BMW introduced its two World Superbike race teams in Phillip Island, Australia, and the teams are taking part in a three-day test this week prior to the opening event of the season this weekend. Leon Haslam and Marco Melandri will ride for the factory team, while Andrea Dosoli was recently names as the new Head of Race Operations. The rest of the management structure around BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director Bernhard Gobmeier remains unchanged: Stephan Fischer is Head of Development, while Josef Hofmann, the Managing Director of alpha Racing, assumes responsibility for the Stephanskirchen factory.
The works-supported BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team will contest its second Superbike World Championship season in 2012, with the team entering a brace of BMW S 1000 RRs for Italian riders Ayrton Badovini and Michel Fabrizio. Andrea Buzzoni, Director of BMW Motorrad Italia and manager of the Superbike project will lead the team, together with Sporting Director Serafino Foti and Technical Director Gerardo “Dino” Acocella. The factory BMW Motorrad Motorsport Team will provide engines and electronics for the RR.