Australia’s Damian Cudlin is a motorcycle racer in demand. In the last 3 weeks the 28 year old has raced a Production Superbike for his BMW Team in the IDM series in Germany, an Endurance Superbike for BMW Motorrad in the Le Mans 24 hours race in France, and a Ducati Desmosedici for Pramac Racing in the MotoGP World Championship in Japan. Each team used different tyre brands, different suspension and different electronic systems to manage their machines, while the team’s staff ranged from German, Belgian, and French to Spanish and Italian. Despite this, the versatile Aussie has managed to race all of them with success, making him an increasingly valuable asset for the 2012 season.

Heading into the final round of the IDM Superbike series in Hockenheim, Cudlin went into the event as a title candidate, however a small mistake while pushing for lead of the final race of the season cost Cudlin in the championship standings as he eventually dropped to 4^th in the final rankings.

With no time to rest, Cudlin drove his car and caravan to France for the 4^th round of the Endurance World Championship and the classic Le Mans 24 hours race. Going into the event as championship leaders, Cudlin and the BMW Motorrad France Team looked set for certain victory after securing pole position and leading for almost half of the race, however technical issues cost the team over 40 minutes in the box for repairs and the seemingly unstoppable #99 eventually finished in a disappointing 7^th overall.

It was expected that Cudlin would enjoy a hard earned break with some of his BMW colleagues at the World Famous “Oktoberfest” after the gruelingLe Mansrace, but whilst on-route toMunich, Cudlin received the opportunity of a lifetime to replace grand prix veteran Loris Capirossi in the Pramac Racing MotoGP Team at the Japanese Grand Prix. Without hesitation, Cudlin and his wife Amy headed straight toFrankfurtand boarded a plane forTokyo.

“A message came through directly from Sito Pons asking me if I was interested to replace Capirossi inJapan. I was driving the car at the time and I almost steered it off the road. I honestly couldn’t believe it. Before we knew it, Amy and I were sitting at the airport waiting to fly toJapan. I kept expecting someone to jump out and tell me I was on Candid Camera!” Cudlin joked.

Continue reading ‘Whirlwind month for MotoGP’s newest rookie!’

After a strong performance at the previous round in Schleiz, Australian Damian Cudlin headed to the 7^th round of the IDM Superbike Championship full of confidence and ready to advance in the championship standings.

The new Red Bull Ring venue seemed to immediately suit Cudlin and the Alpha Technik/ Van Zon/ Kraftwerk BMW and the team set an impressive pace in Friday’s opening practice sessions. An afternoon storm heavily affected Friday’s final practice session, however Cudlin felt confident with the bike’s performance in either weather condition.

Saturday’s opening qualifying session presented the first mechanical issue all season for Cudlin’s crew when a faulty radiator cap caused a 20 minute delay in the box. With limited time remaining, Cudlin set the 3^rd fastest time on just his 3^rd flying lap of the session before returning to the box. Unable to use his 2^nd qualifying tyre in the time remaining, Cudlin went on to improve his time in the hotter qualifying session in the afternoon but couldn’t improve his grid position for Sunday’s races.

“It’s a shame we lost some time in the opening qualifying session, but it’s the first time anything has gone wrong with the bike all year, so I really can’t complain” Cudlin explained. “Anywhere on the front row is a good place to start from so I’m looking forward to the races.”

Fantastic summer weather greeted the fans on Sunday as temperatures soared to 35 degrees. In the opening leg, Cudlin made a quick start and battled for 2nd with championship leader Bauer on the opening lap, as Ranseder set a frantic pace at the front. Unable to maintain the pace of the leading duo, Cudlin dropped behind but held 3^rd position for the first half of the race. With 8 laps to go, Cudlin felt a sudden drop in tyre performance and began to struggle with a lack of grip. Dropping down the field dramatically at the end, Cudlin could only manage 7^th at the finish; a whopping 20 seconds from the race winner, Ranseder.

“It’s a really disappointing result and it hasn’t done our championship any favors at all” Cudlin quipped at the end of the first race. “Our tyre choice was wrong and there was nothing I could for the last half of the race. It was just about survival at the end.”

Cudlin and his tight knit crew put their heads together for the second race and came up with another strategy that proved to be far more successful than the first.

Continue reading ‘Cudlin clings to podium at Red Bull Ring’