BMW bring "final fix" 2022 engine to Misano, fuel tank and chassis upgrades for Redding
Scott Redding makes his first public WorldSBK test aboard the BMW and there’s a bundle of things to get through, whilst giving an update on Michael van der Mark and the Dutchman’s fractured leg
It’s a mixed start to the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, with Dutchman Michael van der Mark out with a fractured leg following a mountain bike accident. However, on the positive side, they’ll be debuting their new 2022 engine across the two days at Misano, whilst also unveiling a new fuel tank, to help Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) with his positioning on the bike.
Outlining the testing schedule at Misano, team principal Shaun Muir outlined the new 2022 engine and electronic strategies as being vital: “We’ve completely reconfigured the fuel tank, the subframe assembly and we’ve given him a bike now which fits him much better, which is really quick; the guys have done a fantastic job in literally eight weeks to do that. We also validated the 2022 engine in Jerez, and we’ve now brought that here today as a final fix which will be what we start the season with.”
“We have a new chassis configuration for him as well with different flexibility, which is a summary of all the work we did last year. We worked on quite a few chassis configurations and now we have a set chassis for Michael and for Scott, which is really solid from the test at Jerez to prove this for us. Just fine tuning, it’s all fine tuning the whole package.
“One of the major parts for us in the electronic strategy, to give the electronic strategy and the feeling Scott is looking for. Very much not like he was used to with the bike from last year. For him, it’s completely new. We believe we have moved a lot of the feeling of the electronics to what Scott will like and we’re looking forward to seeing the result of that. Generally, we had a good plan from December and now we’re much more firm in the direction we’re going and the bike we start here will be very close to what we start in Aragon.”
Another story with the BMW camp is that Michael van der Mark is out injured, and Shaun Muir provided his thoughts on the Dutchman’s luck: “It’s a real shame at the last minute that Michael took an injury out training. Nothing sinister, it was a very unlucky situation on a mountain bike. It’s happened, we must wait for the prognosis for that.
“We should find out today or tomorrow how long it’ll take for the recovery and when he can have an operation, but for sure it’ll need to be plated. We’ll wait for the answer for that. His spirits are down, just disappointed because we worked so hard over winter to prepare the bike. When he has a target, when we have an understanding… our honest opinion is he’ll be more like Assen for the comeback."
Commenting on day two of the test about the van der Mark injury situation, Muir added: “For sure, he will miss Catalunya and very quickly after Catalunya we’ll start to make some decisions. At the moment, we cannot confirm anything just yet.”
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