BMW Motorrad Motorsport news 2007 QMM Endurance FIM Championship Preview: Round 4, Oschersleben, August 11/12 Circuit: 3.667 kms. BMW Motorrad’s second 24 hour Endurance race outing of the year takes place on home soil, at the Oschersleben racetrack in Saxony-Anhalt. For this race, BMW have entered two teams in the Open class. The number 17 bike will once again be ridden by the same trio who took a superb win in the Open class at the Le Mans 24 hr race earlier in the year – Thomas Hinterreiter, Rico Penzkofer and Marcus Barth. This time, they will be joined by Jose-Luis Nion, Peter Ottl and Richard Cooper on bike number 71. The Oschersleben 24 hr race is an important step in BMW’s return to motorcycle sport and they are hoping to put to good use what they have learnt so far this year. Although Oschersleben is a fairly flat track, it is still a demanding circuit and one that does not give racers a lot of time to relax. In a sprint race this would not be so much of a problem but, in a 24 hour race, riders need a very high level of stamina and concentration in order to make a good result. Team Manager – Berti Hauser This is a very important race for us. It’s very important because it is our home race and it’s also important because this is the tenth anniversary of the Oschersleben Speedweek and the 24 hours here. There was a privateer BMW entered in that very first race and now BMW are here with a full factory team and we want to put on a good show for the fans. Like many teams, we tested here not so long ago and those tests gave us a lot of valuable information. The track is quite twisty and I think it may suit us because our bike is good in the turns. The straights here are not so long and so the actual lap times between the fast (Superbike class) guys and us are not so great. To show how highly we regard this race, we have entered two bikes – that’s a lot of effort, but we hope it will pay off in the end and our efforts will be rewarded.