The start of the legendary '6 Hours of Spa' endurance race.

New Belgian Superbike Champion Gregory Fastré.

With many race wins in various national championships worldwide, and an FIM 1000 Supercup title already 'in the bag', the BMW S1000RR has now claimed its first national title in the capable hands of Belgian rider Gregory Fastré.

The 29-year-old former BMW BoxerCup competitor secured the Belgian Superbike Championship with a double victory at the Chimay circuit in the south-west of the country. Equally impressive was the fact that the Team Herpigny Motors rider secured the title on the RR with another three races of this year's series still remaining.

This title is the crowning achievement for 'Fast Greg' and Team Herpigny Motors, who only decided to pursue their title ambitions with BMW's S1000RR supersports machine earlier this year. After a cautious start to the season at the Assen circuit in The Netherlands, where he placed third, Gregory rode his RR to victory in no fewer than 11 of the 12 races that followed on the way to his title, having to settle for second in just one race.

This impressive run of victories emphasises not only Gregory's talent, but also the potential of the RR on the track - both at permanent circuits like Mettet, Croix-en-Ternois and Assen - and also on the streets of Hengelo, Ostend and Chimay. Either way, Fastré and his RR have proved unbeatable.

Having already secured the title, the newly-crowned 2010 Belgian Superbike Champion was back in action last weekend at the legendary circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, where in addition to the Superbike racing, a '6 Hours of Spa' endurance race was also taking place. Greg didn't compete on the BMW in the endurance race, but Team Herpigny entered an S1000RR team in this gruelling event, with riders Stéphane Mertens, Didier de Radiguès and Vick De Cooremeter alternating on the RR.

Having qualified in fifth place out of 70 teams on the Saturday morning, the race started in the afternoon and by around eight o'clock that same evening, the trio of riders finished the tough race in eighth place, having completed 121 laps of the 7.004-kilometre circuit. Victory went to another S1000RR team (Jo Huyskens, Steven Dierickx and Arie Vos) - as did second place, which was claimed by Werner Daemen (who was racing his IDM German Superbike Championship bike that he has already won twice with in 2010) and his team-mate Steven Casar, who was riding an RR supplied by BMW Motorrad Belux.

These excellent results prove that the RR is just as capable in endurance racing, as it is in sprint racing. In fact, of the 61 finishers in this year's 6 Hours of Spa, five were on BMW S1000RR machines - including the top two and another two teams inside the top ten. The fastest lap was also set by a BMW team (Daemen and Casaer) and every BMW that started this endurance race went on to finish it - a claim that cannot be matched by all its Japanese and Italian rivals.