The overall increase in the competitiveness of the official BMW Motorrad Motorsport squad has been very marked this season, and soon they will have the chance to make another step up when Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus (photo) return to Miller Motorsports Park in the USA.

Miller was a particularly tricky round in 2009 for BMW, as Corser attests, "Last year we didn't have our best weekend in the States. We just couldn't keep pace with the top riders and teams. Salt Lake City lies at a higher altitude than all the other circuits on the calendar, and that has an impact on engine output. But that's not our main problem. The area we need to work on most is the chassis. The key here is to be clever with our chassis settings to increase mechanical grip, so that the electronics have to cut in as little as possible. I've got a few ideas, which I'm keen to put into action at Salt Lake City."



For Ruben Xaus, an early season wobble in his confidence has been overcome and the 11-times WSBK race winner is rebuilding his season in a steady and consistent fashion. He is looking forward to getting as much track time as possible on the weekend, before racing starts for real. "I'm feeling good on the bike, and that makes it easy for me as a rider," says Ruben. "I hope that we can take another step forward in America. I've only raced here twice before, so we don't have as much experience of this track as we do of other places. Plus, we don't test here."

For Ruben the circuit in America is tricky and, even more than the previous high-altitude circuit of Kyalami, tough on engines. "This circuit is very long and has some interesting corners. However, its altitude means the engines lose some of their power, and no rider likes that. The track is technically very demanding and it's very important to find a good set-up for the bike."