Author: Oli Rushby Posted: 11 Nov 2015
British Superbike champions Milwaukee Yamaha and Josh Brookes look set to make a shock switch to BMW as they move to the world stage in 2016.
The rumour mill has been in full swing in regards to what the Milwaukee-backed outfit would be doing next season. Back in October, Muirtold Bike Social the team had three options for 2016, including a move to World Superbikes, staying in British Superbikes or quitting racing altogether.
During the final round of the 2015 British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch, where they stormed to title victory with Josh Brookes, it became clear the team had opted for a move to the world stage but with which manufacturer was up in the air.
It’s believed Muir had spoken to both Aprilia and Suzuki but was also keen to run a satellite Yamaha squad having lost out on the factory deal, which was handed to the Crescent Racing outfit.
However, with Yamaha reportedly refusing to allow teams to run satellite YZF-R1s, the Guisborough outfit now look set to run a brace of BMW S1000RRs in Milwaukee colours.
The web domain namewww.milwaukeebmw.co.ukwas registered on 28thOctober, signalling plans for the project are well underway.
While BMW Motorrad officially withdrew from the Superbike World Championship at the end of the 2013 season, the German manufacturer has continued to provide extensive customer support to selected teams.
When asked if they’d had contact with the British-run outfit, a BMW Motorrad Motorsport spokesperson told Bike Social: “We are in discussion with many privateer teams for next season WSBK and for several championships so it would be great to support a UK team but so far no contract has been signed.”
BSB champion Josh Brookes is likely to remain with the team and it’s expected former MotoGP rider Karel Abraham will ride alongside the Aussie, although recent rumours place Leon Haslam in with a shout too.
