Althea BMW set for first European SBK round, this weekend at Motorland Aragón

The Althea BMW Racing Team, with riders Jordi Torres and Markus Reiterberger, is ready for the first European round of the Superbike world championship, taking place this weekend at the Motorland Aragón in Spain. The Spanish circuit is located roughly 280 km from Barcelona, meaning that this weekend’s event is also Torres’ home race. Last year, the local hero crossed the line in seventh and fifth place in the weekend’s races, while team-mate Reiterberger had a tough weekend, achieving a best result of fourteenth position. This season, after the championship’s opening rounds at Phillip Island (Australia) and Buriram (Thailand), the two Althea BMW riders are currently lying seventh (Torres) and twelfth (Reiterberger) in the general standings, with 29 and 15 points respectively. Both riders hope for a positive weekend’s racing at Motorland. As well as competing in the reigning class, the Althea BMW will once again compete in the Superstock 1000 category, which also kicks off this weekend alongside WorldSBK. The Italian team, having won the championship with rider Raffaele de Rosa in 2016, again opts to entrust its BMW S 1000 RR to a young Italian rider, this time in the shape of Marco Faccani.

Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team #81) “I’m pleased to be racing back in Spain, at home, for the third round of the championship. I think we’ve made a good start but, having said that, the aim is to continue to make progress and so work to continuously improve my result and close the gap between us and the frontrunners. It will be great to race at home and I hope to score some great results for the fans who will come to support me.”

Markus Reiterberger (Althea BMW Racing Team #21) “I’m really looking forward to Aragon. I love the track and the weather usually cooperates too. Last year we struggled a little and so we have to learn from those experiences and improve this time around, working hard from start to finish. I hope we can have a positive weekend and I’ll do my very best to complete two good races.”

Marco Faccani (Althea BMW - Superstock 1000 - #5) “I feel well prepared for the season’s start, after an intensive winter of training. During testing, I had chance to see my rivals and it looks like there will be a good group of us fighting for the positions that count. My aim is to be consistently competitive and fight for the title; I think that the bike is up to the task and I feel ready for the challenge. I like Aragon and did well during practice and qualifying last year. I thank the team, starting with Genesio of course, for this opportunity and hope to be able to do well and start out on the right foot this weekend.”  Track Information: Country: Spain Name: Motorland Aragón Length: 5.077 km Pole position: right Corners: 10 left-hand, 7 right-hand SBK RECORDS: Best lap – Davies (Ducati) 1'50.421 (2016). Superpole – Sykes (Kawasaki) 1'49.374 (2016). 2016 SBK RESULTS: Race 1 - 1. Davies (Ducati); 2. Sykes (Kawasaki); 3. Rea (Kawasaki). Race 2 – 1. Davies (Ducati); 2. Sykes (Kawasaki); 3. Rea (Kawasaki) Weekend schedule (CET): Friday 9.00 – 9.30 – STK1000 Free Practice 9.45 – 10.45 – SBK Timed Practice 1 13.45 – 14.15 – STK1000 Free Practice 14.30 – 15.30 – SBK Timed Practice 2 Saturday 8.45 – 9.10 – SBK Free Practice 9.45 -  10.15 – STK1000 Free Practice 10.30 – 10.45 – Superpole 1 10.55 – 11.10 – Superpole 2 13.00 – SBK Race 1 15.00 – 15.30 – STK1000 Qualifying Sunday 9.30 – 9.45 – SBK Warm-up 10.00 – 10.15 – STK1000 Warm-up 13.00 – SBK Race 2 15.15 – STK1000 Race