Doha, Qatar: BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent got their 2012 Endurance World Championship campaign back on track in Qatar today, with a dominant race win in the 8 Hours of Doha. Starting from pole position for the third time in as many seasons at the Losail International Circuit the #99 BMW S1000RR, with Erwan Nigon at the controls, took the race lead on the opening lap. Once out in front with a clear track ahead of him Nigon pushed hard to pull a gap on the field, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process, only to see his hard work negated when the safety car was deployed in response to an oil spill and the field closed back up once again. Nigon took advantage of the safety car to pit in, refuel and handover to Sébastien Gimbert, who retook the race lead on lap 39 and was able to quickly re-establish a comfortable gap back to second place. The #99 BMW S1000RR led the race from this point on, with Nigon, Gimbert and Damian Cudlin able to control things from the front, comfortably managing the gap on track while the team’s mechanics, led by Emmanuel Rolin and Nicolas Dussauge, made short work of the pit stops. Finishing what he’d started eight hours earlier, Nigon eventually took the chequered flag with a two-lap advantage at the front of the race, to give BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent and Michelin their first win of the 2012 season. The victory in Qatar promotes BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent to fourth in the 2012 Endurance World Championship standings, just 19 points behind the series leaders with three rounds to go. Erwan Nigon: “The start of the race wasn’t easy, because it was so hot, but I pushed really hard to try and pull a gap straight way, and it worked perfectly until the pace car came out and everyone closed back up again! Sébastien managed to re-establish the gap during his first stint then, together with Damian, we were able to control the race from the front. The win here today is good for the team, for BMW and for Michelin, who all did a great job for us, but it’s also good for the championship. With just 19 points between us and the top of the standings, it’s all to play for in the final three rounds.” Sébastien Gimbert: “Twice in the past we’ve come here to Qatar as the strongest team, only to suffer bad luck and miss out on the win. This year, once again, we were strong. The BMW S1000RR was the fastest bike out there; the Michelin tyres worked perfectly, everyone in the team was on top of their game and all three riders were on the pace from the start. The big difference is that this year we managed to avoid trouble and to secure the win that has eluded us in the past. And it’s an important win, because after missing out on points at the Bol d’Or it puts us back in the battle for the championship. Now we must go on full attack at Suzuka, because I would really like a podium finish there.” Damian Cudlin: “Winning here in Qatar was a great result, not just in terms of the race, but also in terms of the championship, which is a lot closer than it was after the Bol d’Or. Erwan and Sébastien rode good first stints to open up the gap at the front, which opened up even further when some of the other teams hit problems. From that point on we were able to control the race from the front of the race. With the BMW S1000RR and the Michelin tyres we definitely had the strongest package here, but that was also true the last two years when bad luck conspired against us. I have to admit, given our luck here in the past, I breathed a big sigh of relief when Erwan finally took the chequered flag tonight!” Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal “I’m pleased that we’ve been able to bounce back from the disappointment of the Bol d’Or with an emphatic win here in Qatar, a track that hasn’t been kind to us in the past. The team and all three riders have done a fantastic job this week, and for that I’d like to say a big thank you. I’d also like to thank BMW, in particular Marcel Driessen and Berthold Hauser, as well as Sachar Rodenbusch, Bischoff and Scheck and all our sponsors and partners for their continued support, without which we wouldn’t be here. It’s a credit to Michelin that we were able to use the same tyre throughout the race, despite the extremes of temperature. The win here means we’re well and truly back in contention for the championship title, with just 19 points separating us from the top of the standings. I hope we’ll be able to reduce that gap even further next time out at Suzuka.” For more information and additional high resolution images please visit the BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent website at www.thevent.eu. More, from a press release issued by FIM Endurance Press Office: BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent victorious at Doha Ahead of Bolliger Team Switzerland and Honda TT Legends The 8 hours of Doha proved again to be a thrilling race full of surprises and finish with a novel podium. The victory of the BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent was yet announced by its performance during the practice sessions. Their riders, Erwan Nigon, Sébastien Gimbert and Damian Cudlin, took control from the moment the 23 teams started the race. So after 3 participations and 3 pole positions, the official BMW Team has now finally obtained a victory on the Qatari circuit. Fifth on the starting grid behind all the factory teams, Team Kawasaki Bolliger Switzerland’s riders Horst Saiger, Roman Stamm and Jérôme Tangre picked up a well deserved second place on the podium, 3 laps behind the BMW. Honda TT Legends finishes in third position with Ryuichi Kiyonari, Michael Laverty and Jason O’Halloran, a first for these 3 new men in the absence of the usual riders’ line-up, committed at the TT. This new podium honours the efforts of the team efforts from BMW/Michelin, Kawasaki/Pirelli and Honda/Dunlop combinations. The other teams experienced difficult conditions. Only Suzuki Endurance Racing Team were able to limit the damage from two unscheduled pit stops to repair a faulty oil line, to return to fourth place, 8 laps behind the leaders. ‘We have been using these oil lines which are also used in F1 for years’, explained a disappointed Dominique Meliand, ‘We must have obtained some examples which were wrongly machined. These two, 10 cm long piece, make us loose ten valuable championship points.’ Despite this mishap, SERT now leads the provisional championship standings. Despite some crashes in the early stages of the race, Team Maco Moto and Yamalube Folch Endurance, both on Yamaha, as well as Team R2CL (Suzuki), manage to rally themselves and finish, claiming valuable points. The other candidates with a chance to win this race return home from Qatar without a score, which may mark their final championship result. Monster Energy Yamaha YART had to abandon mid race with engine problems, batting for the leadership with the official BMW Team. Early out of the race was the Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin Yamalube, rapidly sidelined by overheating problems. ‘The engine overheated rapidly’ said David Checa, having been very quick at the start of the race ‘it became just impossible to keep up with the leaders’. In the Superstock ranks, the Suzuki 1 of the Qatar Endurance Racing Team with Nasser Al Malki, Anthony West and Nina Prinz installed themselves from the early stages of the race and finished one lap ahead of the Suzuki Team Motors Events AMT Assurances with Guillaume Dietrich, Frédéric Moreira and Michael Savary. The mixed gender rider line up with Nasser Al Malki, Anthony West and Nina Prinz in the QERT I team, provided to be a success. The victory of a mixed gender Team in the Superstock class is a first in the history of all the FIM Endurance competition. In third place finished Penz13 Kraftwerk Herpigny Racing (BMW) with Grégory Fastré, Pedro Vallcaneras and Michal Filla, taking the lead in the provisional rankings of the FIM Endurance Superstock World Cup. Equally prime contenders in this class, Suzuki AM Moto Racing Compétition were looking forward to a great result but hampered by a fuel injection issue, had to abandon the race. Erwan Nigon with BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent “I decided to go for it as from the start, unfortunately with the entry of the safey car, I lost the lead built up in the early stages of the race. Therefore we had to strongly impose ourselves again and regain a margin of security and lead our competitors.” Damian Cudlin with BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent “We had expected a difficult race but this time around, our competitors were not lucky and so, we took advantage of this.” Jérôme Tangre, with Kawasaki Bolliger Team Switzerland “We have a very good team with little resources but we have been able to elevate us and finish on a high note. We have taken advantage of the difficult conditions that other teams experienced.” Horst Saiger, with Kawasaki Bolliger Team Switzerland “We dedicate this podium to Hanspeter, our team-manager who is hospitalized after and operation and still in rehabilitation.” Guillaume Dietrich, with Suzuki Team Motors Events AMT Assurances “We are glad to return to the top after our miserable performance at the Bol d’Or. We did not experience any problems here and Dunlop provided us with good tires. The QERT team was just too strong today.” Nasser Khalifa Al Attiya, QMMF President, QERT Team Manager and FIM Board Member. “We seriously envisage returning to the FIM Endurance World championship. This victory is a reward for the efforts of our team. I also hope that we at the FIM will be able to continue to develop this championship.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Suzuki Endurance Racing Team just missed the podium in the 8 Hours of Doha World Endurance Championship second round at Losail in Qatar after losing several laps due to a faulty oil line. The defending World Champions were forced into two unscheduled pit stops just after the two-hour mark, effectively ending Vincent Philippe, Anthony Delhalle and Yukio Kagayama’s hopes of victory, but despite the huge loss of time, the GSX-R1000-mounted team gradually fought back through the field to finish on 212 laps, five behind winners BMW Motorrad in scorching heat and humid temperatures. Despite the disappointment in a race that saw many of the top EWC-class teams retire including Monster Yamaha with engine problems and Yamaha France GMT with overheating issues, SERT took over the lead in the series by 10 points from the Honda TT Legends team, who finished third in Qatar with a new, temporary team due to a date clash with the Isle of Man TT and its regular riders. Said SERT Team Manager Dominique Meliand: “Obviously we are very disappointed. We have been using these oil lines – which are used in F1 – for many years. All we can think is that we have obtained some faulty units, but these two 10cm-long parts cost us 10 valuable Championship points.” Suzuki GSX-R1000s dominated the Superstock class and made history with Qatar Endurance Racing Team’s Anthony West, Nasser Al Malki and Nina Prince heading Suzuki Team Motors Events’ Guillaume Dietrich, Frederic Moreira and Michael Savary to a Suzuki one-two and also finishing fifth and sixth overall against the EWC-class teams. The victory of a mixed gender team is a first in the World Endurance Championship. SERT will next be in action at round three of the World Endurance Championship, the Suzuka 8 Hour race in Japan, on July 29th where it hopes to strengthen its series lead, but will face stiff competition from the Factory Japanese teams, including five-time race winners Yoshimura Suzuki and its team riders Nobuatsu Aoki, Leon Camier and Josh Waters. Qatar 8 Hour Results: 1 BMW Motorrad France (BMW) 226 laps, 2 Bolliger Team Switzerland (Kawasaki) 223, 3 Honda TT Legends (Honda) 222, 4 SERT (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 222, 5 QERT (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 220, 6 Motors Events AMT (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 219, 7 Penz 13 (BMW) 219, 8 DG Sport (Yamaha) 218, 9 Maco Racing Team (Yamaha) 216, 10 Atomic Motorsport (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 215. Championship Points (after 2 rounds): 1 SERT 54 points, 2 Honda TT Legends 44, 3 SRC Kawasaki 40, 4 Yamalube Folch Endurance 37, 5 BMW Motorrad 35, 6 Bolliger Team Switzerland 29, 7 Monster Energy Yamaha 28, 8 Team RC2L 27, 9 Yamaha France GMT94 24, 10 Team Flembbo Djimiant Serbia 19.