Ayrton Badovini Signs With JR Racing BMW Team
Gordon Ritchie | November 25, 2014
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
When the JR Racing Team was unveiled to the world at the Magny Cours round of the 2014 Superbike World Championship the team bosses said that they would prefer to start their new adventure in 2015 with two experienced riders. In their final choice of Toni Elias and Ayrton Badovini they could hardly get more experienced competitors.
Former MotoGP winner Elias has been a Moto2 World Champion and a full time rider in World Supebike for a year and a bit, putting in some near-podium performances on an Aprilia V-four.
Badovini has ridden a BMW S1000RR or BMW-powered machines for most of the past few years, winning the Superstock 1000 series on the S1000RR in 2010. Other than a year on a Ducati in 2013, he has ridden either the S1000RR or the BMW-engined Bimota BB3.
“I think the BMW S1000 RR is one of the best bikes for the new regulations,” Badovini said of his latest BMW adventure. “I remember the original BMW and I believe that the new bike can only be better. Having Troy Corser in the team will help our team’s progress and my development as rider. I am very happy to be part of this new and exciting project and cannot wait to get started.”
Elias, who lost his ride with Red Devils Aprilia to Leon Haslam, said of his 2015 plans: “This is a very exciting project and I am happy to be part of it. I think the BMW S1000RR will be a very good bike for the new rules in 2015 and I am really looking forward to racing it. Next year will be a very interesting year for World Superbikes and although there’s a lot of work to be done and the team is completely new, I think we may surprise a few people.”
The JR team was not in a position to test at the Jerez sessions, but hope to be out on track in mid-December.
Gordon Ritchie | World Superbike Editor
You may not understand Ritchie and his Scottish accent if you had him on the phone, but you can definitely understand what he writes as our World Superbike editor.
