Gulf's new superbike partnerships in action
03 Mar 2017
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The exciting news for Gulf businesses – and Gulf Sport enthusiasts worldwide – is that for 2017 Gulf has two partnerships in the World Superbike Championship: Milwaukee Aprilia and Althea BMW.
News of Gulf's link up with Althea BMW Racing, broke back in November as the team sported its Gulf branding at the first Jerez Superbike test. The partnership continues Gulf's technical partnership with BMW's manufacturer-supported team in 2017, building on the first year with Milwaukee BMW.
The Italian-run Althea team was the most successful BMW outfit in World Superbikes last year, and maintains the same rider line up – Spaniard Jordi Torres and German Markus Reiterberger. They are looking to maintain their consistent top ten finishing and top five challenging position in 2017. To help achieve this they had various updates and new parts from BMW that they spent time trying out and comparing during the tests in Jerez and Portugal.
The team has an excellent pedigree in Superbikes – having been World Champions in 2011 with Carlos Checa, so Gulf should be well looked after with Althea's blend of experience and its desire to find success again in 2017 as BMW's sole team in the Championship.
Althea are also multiple Superstock Champions. The Superstock Category - which runs with the World Superbike Championship at many of the rounds - caters for the same bikes, but in a closer-to-showroom spec and Gulf branding and lubricants will also feature on Althea's challenge for a third Superstock title.
Gulf's presence in World Superbikes has a distinctly Italian feel to it. Milwaukee and the team behind it – Shaun Muir Racing (SMR) – broke into the World Superbike Championship arena last year and impressed with their professionalism – so much so that motorcycle racing's most successful manufacturer, Aprilia, offered them the role of full factory team. This will benefit SMR, Milwaukee and Gulf.
The team launched officially at the Jerez test, much to the approval of the world's top motorcycle sport journalists and riders Lorenzo Savadori – in his second season on an Aprilia SBK and Eugene Laverty – returning to superbikes after a spell in Moto GP – showed extremely well in testing.
With almost all of the leading teams present, Savadori set the second fastest time of the test, within a whisker of current World Champion, Jonathan Rea's Kawasaki. It was a similarly positive outcome to the subsequent test in Portugal with Eugene Laverty setting the second fastest time and Savadori the fourth fastest.
All in all, therefore the signs are looking positive for Gulf, ahead of the opening round of the Championship at Phillip Island in Australia on the 25th and 26th of this month. |
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