BMW insist Ruben Xaus will race at Portimao
Added on Friday, March 12th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
BMW insist Ruben Xaus will race at Portimao
The team manager at BMW has insisted that rider Ruben Xaus will return to racing at the Portimao World Superbike competition, despite having missed the opening race in Australia.
Xaus decided to sit out of the season opener at Phillip Island after being in four different accidents, including a high speed collision with Noriyuki Haha, and a speculated lack of confidence in the BMW S1000RR.
Rumour has been rife that Xaus’ failure to participate in the first race has put his position with the BMW team in jeopardy but team manager Davide Tardozzi quashed those rumours by insisting that the Spanish rider will be racing at Portimao.
“The main issue at this moment is to have Ruben on form in Portimao,” Tardozzi said. “We are working on that, it is my priority so far.”
Tardozzi has commented that his priority is for Xaus to regain his confidence on the bike so that he is ready to race, and after their recent meeting the manager thinks he is ready to do so.
“Ruben is not so bad so far. I am in Spain now and I spoke to him here. I think Ruben still thinks he can be fast and do well, and I have seen he is very well in these two days, so I think he will be ready for Portimao.” Tardozzi added.
BMW have enjoyed a good start to the season, despite only having one rider, with Troy Corser in the top ten at both races.
“On the technical side we will have another step on the bike,” Tardozzi continued. “We are making progress step by step, not looking for a huge step. You can’t pass from seventh to first immediately; you first have to be consistently close to the top guys. Houses are built stone-by-stone.”
