Eupen, Belgium – 3 September 2012: The battle for the 2012 Endurance World Championship crown will be decided once and for all at the final round of the season, which takes place this weekend at Le Mans. BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent head to the prestigious 24 Heures du Mans with their sights set firmly on winning not just the race, but also the championship. With a race win and a podium finish so far this season, just 19 points separate BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent from the top of the championship standings going into the final round at Le Mans. The gap is significant, but with 40 points available to the winner this weekend, it’s far from insurmountable. After a successful Pre-Mans test aboard the #99 BMW S1000RR, Sébastien Gimbert, Erwan Nigon, Damian Cudlin and Hugo Marchand head into the final round with some confidence, but under no illusions as to how tough a task securing the team’s first 24-hour victory will be this weekend. In two seasons of competition BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent have been victorious in two 8-Hour races, Albacete and Qatar, as well as finishing on the podium at the 2011 Bol’ dOr. A 24-hour race win has so far eluded the team, but Gimbert, Nigon, Cudlin and Marchand are more determined than ever to add a prestigious Le Mans win to their palmarès this weekend. The 24 Heures Moto has been a highlight of the Le Mans calendar since the first running of the event back in 1978. The race will be contested by 55 teams and watched by an enthusiastic crowd more than 100,000 strong. Practice and qualifying begins on Thursday 6th September and continues into Friday, with the traditional “Le Mans” style start getting the race underway at 15H00 on Saturday 8th September. The 35th Edition of the 24 Heures Moto will be streamed live on the FIM YouTube channel from 15H00 on Saturday 8th September. Erwan Nigon: “We know what we have to do in Le Mans. We have to win. We are second in the championship and just 19 points behind the leaders, but there are four strong teams who could still lift the world title at Le Mans, so we know the competition will be tough. Obviously I’m very motivated for the weekend ahead, not just to give the team the win and the championship, but also for myself. I have never won at Le Mans and that’s something I’d like to change this weekend. Of course, anything can happen in endurance racing, especially 24-hour races, but that applies just as much to the other teams as it does to us. Winning the race and the championship will be very difficult, but we have the package to do it and, at the end of the day, everything is possible.” Damian Cudlin: “We’ve really got nothing to lose going into Le Mans. The title is still possible, but the pressure is on SERT and not on us. My approach for this weekend in just to ride the bike as hard as I can for 24 hours and to see where we are at the end of it all. I have a great team, a great bike and equally great teammates, so the race win is definitely our target. If we win the world title too then that would be a nice bonus! Who knows, we might get lucky this weekend, for a change!” Michael Bartholemy: “One thing that has been very clear this season is that the level of competition in the Endurance World Championship is now far higher than it’s ever been. We now have more teams with the machinery and the riders to challenge for race wins than ever before, and that has made for a tough season. We’re second in the championship and 19 points behind the series leaders going into the final round and, realistically, we need to win this weekend if we are to challenge for the world title. It’s a mammoth task, as a lot can happen when you’re racing around the clock, but we’re well prepared and I have every confidence in the riders, the bike and the team. One thing is certain; we won’t stop pushing until the chequered flag.” Race Schedule – 24 Heures Moto Thursday 6th September 12H30 – 14H30: Free Practice 24 Heures Moto 16H30 – 17H00: First Qualifying 24 Heures Moto – Rider 1 17H10 – 17H40: First Qualifying 24 Heures Moto – Rider 1 17H50 – 18H20: First Qualifying 24 Heures Moto – Rider 1 18H30 – 19H00: First Qualifying 24 Heures Moto – Reserve Rider 21H00 – 22H00: Night Practice 24 Heures Moto Friday 7th September 11H00 – 11H30: Second Qualifying 24 Heures Moto – Rider 1 11H40 – 12H10: Second Qualifying 24 Heures Moto – Rider 2 12H20 – 12H50: Second Qualifying 24 Heures Moto – Rider 3 13H00 – 13H30: Second Qualifying 24 Heures Moto – Reserve Rider Saturday 8th September 10H30 – 11H15: Warm-Up 24 Heures Moto 12H30 – 14H00: Rider Presentation 24 Heures Moto 15H00: Race Start 24 Heures Moto Sunday 9th September 15H00: Race Finish 24 Heures Moto More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: EWC: BMW S 1000 RR fights for the world title. BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent is aiming high at the “24 Heures du Mans”, the season finale of the Endurance World Championship. Le Mans/Munich, 4th September 2012. Motivation could not be higher at BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent: the BMW Motorrad HP RaceSupport backed squad heads to the prestigious “24 Heures du Mans”, the season finale of the 2012 FIM Endurance World Championship. At the iconic Le Mans circuit (FRA), the team not only wants to win the race, but also the world title. Last year, in its debut season in the Endurance World Championship, the French-Belgian squad only narrowly missed out on the title due to a not-at-fault crash in the finale. This year, the team wants to get what was denied back then. With a race win and a podium finish so far this season, just 19 points separate BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent from the top of the championship standings going into the final round at Le Mans. The gap is significant, but with 40 points available to the winner this weekend, it’s far from insurmountable. After a successful test pre-Le Mans on board the #99 BMW S 1000 RR, Sébastien Gimbert, Erwan Nigon (both FRA), Damian Cudlin (AUS) and Hugo Marchand (FRA) head into the final round with some confidence, but under no illusions as to how tough a task securing the team’s first 24-hour victory will be this weekend. The last endurance event of the season will start on Saturday, 8th September at 15:00. 24 hours later the battle for the 2012 Endurance World Championship crown will be decided. The “24 Heures Moto” race was first run in 1978 and since then has always been a highlight of the Le Mans calendar. The race will be contested by 55 teams and watched by an enthusiastic crowd more than 100,000 strong. “One thing that has been very clear this season is that the level of competition in the Endurance World Championship is now far higher than it’s ever been,” Team Principal Michael Bartholemy explains. “We now have more teams with the machinery and the riders to challenge for race wins than ever before, and that has made for a tough season. We’re second in the championship and 19 points behind the series leaders SERT going into the final round and, realistically, we need to win this weekend if we are to challenge for the world title. It’s a mammoth task, as a lot can happen when you’re racing round the clock, but we’re well prepared and I have every confidence in the riders, the bike and the team. One thing is certain; we won’t stop pushing until the chequered flag.” “We know what we have to do in Le Mans. We have to win,” Nigon confirms. “Obviously I’m very motivated for the weekend ahead, not just to give the team the win and the championship, but also for myself. I have never won at Le Mans and that’s something I’d like to change this weekend. Of course, anything can happen in endurance racing, especially in 24-hour races, but that applies just as much to the other teams as it does to us. Winning the race and the championship will be very difficult, but we have the package to do it and, at the end of the day, anything is possible.” “We’ve really got nothing to lose going into Le Mans. The title is still possible, but the pressure is on SERT and not on us,” Cudlin looks ahead. “My approach for this weekend is just to ride the bike as hard as I can for 24 hours and to see where we are at the end of it all. I have a great team, a great bike and equally great teammates, so the race win is definitely our target. If we win the world title too then that would be a nice bonus! Who knows, we might get lucky this weekend, for a change!” “To pull off the big coup will for sure be difficult, but it is not impossible for the HP RaceSupport backed team around Michael Bartholemy to win the world title this weekend,” says Berthold Hauser, Head of BMW Motorrad HP RaceSupport. “Last week’s Le Mans pre-test showed that speed wise we belong at the very top again. Everyone is giving his very best. This is the most important race for us. 24 hours are very long and tough and they can come up with many surprises. Last but not least you also need Lady Luck on your side but you can have a significant influence on the luck by preparing perfectly and working 100 percent focused. In order to do that, we went through all possible scenarios together so we hope to have the best possible set-up in all areas. On Sunday at three o’clock we will know how well we were prepared.”