8 Hours of Doha Victory and 2010 World title for the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team Suzuki Endurance Racing Team finished the season on the highest note. Vincent Philippe, Sylvain Guintoli and Kenny Foray were twice victorious, winning the 8 Hours of Doha, the last race of the season and offered the 2010 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship title to the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, the tenth title for the official French team. SERT won with a four laps lead over the Yamaha Austria Racing Team. Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Gwen Giabbani did their best during the 8 hours race to follow the pace of the leaders and ended up on the podium a rather mellow season. World champion in 2009, YART finished the 2010 season in third position. There was a tight battle developing towards the very end of the race for the third place. The Honda RMT 21 Racing Germany with Viktor Kispataki, Didier Van Keymeulen and Arie Vos took the best from Kawasaki Bolliger Switzerland with Horst Saiger, Patric Muff and Roman Stamm. The private Swiss team came to Doha with the championship lead, but the nine points advantage over SERT was not enough to preserve the title hopes. However, Bolliger Team Switzerland scored a well-deserved second place at the 2010 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship. The Suzuki AM Moto Racing Competition finished in fifth place, this result almost feeling like a victory for this private French team who dedicated the great result to Raphaël Chèvre, one of their rider, still recovering from serious injuries at the latest Bol d’Or. For the team BMW BMP Elf 99, this race ended in another disappointment. Sébastien Gimbert, Erwan Nigon and Damian Cudlin have been battling against SERT all race long; however, a crash towards the end deprived them from a promised podium. BMP Elf 99 finished in sixth place, ahead of the Suzuki RAC 41 City Bike, delayed after having repaired a puncture. In eighth place, the Suzuki Qatar Endurance Racing Team 1 of Anthony Delhalle, Alex Cudlin and Mashel Al Naimi won the Superstock class ahead of Team Motor Events with Baptiste Guittet, Vincent Bocquet and Emilien Humeau and the BMW Boenig Penz13 Racing Team of Jure Stibilj, Steve Mizera and Matti Seidel. Tenth place finish of the 8 Hours of Doha were also the Suzuki RT Motovirus with Cyril Brivet, Lucas de Carolis and Frédéric Jond, delayed from the start as they collided with another machine. For the Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone, the Doha race ended in another disappointment. Very fast during the qualifications and favourite for a podium, Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone finished at the end of the pack after two crashes. One of the most frustrating retirements comes from the Spanish Yamaha of Folch Endurance. Pedro Vallcaneras, Jose Manuel Luis Rita and Jordi Almeida were promised to a third place but a collision in the very last laps with the Honda RMT 21 Racing Germany took them far away from a podium. For the Team Suzuki 18 Sapeurs Pompiers, it was a similar disappointment. After a difficult season, Stéphane Molinier, Jérôme Tangre and David Brière were in position to take a rewarding revenge, as they were in fourth place before their rear wheel was blocked. Very well placed on the starting grid, the Yamaha of Team X-One gave up after a crash during the second hour of race. BK Maco Moto Racing, with a broken engine due to a coolant leak, and the Suzuki III and IV of Qatar Endurance Racing Team, also retired with engine breakdowns. FIM Endurance World Championship Losail International Circuit Doha, Qatar November 13, 2010 Final Overall Race Results: 1. SERT (PHILIPPE Vincent/GUINTOLI Sylvain/FORAY Freddy), SUZUKI GSX-R1000, EWC, 231 laps, 8:01:39.174 2. YART (JERMAN Igor/MARTIN Steve/GIABBANI Gwen), YAMAHA YZF-R1, EWC, -4 laps 3. RMT #21 RACING TEAM (KISPATAKI Viktor/VAN KEYMEULEN Didier/VOS Arie), HONDA CBR1000RR, EWC, -5 laps 4. BOLLIGER TEAM SWITZERLAND (HORST Saiger/MUFF Patric/STAMM Roman), KAWASAKI ZX-10R, EWC, -6 laps 5. AM MOTO RACING COMPETITION (AUGER Fabrice/MASSON Etienne/BULLE Louis), SUZUKI GSX-R1000, EWC, -7 laps 6. BMP ELF 99 RACING TEAM (GIMBERT Sebastien/NIGON Erwan/CUDLIN Damian), BMW S1000RR, EWC, -7laps, 3.775 seconds 7. RAC 41 – CITV BIKE (JUNOD Greg/BLACK Gregg/DEPOORTER Olivier), SUZUKI GSX-R1000, EWC, -8 laps 8. QERT (DELHALLE Anthony/CUDLIN Alexander/AL NAIMI Mashel), SUZUKI GSX-R1000, STK, -8 laps, 37.744 seconds 9. TEAM MOTORS EVENTS (GUITTET Baptiste/BOCQUET Vincent/HUMEAU Emilien), SUZUKI GSX-R1000, STK, -9 laps 10. RT MOTOVIRUS RACING (BRIVET Cyril/de CAROLIS Lucas/JOND Frederic), SUZUKI GSX-R1000, EWC, -12 laps 33. BK MACO RACING (PRIDMORE Jason/RIBALTA Daniel), YAMAHA YZF-R1, EWC, -209 laps Final World Championship Point Standings (after 5 of 5 races): 1. Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT), 95 points 2. Bolliger Team Switzerland, 90 3. Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART), 60 4. TIE, RAC 41 – City Bike/RT Moto Virus Racing, 51 6. Motobox Kremer Shell Advance, 39 7. YMES Folch Endurance, 38 8. TIE, GSR Kawasaki/Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone, 35 10. BMP Elf 99 Racing Team, 34 More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Suzuki Endurance Racing Team has won the 2010 World Endurance Championship after taking victory at the final round in Qatar today. Team riders Sylvain Guintoli, Vincent Philippe and Freddy Foray led the 8 Hours of Doha from the start aboard their GSX-R1000 Suzuki to clinch victory with 231 laps – four laps ahead of runners-up Yamaha Austria Racing Team. Philippe took the holeshot from BMP Elf 99 and the battle between the two teams raged hour-after-hour. At the half way stage, SERT and the BMW squad were separated by less than a minute and both on 116 laps. Third place at the four-hour mark was held by Yamaha Austria Racing Team on 114 laps with Honda’s RMT 21 Racing Team a further 43 seconds adrift. But in the second half of the event, the French squad’s consistency and high lap times saw the trio open up a four lap lead that they maintained until the chequered flag. This is SERT’s 10th World Endurance title and comes in a season where it suffered a no-score at Le Mans in France and also did not start the third round at Suzuka in Japan. SERT came into the final round trailing the private Kawasaki Bolliger team by nine points, but the Swiss squad was relegated to runners-up in the series after finishing fourth in the race. The event was also cause for double celebration for Suzuki as eighth-place in the event gave Qatar Endurance Racing Team victory in the Superstock class ahead of fellow GSX-R1000-mounted Team Motors Events. Results: 1 SERT (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 231 laps, 2 YART (Yamaha) 227, 3 RMT 21 Racing Team (Honda) 226, 4 Bolliger Switzerland (Kawasaki) 225, 5 AM Moto Racing Competition (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 224, 6 BMP Elf 99 Racing Team (BMW) 224, 7 RAC 41 City Bike (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 223, 8 QERT (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 223, 9 Team Motors Events (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 223, 10 RT Motovirus Racing (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 219. Championship points: 1 SERT 95, 2 Bolliger Team Switzerland 90, 3 YART 60, 4 RAC 41 – City Bike 51, 5 RT Moto Virus Racing 51, 6 Motobox Kremer Shell Advance 39, 7 YMES Folch Endurance 38, 8 GSR Kawasaki 35, 9 Yamaha France GMT 94 ipone 35, 10 BMP Elf 99 Racing Team 34.