Motul-sponsored BMW rider secures second place in Stock 1000, Superbike Cup standings at Barber Motorsports Park
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 21, 2021
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — It was a positive conclusion to the 2021 MotoAmerica season for Travis Wyman, as the Motul-sponsored rider scored a podium finish in the final Stock 1000 race of the year and ended the season runner-up in the Stock 1000 and Superbike Cup points standings.
The BMW rider put in an excellent performance in two days of racing in challenging wet conditions Sept. 17-19 at Barber Motorsports Park and was twice in the hunt for a top-five Superbike finish or better. Though he came up just short of his goal of winning two MotoAmerica No. 1 plates, Wyman – like he has all season – got the most he could out of his BMW S 1000 RR and put his title sponsor Motul back on the MotoAmerica podium.
Wyman and the other top 10 riders in the Superbike Cup standings practiced and qualified with the Superbike Class at Barber. In Friday practice, Wyman put in the ninth-fastest time of the session and was second among the Superbike Cup riders. Later Friday, Wyman finished Qualifying 1 in 11th and was third among the Cup competitors. Qualifying wrapped up Saturday morning in wet conditions with Wyman having claimed third on the Stock 1000 grid – his fourth front row starting spot of the season – and 12th for the Saturday Superbike race.
Saturday also featured the weekend’s lone Stock 1000 race and one Superbike race. In the Stock 1000 contest, Wyman struggled in the early laps of the race on the 2.38-mile Barber circuit. After falling as far down the running order as sixth at the end of Lap 1, Wyman had advanced to fourth place by the end of Lap 4. With two laps to go, Wyman made his move into third place, which he held on to by a margin of more than five seconds. Rain continued to pour down on Barber Motorsports Park later Saturday when Superbike Race 1 got underway. Wyman got an excellent start and had moved up the running order five positions by the end of Lap 1. After advancing one position per lap on Laps 2-4, Wyman was running in third at the end of Lap 6 but suffered a crash at the exit of the Museum Corner on Lap 7 and had to retire from the race.
In Sunday’s Superbike Race 2, Wyman had to start the race 20th — third to last — because of his crash on Saturday. Wyman got off the line well again and moved up from 20th to 17th on the first lap. After passing two more riders in the next two laps, Wyman had moved up to 12th place when the race was stopped on Lap 12 of 17 due to wildlife being loose on the racetrack. In Superbike Race 3, Wyman had a banner first lap as he moved up from 13th on the starting grid to eighth by the end of the lap. After running as high as seventh on Laps 2-4, Wyman began experiencing a fogging problem with his helmet’s face shield. The problem forced him to back off his pace, and Wyman had to settle for an 11th-place finish.
With the 2021 MotoAmerica season having come to an end, the Travis Wyman Racing BMW team thanks its many sponsors, especially Motul, and its many enthusiastic fans for another great season of MotoAmerica competition.
Travis Wyman / No. 10
“Friday qualifying went well, and it felt great to have a new engine in our BMW S 1000 RR. We were less than a tenth of a second off the Stock 1000 pole, and we knew on Saturday that the rest of the weekend was going to be wet. We used Qualifying 2 on Saturday morning to work on our wet setup, which felt great on Saturday and Sunday. It was drying conditions in the Stock 1000 race, and I was pretty tentative off the start. I had a great battle with another rider for the last podium spot. Getting third was great for the team and allowed me to secure second place in the Stock 1000 championship. It rained really hard for the Saturday Superbike race, and I was in the running for my first Superbike podium before crashing out. I got more comfortable as the Sunday morning Superbike race went on and was able to work my way from 20th to 12th. I felt great in the last Superbike race, but my shield fogged up so bad that I couldn’t see and had to battle that issue the rest of the race. I was lifting my shield on the back straight trying to wipe it dry and had to actually rip the face shield off to finish the last lap of that race, which was pretty frustrating.”
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Header photo credit: Brian J. Nelson
Marino Communications 