Torres and Reiterberger on Round 12 Results
Althea BMW Racing Team duo review the Gaerne Spanish Round
The #JerezWorldSBK round did not yield the kind of results that Althea BMW Racing Team pair Jordi Torres and Markus Reiterberger were looking for, with both riders hoping to find some improvements in Monday’s test.
Torres was eighth in both races in the south of Spain having qualified in seventh on the grid, whilst Reiterberger was ninth in Race 1 and 14th in Race 2 after qualifying in 13th.
In Race 2 on Sunday Torres lost a little ground at the start and was lying ninth behind Michael van der Mark and Xavi Fores. The Spanish rider was able to pass his fellow countryman on lap seven to move into eighth. Torres then ran a solitary second half of the race on the BMW S1000 RR, separated from both those immediately ahead and those chasing him by several seconds, finally crossing the line in eighth position.
“We changed the front tyre for Sunday’s race, hoping for better durability, but there will still a drop in performance,” said Torres afterwards. “We did however lap with more consistent lap times compared to Saturday, but the result was very similar in the end. Despite the final outcome, I can be pleased with the fact that I gave it my all, I was more aggressive and I didn’t make any mistakes. We’ll make the most of the test session and use it to try and find some good solutions.”
For Reiterberger Race 2 proved to be similar to Saturday’s Race 1. Having gained ground at the start, he was running between 10th and 11th up until the mid-race point, after which the German gradually fell back, concluding the race 14th.
Reiterberger commented, “Sunday’s race was not a good one. I felt OK through the first two laps and had good pace but then I had some problems after passing (Davide) Giugliano. My sensations with the bike changed and I had difficulties with the front tyre, which almost caused me to crash on more than one occasion. I made a mistake as a result, losing some time, and I am of course very disappointed with 14th place. The team is working so hard and I’m sorry the results are not better than they are. I hope we can find something during Monday’s tests.”
