An emotional weekend of joy and pain for our riders. Joy for the first historic BMW victory achieved by Marco in race 1; a race full of overtaking and hard braking down to the last metre, and pain for race 2 that saw Checa fall (X-lite X-802) in the first corner and Marco fall in the last.
It could have been the perfect day for the championship but unfortunately it did not happen. However, this is racing so let's enjoy this win and look to the next race that will be at Miller Motorsports Park on 28/5.
Other important results for our riders were Checa's sixth place in race 1, Camier fourth in race 2, Badovini sixth and a tenth for Fabrizio in race 1. Checa is now fourth in the championship with Melandri in fifth position.
Marco Melandri:
“It is an awesome feeling for me to put my name in the history books of a factory like BMW Motorrad. I could not have imagined dreaming of this when I was young. I just want to say thank you to BMW Motorrad in Germany, to the team at the track and to everybody involved in the project. We have been working so hard and we have never given up, even when we were encountering some difficulties. We will keep pushing, and I am more than happy.
“I am disappointed with the result of the second race of course. I was trying to pass Leon in the final corner although I knew it would be difficult. Anyhow, I am a racer and I had to try. I ran a little wide and expected Leon to pass me back – finishing second would have been ok for me. Then Leon was hit and he crashed. His bike hit me and I crashed too. I feel sorry for both Leon and me but that’s racing. We now have to keep our heads high and look forward to Salt Lake City where we hope to be fighting for wins again.”
Carlos Checa:
“After the result of race 1, which wasn’t bad, I thought I’d be able to do more in the second. I tried to start strong and found a good position but when I got to the apex I saw Laverty in front of me and he braked suddenly, maybe there was a rider in front of him I don’t know. I did everything I could to brake, to stop the bike, but there were riders all around me and I couldn’t avoid a fall.
