After what seems like such a long wait, World Superbikes are back in action this weekend with the first round of the 2013 championship kicking off ‘down under’ at Phillip Island, Australia. As before, the aim of the team remains the same: to pick up as many wins and podiums as possible, and of course fight for the championship. However, there have been a few changes in personnel from last season, so we thought we’d bring you right up to speed with the latest team structure.

First and foremost: the team is now called the BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team and while the rider line-up still consists of an Italian and a British rider, it’s the British rider that is completely new to the team. Welshman Chaz Davies now joins Marco Melandri, who returns for his second consecutive year as a factory rider.

Melandri made a great impression in his debut year with the team in 2012, winning six races, and finishing the Riders’ Championship in third overall on the works S 1000 RR, claiming the best ever result for a BMW rider in this category. In fact, it was the team’s most successful season to date in the Superbike World Championship, as they also finished in second place in the Manufacturers’ Championship.


For 2013, the bar is of course raised even higher and BMW Motorrad will take on this challenge with a new team structure to support its goals. The works team and previous operational team at BMW Motorrad Italia have now merged into a new works outfit – the BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team – with its HQ in Bologna.

BMW Motorrad Italia is responsible for race and test outings, as well as work on the chassis, while the drive train and electronics packages are developed by BMW Motorrad in Munich.

The man with overall responsibility for the Superbike project is Andrea Buzzoni, General Manager BMW Motorrad WSBK. In charge of motorsport development is Stephan Fischer, Technical Director at BMW Motorrad Motorsport. The Sport Director of the BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team is Serafino Foti, while Andrea Dosoli is responsible for technical issues within the Superbike team.

This new, efficient structure will help the team in its quest for success on the racetrack, where the race for rider and manufacturer titles begins in earnest this weekend at Phillip Island, Australia, and continues right up to the final race at the Buddh International Circuit in India nine months from now. We hope you’ll come along for the ride and will be with us every step of the way on bmw-sbk.it.

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