As anticipation grows around BMW for the 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, with the arrival of Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) consolidating one of the most talented rider line-ups in the series, the question remains on many onlookers’ minds: how much (and how) can BMW improve in 2024?
The manufacturer finished fourth out of five in the 2023 standings and without a podium to their name, and progress since the factory team’s arrival in 2019 has often been relatively short-lived; and yet, many members of the paddock have spoken highly about the ceiling of the M 1000 RR, double Champion Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) amongst them.
WorldSBK.com spoke with BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director Marc Bongers and Technical Director Christian Gonschor at the recent BMW launch event in Berlin to get an idea of where the project is leading to next, and what Toprak Razgatlioglu’s arrival has already contributed to their direction for 2024.
BONGERS: “Toprak denied all these question marks”
Speaking first, Bongers lauded the rider line-up – “the strongest we’ve ever had” – before sharing his insight into where improvements will be coming from in the first stages of 2024.
“The bike has a couple of technical updates. We have reworked the aerodynamics of the bike from 2023 to 2024. Then, in terms of the chassis, we will hit the road with a revised swingarm. Engine-wise, we’ll have a small update, an evolution rather than an evolution, but every little bit helps and in this very competitive Championship, you need that. And actually, on the electronic side, this is a constant process of updating in every area, as well as adapting to riders and new riders.
Intriguingly, Razgatlioglu’s first steps on the bike back in December seemed to dismiss some of the most common criticisms that had been shared about the M 1000 RR, according to Bongers: “After all the question marks in the press, or world the outside of BMW, where people would say: ‘is that the right choice for Toprak? They have their own electronics, the bike doesn’t seem to turn very well, braking’… When Toprak came back with his first comments, he basically denied all these question marks. The bike stops, the bike turns, the bike brakes, the bike accelerates.
“That gave me a positive feeling, but again, we have tests in front of us with the competitors and it will be our first real reference to see where we’re at. We still have to work and as he said himself before, he needs some more time because we didn’t have very efficient test time in December”.
GONSCHOR: “The test team will help”
Speaking for the first time with WorldSBK.com since his appointment as BMW Motorrad Motorsport Technical Director in July of 2023, Christian Gonschor has been hard at work since then with the expansion of the project for this 2024 season. This being his first pre-season in the role, there has been no shortage of work for the BMW engineers and technicians.
“We will definitely work on every item”, confirms Gonschor. “We are always working on the engine, we are working on the chassis, on the electronic side and also slightly on the aerodynamics. To get where we want to be, you have to get the maximum out of every quarter of the bike, it’s a complex thing. You cannot say one thing is good and the other thing is bad, everything interacts.
“For example, let’s say the electronics, very important these days for every kind of racing. There we can individualise a lot each rider’s base. We can concentrate on electronics, but this an ongoing, day-by-day development. The engine, the chassis, the swingarm… It’s a long-term story. We’re always looking for more rear grip, it’s obvious we’re working on the rear end, like everybody. Electronic work is daily work you need to do. It’s good to have a lot of people in Munich working on this.
BMW will field four riders on race weekends, but one of the big stories coming into the new season is the creation of a two-rider test team to guide the development of the M 1000 RR, with Sylvain Guintoli – 2014 WorldSBK Champion and former Suzuki test rider in MotoGP™ – and Bradley Smith on permanent testing duties. For Gonschor, this could be a key to unlocking the full potential of the package.
“The agenda for the test team is quite simple. We want to concentrate on the development and verification of new solutions, and the race teams should concentrate on the race weekends. There are limited tests for the riders so they need to focus on their own individual solution. The test team can do the work from January to December for all four riders”.
As for his own first impressions on Toprak, Gonschor’s optimism matches that of Bongers: “Every rider brings new data, new skills, new questions. With his unique riding style, with the front end of the bike, we can learn a lot about corner entry, which we were already quite good at.
“I think everybody saw some pictures of the test and they looked quite similar to what he was doing in the past. So, you can imagine that a smile was on his face”.
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Source: WorldSBK.com