13/11/22
- P6 for Scott Redding and the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team in the Superpole Race and in race two.
- Michael van der Mark misses out on a possible top six finish in race one due to a crash.
- Loris Baz and the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team finish race one in the top ten.
Mandalika. BMW Motorrad Motorsport has concluded the FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) race weekend in Mandalika in Indonesia with two top six finishes. After a difficult Saturday, Scott Redding (GBR) from the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team claimed sixth position in both Sunday’s Superpole Race and race two. In the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team, that lined up on the Mandalika International Street Circuit for the first time, Loris Baz (FRA) secured a top ten finish in Saturday’s race one.
Enormous heat and a relatively large amount of dirt on the track off the line made the weekend a huge challenge for all teams and riders. In the Superpole qualification, held on Saturday morning, Redding claimed eighth position on his BMW M 1000 RR. His team-mate Michael van der Mark (NED) was 11th. Baz finished qualifying in 15th place and his team-mate Eugene Laverty (IRL) who, like Baz, was racing at the Indonesian track for the first time, qualified 20th.
In race one, van der Mark was initially the best-placed BMW rider. After an excellent start, he had made his way up to sixth place, however, in the fight for a top six result, he crashed a few laps before the end and retired. Baz secured another top 10 finish, crossing the line in tenth. In order to avoid a contact, the Frenchman went off the track briefly at turn one and dropped back to last place. But he worked his way back up lap after lap. Redding slid off the track in the dirt off the ideal line after the start, also losing many positions, and struggled with the conditions throughout the race. He finished 12th. Laverty scored two points coming home in 14th.
Redding was then back in the mix in Sunday morning’s Superpole Race, taking the chequered flag in sixth position. He repeated that result in the second main race on Sunday afternoon. Although he lost several positions in the first half of the race and fell back to tenth place, Redding was able to fight his way back up to sixth place in the second part of the race. Van der Mark finished tenth in the Superpole Race and 12th in the second main race. Baz was 12th and 13th in the two Sunday races, while Laverty was 17th and 16th.
WorldSBK now directly heads to Phillip Island in the south of Australia where the 2022 season finale will be held this coming weekend (18th to 20th November).