As even a casual World Superbike fan, you may be already familiar with the Milwaukee Aprilia team. Ace racers Eugene Laverty (IRL #50) and Lorenzo Savadori (ITA #32) run their RSV4 race bikes around the World SBK tracks fairly well, with Laverty finishing ninth and Savadori 13th in the 2018 season.

What you may not know is that the power behind Milwaukee Aprilia is Shaun Muir Racing, and it's OK if you've never heard of them. SMR is big in the UK, and they're expanding their footprint in World SBK for the 2019 season by bringing BMW into the mix.

FROM A BMW MOTORRAD PRESS RELEASE:
"BMW Motorrad Motorsport will be entering the new BMW S 1000 RR in the FIM World Superbike Championship (WorldSBK) as of the upcoming 2019 season. The new BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team will enter the contest in collaboration with Shaun Muir Racing and with a well-known rider pairing: 2013 Superbike World Championship winner Tom Sykes (GBR) together with reigning Superstock 1000 European champion and three-times IDM champion Markus Reiterberger (GER).

With the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team and the cooperation with Shaun Muir Racing, BMW Motorrad is significantly expanding its engagement in the WorldSBK. At the same time, BMW Motorrad will continue its successful customer racing program in numerous other national and international racing series.

Cooperation with BMW Group Motorsport is also being intensified so as to tap into additional synergies between automobile and motorcycle racing, especially in terms of trade and logistics."

Well now! Isn't THAT interesting!?

BMW has been conspicuously absent from World Superbike for a number of years. Althea Racing has been alone in flying the BMW flag. Back in the 2017 WSBK season, they had Jordi Torres (ESP #81) and Markus Reiterberger (GER #28) racing for them; in April and citing a nagging injury, Reiterberger took himself off the team and joined a different (less stressful ... less competitive?) circuit, where he comported himself just fine as he continued to recover.

Markus Reiterberger in action. (courtesy Althea Racing)

Reiterberger comported himself so well that he won the European Superstock 1000 championship for the 2018 season.

Markus Reiterberger not in action. (courtesy Althea Racing)

There isn't a lot of detailed information right now, but the shocking thing about all of this is the news that Tom Sykes left his factory Kawasaki team, where he has been chafing at being in teammate (and 4x champ) Jonathan Rea's ever-lengthening shadow. Sykes simply couldn't catch a break during this long period of REAZILLA dominance. Perhaps he thinks a change of backing and bike will be what does the trick to return him to the top spot on the championship podium.

Tom Sykes in action. (By Dunnybrusher - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56621965)

It is certainly great news for race fans that ride BMWs that there will be not one, but two world-class riders piloting RRs round WSBK tracks in 2019 - and one of them a former circuit champion to boot! No slight on Reiterberger - he is obviously a top-notch rider and, now returned to full health, he's likely to be a force to be reckoned with in WSBK - but enticing Sykes onto a BMW is a massive coup for the marque.  If anybody can put an S 1000 RR on the podium, it's Tom Sykes. We'll be watching in 2019, that's for sure!!

Tom Sykes smiling. (By Jared Earle: Jearle - Silverstone World Superbikes, 2012, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21225392)

Fans can connect with both riders on Twitter (@TheRealTomSykes, @Reiti21) and Instagram (@tom66sykes, @markusreiterberger28). 

(Sources: Superbike Planet, Motorbike Planet, Crash.net)