HOTTEST METAL

Will BMW dominate again or can Kawasaki, Honda and Norton bridge the gap?

When it comes to superbike TT racing, there has been only one bike to beat in recent years: BMW’s S1000RR. The German marque has taken 50% of Superbike and Senior victories since 2014, leading to more and more TT racers opting for BMW’s flagship. It’s enjoyed a stronghold of the Superstock class too, with victories in 2014, 2016 and 2017 in the hands of Michael Dunlop and Ian Hutchinson. There’s good reason to believe BMW’s dominance of the 1000cc class will continue this year with 15-time TT winner Dunlop having switched to the Tyco BMW team while Peter Hickman, who finished second in every 1000cc race last year, remains with Smiths BMW. But what is it that makes the BMW so strong around the TT? We asked Smiths BMW’s technical chief Darren Jones.

“The BMW has a really strong engine and a stiff chassis, which makes it stable,” he explains. “The weakest point of the BMW, as everyone knows, is that the chassis isn’t so great on a short circuit when you’re pushing but TT-wise it’s not so much of an issue. In fact, it’s probably more of an advantage!

“I’ve worked with a couple of different bikes in the past and I’d say the BMW’s biggest advantage over them is the engine, it’s just so strong and it’s rare that anything will go wrong with them – certainly less than with other manufacturers. Chassis-wise some other bikes might be better, for example the Kawasaki handled really well for us, but the engine is far more important at the TT.”