The BMW S 1000 RR has won the International Bike of the Year (IBOTY) award for 2010. The 26th edition of the prestigious annual competition awarded top honors to BMW Motorrad’s superbike.
The annual International Bike of the Year award has been in existence since 1985 and is truly an international award, voted for by some of the most influential motorcycle journalists in the business. The jury of the International Bike of the Year 10/11 was composed of 14 members representing motorcycle magazines from all over the world. Each editor chooses their three favorite motorcycles, the first choice gets five points, the second gets three points and the third bike gets one point. The motorcycle with the most points wins.
In this year’s IBOTY, the RR was significantly ahead of its rivals, winning the competition with 57 points, 24 ahead of its nearest rival (Ducati Multistrada 1200 S) on 33 points, with the Honda VFR 1200 and Yamaha XTZ1200 Super Ténéré tying for third place on 9 points each.
The jury of the IBOTY described the RR as, “A bike that combines a
technological breakthrough with remarkable performance and everyday
usability. This bike performs as well on the racetrack as it does on
the open road. With the new S 1000 RR, BMW has written a new chapter in
the history of production bikes: this is the very first bike to so
convincingly integrate electronics that improve riding pleasure and
safety in equal measures.”
The IBOTY award crowns a tremendous
year for BMW Motorrad’s RR that has been an
extraordinary sales success story, with 10,209 units delivered to
customers in its first full year of marketing. That makes it the fourth
most popular BMW model, behind the two R 1200 GS variants and the R
1200 RT touring machine. Interestingly, more than 90 percent of RR customers
opt for the innovative Race ABS and the dynamic traction control (DTC)
system, showing that performance and safety are high on the list of
priorities for sports bike riders.
The Belgian magazine
MotorWerled, together with 14 other bike magazines, chose the RR as
their best bike of the year. These magazines included: Australian
Motorcycle News; PS Magazin (Germany); Moto Magazine (Greece); Moto
Motor Magazine (Israel); Autocar India; Superwheels (Italy); Auto Door
(Japan), KicXstart (The Netherlands); Bike (Scandinavia); MotoSI
(Slovenia); La Moto (Spain); Bike (UK); and Cycle World (USA).
It’s
the third time BMW Motorrad has won the IBOTY award (the last time was
in 2004 with the BMW R 1200 GS), and it was presented on the occasion of
the press day of the European Motor Show in Brussels on January 14,
where Thierry Sarasyn, chief editor of MotorWerled, handed over the
award to Philipp von Sahr, president and CEO of BMW Group Belux.
International Bike of the Year 2010:
1. BMW S 1000 RR – 57 pts
2. Ducati Multistrada 1200 S – 33 pts.
3. Honda VFR 1200F DCT / Yamaha XTZ1200 Super Ténéré – 9 pts.
4. Aprilia RSV4 APRC – 8 pts.
5. Kawasaki Z1000 / MV Agusta Brutale 1090 RR – 4 pts.
6. Kawasaki 1400GTR – 2 pts.
