Impressive first outing for CJC Bisley’s new BMW S 1000 RR in Darwin
Barely a week after riding the brand new and essentially untested BMW S 1000 RR racebike for the first time, Craig Coxhell has piloted the German powerhouse to an impressive 9th in the second race of round two of the Viking Australian Superbike Championship from Darwin.
It’s impressive from a number of standpoints. Not just that the team had literally wheeled the new bike out of the garage last Friday, run a dozen laps at Winton in Victoria to make sure the major systems were ok before loading them on the team transporter for the 4 day, 4 thousand odd kilometre trek from Shepparton in Victoria to Darwin; But also the fact that the bikes are very much Superstock spec bikes running standard production engines, with no testing or setup data to build on. It clearly shows the bike’s potential for more and the team’s capacity to make rapid progress.
Craig Coxhell:
We’re obviously delighted with this weekend’s top ten result, and excited for the year ahead. The stock bike is really strong and there’s a lot of potential there once we get the setup more sorted and are able to do some development. We were playing catchup against the other teams this weekend – as you know we missed the first round as the bikes weren’t available yet and we quite literally finished bolting them together last week. By the last race we were only a second a lap of the guys in the top 5, so with a bit of testing before the next round hopefully we can start putting the pressure on them again.
We’ve got a lot of people to thank for getting the new BMW S 1000 RR’s on the grid, Chris Bussenschutt and the team from BMW Southbank for their fantastic support and encouragement in particular. I also want to make a special mention of Peter McCauley from Darwin’s Prestige BMW who went out of his way for us this weekend, bringing some diagnostic gear down from the shop and even robbing some parts off his demo bike for us when we had some issues. We met a lot of great BMW fans up here this weekend as well and hopefully put a smile on their faces, the folks from Darwin really got behind this event this weekend – it’s a credit to them.”
Rob Coxhell:
‘We’ve said previously that this year is really a development year for us and this was really our first test. Its hard not to be anything but impressed with the result – beating 4 factory bikes by the end of the weekend and being only a second away from guys running in the top 5. Dave Cullen and the team worked brilliantly and we made progress every time we hit the track. We only had time to have the one bike finished when we arrived and the boys worked late every night not only making fairly major setup changes on our #1 bike but also trying to finish the #2 bike which we had ready in time for a 2 lap shakedown on Saturday afternoon. That bike was then setup for the wet based on our best educated guesses and was used in the first race. Craig said it felt pretty good, but when he started pushing on the second lap while in about 8th he lost grip mid corner and went down. Luckily he and the bike were pretty much unscathed and he was able to get back on it and work his way back up through the field a little.
Race two was a pretty solid indicator for us; we’d hoped to be able to get into the top ten this weekend. Next round our goals will be a little higher again and hopefully we can move further ahead. It’s a deep field this year, with a bunch of genuinely competitive bikes from more manufacturers than ever and in combination with the Superstock bikes it makes for some great racing; and that’s where we want to be flying the BMW flag.”
This capped off a pretty special weekend for the BMW S 1000 RR around the world, with Troy Corser taking his World Superbike to a best ever result of 4th, and Ayrton Badavini taking his World Superstock bike to his second win in succession in Valencia.
You can keep track of the team’s progress for the 2010 season on www.cjcracing.com.au
CJC – Bisley Racing to debut BMW S 1000 RR at Darwin ASBK
The 2009 ASBK privateer champion Craig Coxhell is looking forward to his 2010 debut at round two of the Viking Australian Superbike Championship on board the teams all new BMW S 1000 RR. Aiming to follow on from last year’s successful debut with Bisley Workwear, the team has found another exciting new partner in Southbank BMW and look forward to get back amongst the action.
Craig Coxhell:
‘We had a great first year last year and are looking forward to getting to terms with the exciting new S 1000 RR. Gary House is preparing the bikes as we speak and we’ll be able to give them a shakedown and some preliminary testing prior to Darwin, where we’ll be running the stock engine. That shouldn’t be an issue – from all reports and the feel from when I rode one earlier this year that should be enough to get us in the ballpark. The stock motor seriously rips. We’ve also been able to secure Dave Cullen to help us out with suspension and setup this year, so we’re looking forward to working with Dave again. We have a successful history together and it’s a pleasure to be alongside Dave again.”
Rob Coxhell:
‘We’re treating this year as a development year – obviously the bikes have only just arrived and we’ve missed the first round, but we’re hoping to get up to speed fairly quickly with some great support from BMW, particularly Chris Bussenschutt and the team at BMW Southbank. We’re also extremely pleased to be continuing our relationships with Bisley Workwear and the guys from Ankermann and the support from our partner suppliers such as Sportsbike tyre warmers. It’s a pretty amazing year really in the ASBK this year; with the inclusion of the all new S 1000 RR there will be 8 manufacturers going for it which makes for exceptional racing and when you throw in Darwin as a new track – anything could happen. We know there are a lot of very excited BMW riders out there who are keen to see the bikes on track and we’ll do our best to put on a great show. ’
You can keep track of the team’s progress for the 2010 season on www.cjcracing.com.au
CJC – Bisley Racing end the year with another win
The 2009 privateer champion Craig Coxhell finished the season with another victory in his final track outing of the year in what has been an impressive debut season for the new team. Following the spectacular crash at Phillip Island during the previous round of the Woodstock Bourbon Australian Superbikes Championship, Craig was only able to step back onto a bike last weekend where he rode alongside Russell Holland and Gareth Jones, taking a solid victory for the Demolition Plus team in the 6hour endurance race at Oran Park.
Craig Coxhell:
‘Not the most conventional recovery for sure! I wasn’t sure how I was going to go last weekend but I needed to get back on a bike and when Demolition Plus’s Richard Perry asked me to ride for him I thought it would be a good way to try and get back to race fitness. I didn’t figure on it being 40 degrees for the race, but we still managed to keep it together and take the win which was great to be a part of.’
Craig had spent the entire lead up recuperating from the crash that saw him break some ribs while the team spent the time putting the bike back together for the final round of the ASBK series.
Crew Chief Rob Coxhell:
‘We got out of that crash better than we expected to be honest, both with Craig and the bike – however when we were went out on the bike on Friday we soon realised there was some fine tuning we need to do to get the bike right again after the rebuild. Ultimately we didn’t get it back to the pace we had run at the previous round, but we performed well again and I’m really pleased with the way the year went’.
Craig Coxhell:
‘We picked up a 5th in race one and were looking good again for 5th in race two until I out braked myself battling with Dan and Kev into turn 4. I lost the rear and had to pick it up and run straight which put me back to 14th or something. From there I was able to claw back up to 10th in the remaining laps and I think I still held onto 6th overall in the championship. So although I’m annoyed at myself right now for not finishing better in race 2 I have to look at the overall result and winning the privateer championship and 6th overall is a pretty awesome effort for a brand new team. To top that off we had the Harvie Wiltshire Memorial race to end the day and I was able to take the win there as well in front of a Shannon and Krusty. It was good to see Adam back on a bike again and a great way to finish the year.
Congratulations to Josh and team Joe Rocket Suzuki. He’s ridden so well this year and now has the title under his belt to show for it. That the top step of the championship was still being fought between three riders on the last day of the last round shows just how competitive this series is and is why we all love doing what we do.
It’s been one hell of a year and we need to thank the people who have made it possible. Bisley Workwear first and foremost, who have been nothing short of incredible this year and as always we’re very proud to wear Bisley. But we need to mention our other sponsors and supporters as well, Shepparton Motor Body Builders, Wurth, Metabo, Bell Real Estate, V3 Design, AGV, Dainese, Akrapovic, Sportsbike Tyre Warmers – the list goes on.
Which brings me to the team. To Rob, Geoff, James, Troy, Wayne, Ben, and of course Gayle, Dianne, Anna and Jess – my heartfelt thanks and gratitude for all of your efforts this year; We’ve had a awesome year and it has genuinely been a pleasure to work with all of you. Without everyone’s help this year would simply not have happened.’
Craig and the team now look forward to next year.
You can keep track of the team’s progress for the 2010 season right here on www.cjcracing.com.au
