BMW Boxer Cup Results
Added on Monday, April 29th, 2002 by Carole Nash Editor
BMW Boxer Cup Results
The word from the BMW team, with three Brit riders all having a great time in this twi cylinder, one make series;
Solid start for British Boxercup contingent.
The inaugural round of the 2002 International BMW BoxerCup series got off to a solid start for the BMW Motorrad Great Britain team at Donington Park national circuit, with Brian Morrison, Richard Cooper and Gus Scott all securing solid points scoring finishes. MCN journalist, Kev Smith, who was participating as a guest rider at Donington, finished in 17th place. The race was won by German, Markus Barth, with current champion Stephane Mertens and Sebastien Legrelle rounding off the top three.
The two timed qualifying sessions had taken place in mixed conditions with Richard Cooper qualifying seventh, Brian Morrison qualifying tenth and Gus Scott in 14th. Although heavy winds and rain threatened on race day, it remained dry but extremely windy for the duration of the 22-lap race – the first of the eight round 2002 series.
Current World Endurance Champion and newcomer to the series, Brian Morrison made a reasonable start to the race from the third row of the grid. He was battling for the lead of the second group of riders for most of the race, eventually finishing in seventh, just 11.7 seconds behind the winner.
“It was tougher than I expected out there,” said the experienced Scotsman, who had been one of the fastest riders during the first qualifying session. “I had a good start and I was fifth going through Craner Curves. Then some of the faster guys got in front of me and I moved back to tenth. I knew I had to be smooth to move further up the field. I saw the guys in front of me making mistakes, so I took advantage of it and moved up a couple of places to finish seventh. I’m quite happy to finish seventh in my first BoxerCup race, but I’ll be really happy when I win a race.”
Nineteen-year-old Richard Cooper made the best start of the British contingent, slotting his R1100 S machine into fifth position after the leading quartet of riders had pulled a gap in the early part of the race.
“I made an excellent start to the race,” said Cooper, who is the youngest rider in this year’s series. “I felt really comfortable out there in the early stages of the race, but was amazed at how tough the levels of competition were. The riders were leaving no gaps whatsoever and there was a fair amount of fairing bashing going on. If you gave anyone an inch, they were through straight away. I finished ninth in the end, so I feel as if I’ve learnt loads and of course, I’m happy to go home with some championship points in the bag.”
Two Wheels Only journalist Gus Scott, who rode in one of the BoxerCup rounds last year, finished in eleventh position today at Donington. “I didn’t make the best of starts from the fourth row of the grid and when that happens, it’s hard to catch up with the leading pack,” he said. “It was difficult to get a clean lap because there were riders all around me all trying to fight for the same few inches of the racing line. I had to ride defensively just to keep my track position and swapped paintwork with a few riders. I managed to get into the top ten at one stage, but there are some quick and experienced guys out there who were just waiting to get in front. I’m fairly happy with the result, but will be looking to score more points at the next round.”
This was a view shared by Team Manager, Kevin Pascoe, who was satisfied with the first outing of the BMW GB team. “To come into this established series and have all three riders score points is a great start for us,” he said. “Having a BMW BoxerCup race in the UK will have really raised the profile of the series over here. There are a lot of BMW riders who have turned up today to support the UK team and hopefully a few of them will follow us over to Mugello for the next round on 1 June. All-in-all it’s been a good debut for the team and we’re pleased to be part of this prestigious series.”
Results;
Markus Barth – 28:42.407
Stephane Mertens + 0.313
Sebastien Legrelle + 0.317
Roberto Panichi + 9.833
Thomas Hinterreiter + 9.941
Johan Stigefelt + 10.332
Brian Morrison + 11.795
Antonio Calasso + 12.374
Richard Cooper + 13.165
Dirk Buylinck + 23.219
Gus Scott + 24.935
