Redding and Gerloff ready to make a statement with BMW in 2024

After losing his factory seat to Toprak Razgatlioglu, Redding switched to Bonovo Action BMW alongside Gerloff, meaning he took the seat of Loris Baz who is without a WorldSBK seat this season.

A former championship runner-up in 2020, Redding has endured a difficult time with BMW, however, that was not the case for Gerloff who showed great potential with the German manufacturer’s satellite team last season.

• Razgatlioglu: Jerez test ‘very important’, BMW ‘are not far’ 
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But Redding feels rejuvenated following his switch to Bonovo and is excited about the upcoming season, saying: “The team is great, very welcoming, very family orientated. I feel like it’s old-school style, and that’s something that I really cherish. 

“I will be more relaxed, happier. I would like to be top 5, top 6 in the championship, minimum. 

“And to be on the podium more regularly, that’s what I’d be happy with. If I get a race win, I’ll be ecstatic, but we need a couple of podiums, that’s the goal.”

Speaking about BMW’s official launch, Redding was pleased to take the covers of his new bike for the first time, while also discussing the arrival of Toprak Razgatlioglu.

“A launch is also always great, to unveil the colours of the bikes and the suites, together with the team-mates and the teams,” added Redding. 

“Speaking about the coming season, for me it would be nice to have our bike to be more consistently competitive which I think we can do. 

“We’ve had some good changes made and obviously Toprak is coming over. We also have a test team which makes a big difference. I think we are going in the right direction, which is important.”

‘High hopes for Gerloff’

The American made a resurgence in his first season with BMW, following a difficult spell with Yamaha.

And Gerloff is ready to make another step forward this season: “I have high hopes for this year. I really think that with the same team going into everything, the same awesome guys I’ve been working with, we can really make another step forward. 

“With Toprak here, Michael and Scott, we have a really strong line-up, a lot of data to pool from to improve these M 1000 RRs.”

Gerloff’s highlight of the 2023 season was pole position at Magny-Cours, which was the best qualifying result achieved by any BMW rider.

But that hasn’t stopped the 28-year-old from wanting to improve his pace over one lap.

Speaking ahead of next week’s Jerez test, Gerloff said: “Everything is going to happen really fast from here on but I’ve been doing my part to make sure that I am ready for the season and I am excited to get started. 

“I think we have a really good base now. I have one year behind me with BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team, so a lot of information and I think we can come up with solutions faster than last year if we do have a problem. 

“It is going to be good to go the every track with a higher potential, and I think it can be a really good season. 

“My goal is to work on qualifying and to be a bit better there and that can help me in the beginning of the races and then at the end of the races, when I am strong, I think we can make some real progress and be up front.”