Press Release

[Team Bathams Penz13.com by BMW Motorrad / Douglas, Isle of
Man / 3rd June 2015] –

Despite rain was predicted to hit the island in the later afternoon, the first
practice finally was underway on Tuesday. The team around Michael Rutter went up to the Jurby Airfield in the morning in order to sort out the electronic issues that gave Rutter a bit of a headache during the North West 200 two weeks ago.
After fixing the problems, Michael was a bit more confident and really looking forward to go out for the first practice session in the evening. After an opening lap on the Superstock BMW S1000RR he came in, changed on to the Superbike and bagged another two laps.
The morning session at Jurby Airfield paid off obviously and there weren’t any serious issues with the bikes. So all in all, it was a great day on the island and the team is very confident and looking forward to remaining sessions this week.

Michael Rutter “Honestly, I was still a bit worried as we couldn’t really check the bikes after the North West 200 – especially on the Superstock bike. But taking both bikes up to Jurby really paid off and calmed me down a bit. So the plan today was to go out on the Superstock bike – doing 2 laps. But as the bike felt really smooth, except the anti-wheelie, I decided to pit in and change to the Superbike. Usually it takes a lot more time to set up the Superbikes, so it was the right way…I am pretty happy now. Hopefully, the weather will play its part.”

Rico Penzkofer “Overall, it seemed to be a good start for us. Both bikes are working well and all the hick ups we had with them are sorted now. Jurby Airfield was a great move. Obviously I was still a bit nervous when the first practice started, but all turned out well. The team did a great job. But a very important part is missing in our tent – we are following Stephen Thompson’s recovery which hopefully speeds up shortly. He is still a part of our team and our thoughts are with him and his family.”