2007 QMMF Endurance FIM World Championship Doha 8 hours, Qatar, November 10, 2007 SUPER SEVENTH FOR BMW. Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport ended their first season in the World Endurance Championship with a highly impressive seventh place in the Doha 8 hour race in Qatar. On a track noted for its high-speed straights, the team knew their lesser-powered 1200 cc twin would be at a huge disadvantage compared to the four cylinder bikes, but they surprised everybody by finishing the race in seventh place. BMW Motorrad Motorsport regulars Thomas Hinterreiter and Richard Cooper were joined by local Ahmed Al-Abdulla for the race which started in daylight and ended at 22.00 local time. The race was won by the already crowned champions, S.E.R.T, whose riders Vincent Philippe and Matthieu Lagrive completed a total of 222 laps. They finished three laps ahead of Yamaha Austria’s Steve Martin, Igor Jerman and Damian Cudlin, with the Qatar Endurance Racing team of Ivan Silva Alberola, Victor Carrasco and Mishel Al Naimi third. Thomas Hinterreiter I think this has been a very good result for us and a bit of a surprise to many people. We knew this track would not suit our bike, because of its long, fast straights, but we all worked hard together and we got a well-earned reward. As soon as we did our first practice, we knew that we would be at a big power disadvantage and that we would have to have a problem-free race if we were to get any kind of good result at all. But I think we did a lot better then we had first thought and that is down to the performance and hard work of the whole team. The bike never missed a beat and we had no problems. It’s a great way to finish the season and we are all very happy indeed. Richard Cooper We didn’t expect such a good result, but everything went very well right from the start of first practice. The circuit is very safe and the lighting was pretty good in the night, so it was easy to race here. There are too many fast straights here for our bike, so we knew that we’d have to work hard to get a good finish. But that’s what we all did and the good result was because of the whole team’s performance. The mechanics hard work and quick pit-stops made our jobs much easier. Doha is a difficult track for bike set-up, but we managed to find a good setting before raceday. During the 8 hours, we had no problems and finishing seventh here was a great and positive result in a great season for us all. Ahmed Al-Abdulla It was a pleasure to race with this team here and I enjoyed the experience. They are all so professional and everybody knew their job so well. Doha circuit is very fast and the four cylinder bikes have a big power advantage, so to get this result is very impressive. I want to thank the team for giving me this opportunity to race such a good bike in my home circuit. Berti Hauser (Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director) I am extremely happy with this result and it’s a great way to finish the season. Usually our advantage is over a twenty-four hour race, so to get such a good result in an eight hour sprint race makes us all feel very happy. The circuit is not ideal for our bike, but everybody worked so well together and we got a result many people never expected. The bike ran faultlessly throughout the practices, qualifying and the race, with no problems at all. Before the race we did not expect a high finish, but everything worked smoothly and I think we deserved our seventh place. This is only our first year in the World Endurance Championship but, thanks to our hard work and great team spirit, we have achieved and learnt a lot. Now we can look forward to the future in a very positive frame of mind. Results: 8 Hours Qatar 1 S.E.R.T (Vincent Philippe, Matthieu Lagrive) 222 laps, 2 Yamaha Austria (Steve Martin, Igor Jerman, Damian Cudlin) 219 laps, 3 Qatar Endurance Racing (Ivan Silva Alberola) 217 laps, 7 BMW Motorrad Motorsport (Thomas Hinterreiter, Richard Cooper, Ahmed Al-Abdulla) 216 laps. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: World Endurance Champions SERT came back from a crash early on to win today’s final round of the World Endurance Championship in Qatar. Team rider Vincent Philippe fell off his GSX-R1000 with Yamaha Phase One’s Steve Plater on the 21st lap of the eight-hour event, putting both team riders in the pits for lengthy repairs. Philippe and team mate Mathieu Lagrive spent the next seven hours climbing through the ranks from 15th position. At the half-way stage, the French squad had moved into third position, and then into second behind leaders Yamaha Austria as the race entered its final hour, due to the GSX-R’s consistently-fast lap times, which were four-seconds quicker than the opposition. Suzuki finally took the lead 40 minutes from the end when Yamaha Austria took their ninth pit stop (SERT took only eight) to take the chequered flag by just under a minute. Yamaha Austria finished second ahead of Qatar Racing (Kawasaki) and the Suzuki-mounted Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers trio of Stephane Molinier, Guillaume Pialoux and David Briere – who took the least pit stops throughout the race, coming in just seven times. Provisional results: 1: S.E.R.T. – PHILIPPE, LAGRIVE – (SUZUKI GSX-R1000) 222 laps. 2: Yamaha Austria Racing Team – MARTIN, JERMAN, CUDLIN – (YAMAHA R1) 222. 3: Q.E.R.T – SILVA ALBEROLA, CARRASCO, AL NAIMI – (KAWASAKI ZX 10R) 219. 4: 18 Sapeurs Pompiers – MOLINIER, PIALOUX, BRIERE – (SUZUKI GSX-R1000) 217. 5: Team Amadeus X One – TESSARI, RICCI, GRUY – (YAMAHA R1) 217. 6: Moto 38 Yamaha – MILLET, BRIVET, FERNANDES – (YAMAHA R1) 217. 7: BMW Moto – HINTERREITER, COOPER, AL-ABDULLA – (BMW R1200S) 216. 8: Suzuki Sweden – ANDERSSON, YOUNG, NOTMAN – (SUZUKI GSX-R1000) 215. 9: Phase One Endurance – NOWLAND, RICHARDS, PLATER – (YAMAHA R1) 215. 10: Maco Moto Racing – PIOT, MIKSOVSKY, VERBOVEN – (YAMAHA R1) 214. More, from a press release issued by Steve Plater’s publicist: STEVE PLATER WORLD ENDURANCE, QATAR Woodhall Spa ace Steve Plater was competing in the final round of the World Endurance championship held at the Losail circuit, Doha on Saturday where despite an early crash the team Phase One Yamaha completed the eight hour race in an overall position of ninth – fifth place in the Superbike class. Plater topped the qualifying times for the Phase One team, just marginally faster than his two teammates Glen Richards and Warwick Nowland and the team secured second place on the grid alongside the newly crowned world champion SERT team who had clinched the title in the previous round. The Phase One Yamaha team had found a good set up for the eight-hour race and were confident of a top result. As the race got underway it was Plater who took the first hour on the bike to immediately settle into third place behind Vincent Philippe on the SERT bike and David Morillon on the Bolliger Kawasaki. Plater soon reeled in Morillon and headed off after Philippe following him for a few laps before forging ahead on the final corner to take the race lead, which he held for the next six laps. But with just half a lap remaining to the first handover the SERT bike crashed into him causing the pair to fall heavily. Despite the pain from an injured arm and leg plus a head injury, Plater managed to get the Yamaha R1 going and ride it back to the pits where the team worked frantically for much of half an hour to get it repaired and back on the track. Steve took no further part in the race although remained on standby in case he needed to replace either Richards or Nowland. But the pair carried on sharing the time between them for the rest of the eight hours and fought back bravely from dead last to finish in ninth position, fifth in class. “It was a shame I was knocked off in the early stages of the race,” said Plater. “I had just posted the fastest lap of the race, faster than the pole setter and although later in the race it was bettered by Lagrive it was only by three tenths of a second. “I didn’t ride again because my leg and arm were swollen and I had a bang on the head so my vision was not perfect. I did remain on standby however to cover for the other two riders but they both rode really well and I was not needed.” After the race Plater attended the presentation evening where he received his trophy for second place in the championship and is now on his way to Macau where he begins practice on Thursday for the Macau GP with AIM Yamaha. Steve won the race in 2006 and will be looking for a repeat performance this time around. Practise and first qualifying are on Thursday with final qualifying on Friday prior to the 15-lap race on the 3.8-mile circuit on Saturday scheduled for a 2.50pm (local time) start.