Milwaukee enters World Superbikes with Brookes, Abraham and BMW
Josh Brookes and Karel Abraham will join the World Superbikes grid in 2016 as part of the Milwaukee squad, which is to run the BMW S1000RR bikes with backing from the German manufacturer.
Photo by: Fabrice Crosnier
Aussie Brookes, 32, won this year's British Superbikes title for the Shaun Muir Racing-run Milwaukee squad, riding a Yamaha YZF-R1.
The Australian has 34 BSB victories under his belt and had a number of part-time campaigns in WSBK, recording a best finish of seventh in Valencia in 2007.
"I’m excited to be back in World Superbikes and to go there with the same team I won the BSB title with is perfect,” Brookes said. “I haven’t raced a BMW before, but the bike and factory are proven and I am certain it will be competitive."
Brookes will be joined by Abraham, 25, who spent the last five seasons riding for the family-run AB Motoracing squad in MotoGP and was a Moto2 race winner in 2010.
"Moving to WorldSBK with a team like Milwaukee BMW is hugely exciting,” Abraham said. “It will also be a challenge as I haven’t ridden a Superbike and a lot of the tracks will be new, but I am sure that we will be able to get up to speed quickly.”
The outfit will enjoy the support of BMW Motorrad Motorsport and is the second team to announce its presence aboard the German manufacturer's bikes, lining up alongside Althea Racing and their line-up of Jordi Torres and Markus Reiterberger.
Abraham's move means that the rumours tying him and his AB team to the takeover of the Aprilia factory operation have not come to fruition - and the latter squad is now expected to pull out altogether.
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