Corser and Xaus try BMW Superbike

Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus have had their first test on the new BMW S1000RR

Corser and Xaus Test the BMW Superbike

Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus have had their first test on the new BMW S1000RR at Valencia. Quotes follow.

Troy Corser:

I am a bit surprised really because I didn’t think I would feel as comfortable on the bike as I did. The base is very good and although there is a lot of work to be done, I feel very positive about our prospects. Even though I have had just two days on the bike, I feel it is my bike and I wasn’t expecting that so soon.

The team have now got a lot of info and telemetry data to work with for the next test, but I’m happy with the progress we made over the two days. The communication is very good and there have been no problems except that I got hit by a bird towards the end of the test. It happened between turn one and two and it hit me just under the throat, above my chest protector, and it was a pretty heavy hit. It ruined my lap and it didn’t do the bird any good either!

Ruben Xaus:

I am happier today than yesterday, but that’s normal because I have now had more time on the bike. What I can say is that I am very happy with the bike – how it handles, how it turns and its power. It is very stable at speed and it is not a physical bike to ride and already I’m pretty comfortable on it. Troy and I have different riding styles and that means we are giving our team a lot of info and data for them to analyse before the next test.

Troy has experience of riding twins, three cylinder and four cylinder bikes, so was able to get dialled in faster than me, but that’s what I expected. Everybody in the team is working well together and I feel very positive and happy about our future.

Berti Hauser – Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport

I am very happy at the progress we have made these two days and I am delighted at the feedback that Troy and Ruben have given us. Their comments have been very clear and make us confident about our situation and what we are doing. Troy and Ruben have different riding styles and requirements, but we get more info this way. We know we still have a lot of work to do, but I am happy because our direction is very clear.

We are much closer to competitive lap times then previous tests (we didn’t use any qualifiers and Troy got into the 1:35s on race rubber) and we know, from the riders, the things we have to do to improve.