Fantastic performance by Torres and Althea BMW at Buriram

The second round of the 2017 Superbike World Championship concluded today at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand. In a race conditioned by both the sweltering temperatures and a red flag, the Althea BMW Racing team achieved an excellent result, crossing the line fifth with Jordi Torres who put Davies behind him. Tenth for Markus Reiterberger. Superbike - Race 2 – fourth on the grid, Torres lost ground off the line and was lying eighth after the first lap. The Spaniard made up three places in the initial stages but the race was then stopped with a red flag after a crash for Savadori left oil on the track. Reiti, further back during the opening laps, was lying 15th when the race was interrupted. Almost half an hour later, the race was restarted (16 laps), with riders lining up in the positions they held at the end of lap four, so Torres from seventh, Reiti from fifteenth place. This time, Jordi got away well, sixth through the opening stages behind Laverty. Thanks to a consistent pace, the Spaniard was in fifth at the mid-race point, a position that he was able to hold all the way to the line, giving Davies no chance to get past him through the final laps. An important result for the Italian team after some inconveniences this weekend. Reiti was able to make up a few positions in the first half of the race and was lying eleventh. Passing several riders in the final phase, the German reached the top ten today, crossing the line tenth. Two rounds into the 2017 championship and Torres lies seventh in the standings with 29 points while Reiterberger is 12th with 15 points.  BMW positions fourth in the manufacturer's classification with 32 points, while Althea BMW also lies fourth in the team rankings (44 points).

“In the first ‘heat’ we started well and I was making good progress so it was pity about the restart after Savadori crashed because we were in fifth place at the time. After the restart, from seventh, I started to push and got into a really good rhythm, getting past several riders. I gave 100% in the race, more even, as I knew Davies was closing in on me at the end, and we were able to finish fifth, a great result, which I’m very pleased with.” “Top ten sounds OK but there were also several crashes for other riders. The first laps were again not so good. I ran a little wide in traffic early on and lost too much time there. Then I was following Krummenacher and was worried when I saw him losing water. After he moved away, I tried to focus as much as possible and maintain a constant pace, which wasn’t so bad. I definitely need to work on my performance through the opening laps though, and also improve my feeling with the bike. I’m feeling positive and thank my team for their hard work here this weekend.” “Today we scored a great result, with Jordi achieving fifth place after fighting at a very high level. This is fruit of the hard work completed by the team. In terms of the chassis, on which we’ve been working for some time, it seems we’re starting to see results, while we still need a little more with regard to the electronics and the engine, in order to be able to take another step. Jordi has proved to be able to fight against the best, defending himself from Davies all the way to the line, a demonstration of his strength. Reiti made some progress today but is still far from what we know that he and the bike can do. Jordi has made significant progress and we hope that Reiti can soon do likewise. I thank the entire team and the BMW engineers for their work over the weekend. Now we’ll prepare for the European rounds where, having more references, we hope to be able to achieve some important results.”