8 Hours of Doha BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent tops the free practice sessions From the opening of the free practice sessions, it looks like a serious competition is building up for the next FIM Endurance race this Saturday, at the Losail Circuit in Qatar. With two free practice sessions completed on Thursday night, the BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent found itself leading the field by a small margin. With a best lap of 2’01.161 in the first practice session, the official BMW Team leads the Yamaha France GMT 94 Yamalube, themselves credited with a laptime of 2’01.680 during the second practice session. Team Manager of the official French Yamaha Team, Christophe Guyot explains: “We have regained our level of performance. Our result from the last race, the Bol d’Or, was quite deceiving and due to an electric problem.” The Monster Energy Yamaha Team Yart registers the 3rd bets time of the day, with a 2’02’162. However, Gwen Giabbani finishes the practice session with a crash, luckily without any injuries. The Austrian Yamaha Team finishes slight ahead of the Suzuki Endurance Racing team, themselves with a days’ best of 2’02.397. Honda TT Legends follows these top four with a best of 2’03.407. The English Team presents in Doha a new lineup, with Ryuichi Kiyonari, Michael Laverty and Jason O’Halloran. Russell Benney, Race Team Manager, explains with some reservations before this evening practice session: “Two of our riders do not have any Endurance experience and do not like to ride at night.” In the Superstock category, the Suzuki #95 of the Qatar Endurance Racing team with Nasser Al Malki, Anthony West and Nina Prinz, lead another Suzuki of the d’AM Moto Racing Compétition. The second motorcycle of QERT is also present with a ‘mixed’ team, with Elena Rosell, Saeed Al Sulaiti et Sultan Al Kuwari. Team Principal, Nasser Khalifa Al Attiya, Président de la QMMF et team manager du QERT explains: “We recruited these female riders not because they are women but because they are very good racers.” In Doha it is hot. With an ambient temperature of 30°C at 22h00 and a track surface of 33°C, the main concern is to find the correct tyres capable to handle the heat. The start of the race will be given at 17h00, local time, just a little over one hour before sunset. The track temperature exceeds the 40°C level. You can follow the race with “Live Timing” on FIM-LIVE.COM from 16:30 on Saturday!