The fifth round of the 2011 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup at Brno saw the first win in this particular category for Frenchman Sylvain Barrier, who got the better of his main rival and points leader Davide Giugliano (Ducati Althea) by just 70/1000ths of a second. Team-mate Lorenzo Zanetti helped to make it an excellent weekend all-round for BMW Motorrad Italia with third place on the podium.

It was a well-deserved win for the rider from Oyonnax, a French town 100 km north-east of Lyons, who is currently into his fourth season in Superstock 1000, and his second on an S1000RR. The win came after Barrier fought off Giugliano's attacks in the final part of the race.

"I'm really happy" commented Barrier, "We did a great job preparing for the race and setting up the bike. I have to thank the team because as we were not under any particular pressure, I could focus on getting this important result, my first win in Superstock 1000. The race was a real battle, but it was great fun. Half-way through I started to lose rear grip but for me this was useful to understand how to manage the gas and control the loss of grip. I'm very pleased to have given the team my first win of the season".

The Brno victory was actually the second win this year for the BMW Motorrad Italia Superstock team, following on from the one obtained by Lorenzo Zanetti at Monza. As on that occasion the toughest rival was Davide Giugliano, the winner of the other three rounds held at Assen, Misano and Aragon, and always either in first or second place this year.