Scott completes two day test at Phillip Island ahead of 2023 season opener
The 2023 FIM Superbike World Championship opens with two back-to-back overseas events for BMW Motorrad Motorsport. This weekend (24th to 26th February), Phillip Island in Australia hosts the opening round of the season. Just one week later (3rd to 5th March), the WorldSBK circus is at Mandalika, Indonesia, for round two. ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team rider Scott Redding (GBR) is set for his race debut with the new BMW M 1000 RR.
The new generation of the BMW M 1000 RR was launched in October 2022 and serves as the basis for the World Superbike for the 2023 season. The new bike’s aerodynamics, in particular, have undergone comprehensive optimisation. At the same time, BMW Motorrad Motorsport has spent the winter developing specific racing components to be used in WorldSBK.
The two BMW teams completed their pre-season preparations with the official tests at Phillip Island on Monday and Tuesday. The teams and their four riders used both days to fine-tune their bikes ahead of the opening races.
Scott Redding, #45
“At the test, we have worked on getting some more feeling with the bike and as the track started to have more grip I started to feel better. We tried a few things to help with the rear grip again and we worked on electronics to get me more feeling in that area of the bike. We still have some work to do. Now we start the season with a double-header. I am not feeling super confident yet but it is coming slowly the more I ride the bike. The field is super close at the moment. When you look at the lap times, it is super close with everybody. So it will be difficult to say what the targets for the first two rounds are and the race is obviously different to testing. I would be happy to get some top-six finishes in the first races. Overall, we just need to play it by ear and see where we are after the first race to improve on that.”