During the Donington round, we conducted a long interview with Marc Bongers, Superbike Project Manager for BMW. The German manager touched on many topics, from Toprak to the possibility of the Munich-based manufacturer landing in MotoGP.
Among the topics, he couldn't leave out the most current of events, with BMW losing Bonovo in 2025. Bongers was clear and transparent as he explained the issue: "We'll definitely continue with two official bikes," he revealed. "Based on the collaboration with Bonovo, we made a decision this year to field four bikes of the same level and with the same kind of support. To be able to do this, we have to have a trusted partner and, with Mr. Roder's unfortunate decision to withdraw from the championship, we decided that the company's official commitment will be focused solely on the SMR team."
Two fewer bikes means less data to compare and collect: "Certainly, having fewer bikes always involves some risk. But, in the past year, Bonovo helped us understand how the package worked with different riders and brought us to the top. Now they've decided to retire and, like I said, we can't think of replacing them in half a season with someone else who enjoys the same confidence. Bonovo really helped us get to the top, where we are now. But, in the meantime, we created our own test team, so we've decided that we're sufficiently prepared to remain at the top next year with our package."
In all this, however, there's a problem to be solved, namely, Scott Redding, his contract, and the option in his favor for next year. On the subject, Bongers was brief: "I'm not talking about that."