium. A challenging Superpole race on Sunday morning didn’t deter him. Razgatlioglu finished ninth and had to start the second race in the afternoon from that position. However, ‘El Turco’ charged through the field and took the lead for the first time on the eighth lap. In the final stages, he secured the top spot definitively, thus earning Razgatlioglu his third victory with the BMW M 1000 RR following the successes at Barcelona (ESP). After Assen, he is in second place in the championship standings.
Razgatlioglu’s teammate Michael van der Mark (NED) also fought for podium positions at his Assen home race. Starting from 13th place, he finished seventh in the shortened first race. In the Superpole race, he was the best BMW rider, finishing eighth. In the second main race, van der Mark was among the contenders in the leading group before finishing sixth. Due to a penalty, he was classified as ninth. In the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team, Scott Redding (GBR) secured two top-ten finishes, eighth in race one and tenth in the Superpole race. The best result for his teammate Garrett Gerloff (USA) was eleventh place in the Superpole race, followed by twelfth place in race two.
FIM EWC at Le Mans.
The famous 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans marked the opening round of the 2024 FIM EWC. The BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team, led by Team Manager Werner Daemen (BEL), made a strong start to the new season with the #37 BMW M 1000 RR. The three regular riders, Markus Reiterberger (GER), Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR), and Sylvain Guintoli (FRA), secured second place on the podium. The trio started the twice-around-the-clock marathon from fifth place. With flawless performances from the riders and the team’s excellent work in the pit, the #37 quickly climbed into the podium positions and was already in second place on Saturday after a few hours of racing. The team maintained this position until the finish on Sunday afternoon.
In the FIM EWC Superstock class, the Tecmas-MRP-BMW Racing Team fought for its second Le Mans victory with the #9 BMW M 1000 RR. Starting from second place in class, Kenny Foray (FRA), Jan Bühn (GER), Loïc Arbel (FRA), and Hannes Soomer (EST) were temporarily in the lead. After a crash during the night, they worked their way back up to fourth place in class, however due to a technical issue, the #9 bike retired prematurely.
