It was a case of what might have been for Steve Plater when the Louth based Honda TT Legends team were forced to retire from the eight hour World Endurance race with just 50 minutes remaining. Plater and teammate John McGuinness completed their qualifying in a strong fifth position, two places higher than at Le Mans in the first round of the series. The pair rode an almost faultless race, saving valuable time during pit stops due to an excellent fuelling strategy and were on the pace maintaining their target position of fourth throughout seven of the eight hours. But with less than an hour remaining, McGuinness was preparing to hand over the Honda Fireblade to Steve Plater who was to finish the race when he lost the back end on his in lap and went down. Luckily the multi-TT winner was uninjured but he was unable to get the bike back into the pits for repair and the team were forced to reluctantly retire. A disappointed Steve Plater said: “We’re disappointed but that’s endurance racing. We were setting a good pace and holding fourth position with one hour to go when John had an unfortunate crash. This year is a big learning curve for the team and we’ve learned a huge amount again this meeting. We are more competitive than we were at the Bol d’Or which we’re happy about and we aim to move forward at Suzuka.” The next round is at Suzuka in Japan on July 31 but prior to that Steve returns to domestic action with Padgett’s Honda and travels to Thruxton in Hampshire for round four of the Fuchs Silkolene British Supersport championship in which he currently holds fourth place. Free practice takes place on Saturday ahead of the sole qualifying session on Sunday. The short 12-lap sprint race is scheduled for 4.40pm on Sunday and the 18 lap feature race is set for Monday at 2.40pm. · UK Waste Solutions have come on board as a personal sponsor to Steve this season. UK Waste Solutions are a leading service-led independent provider of solutions for recycling & waste management based in Newark, Nottinghamshire who offer national coverage delivered with a professional but friendly attitude to meet their customers’ needs and to save them money. The company had a small involvement with racing in 2010 by helping Sam Warren and this year have decided to become more involved thus gaining valuable brand exposure with TV coverage and media publications. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: First World Championship win for the BMW S 1000 RR. A dominant victory for the BMW Motorrad France 99 team gives BMW Motorrad its next milestone. Munich/Stephanskirchen, 23rd May 2011. BMW Motorrad can celebrate the first victory for the BMW S 1000 RR at a World Championship race. At the eight-hour race in Albacete (ESP), the second round of the 2011 FIM Endurance World Championship, the BMW Motorrad France 99 team earned its success with a dominant performance. Rider Erwan Nigon (FRA) set the tempo from the very beginning and, eight hours later, team-mate Sébastien Gimbert (FRA) brought the BMW S 1000 RR over the finish line with a lead of over half a minute. The BMW S 1000 RR can now add its first triumph in a World Championship to the countless wins and titles already achieved by customer teams in international and national championships. With support from Munich, the BMW Motorrad France 99 team is contesting its first complete season in the FIM Endurance World Championship. Last year the team made occasional appearances, at which they were already able to establish themselves among the leaders. In the first race of the season, the team secured a podium finish at the renowned “Bol d’Or” 24-hour race in Magny-Cours (FRA). The second race, in Albacete, produced victory number one. It moves Team BMW Motorrad France 99 up to second place in the championship standings, just two points behind the leaders. “We were expecting a good result in Albacete, but the victory exceeds all expectations,” said Team Principal Volker Scheck. “The bike was flawless throughout the entire race. I am delighted that we were able to present BMW Motorrad with the first World Championship win for the BMW S 1000 RR. It is nice to give something back after all the invaluable support.” “To get this first victory for the team, BMW and Michelin is a great feeling. Particularly as they all worked so hard to make it possible,” explained rider Nigon. His team-mate Gimbert added: “I am delighted for the team, BMW and Michelin that we are able to celebrate our first win in the Endurance World Championship after one and a half years of hard work from all involved.” The team, BMW Motorrad France and the BMW Motorrad customer programme are collaborating closely on this project. Among other things, Munich provides technical support and experience of competitive racing. “We are overjoyed and congratulate the team for this super performance,” said Berthold Hauser, head of “BMW Motorrad HP Race Support”. “For us, it is very special to know that we can win a World Championship race. All the top names on the scene line up here. The victory is the result of the uncomplicated and seamless cooperation between Munich, the team and BMW Motorrad France.” As well as the overall victory, the BMW S 1000 RR also claimed the class victory in the Superstock category. BMW Team Van Zon Boenig Motorsportschool won with Werner Daemen (BEL), Michal Filla (CZE) and Grégory Fastré (BEL). BMW Motorrad customer teams also celebrated success in the International German Championship (IDM) at the Nürburgring (GER) this weekend. Michael Ranseder (AUT) of Team Fritze Tuning Lietz Sport won the first race. In total, six BMW S 1000 RR riders finished in the top ten. In the second race, Freddy Papunen from Team Wilbers BMW finished third to secure another podium finish. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Impressive Second Place for the GMT 94-Yamaha Racing Ipone Team in Albacete’s 8 hour Endurance The GMT 94-Yamaha Racing Ipone Team completed the eight hours of the second round of the 2011 FIM Qtel World Endurance Championship in Albacete yesterday, in second place. The YZF- R1 of David Checa, Kenny Foray and Matthieu Lagrive crossed the chequered flag, just missing out on victory by 31 seconds. Yesterday’s strong performance saw the GMT 94-Yamaha Racing Ipone Team take their first podium of the 2011 season, following a fourth place start off the grid on Saturday afternoon. Checa, Foray and Lagrive put on an impressive display of racing, battling throughout the eight hour race, regularly interchanging positions with BMW Motorrad France 99 and Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, to take home a well-earned second place on the podium. Following this weekend’s sensational performance the GMT 94 Yamaha Racing Ipone Team has jumped up from eighth position in the overall classification to third. The Yamaha YZF- R1 proved to be a powerful machine once again, featuring four times in the top six to complete the race. The R1 ridden by Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Gwen Giabbani of the Monster Yamaha YART Racing Team crossed the line in fourth position, just missing out on podium following a delay due to a fuel issue mid race. They were immediately followed by Jason Pridmore, Gregg Black and Grégory Junod of Maco Racing Team taking fifth place ahead of the Yamaha YMES Folch Endurance of Dani Ribalta, Pedro Vallcaneras and Jose Manuel Luis Rita in sixth. The next stop on the 2011 FIM Qtel World Endurance calendar will be Japan on 31st July for eight hours of Suzuka. Christophe Guyot – GMT 94-Yamaha Racing Ipone Team, Team Manager “Right from the start of the race, our bike always appeared in the top three in the standings. At the end of each hour, we were even in the lead position as we were the last of the leading teams to pit in, thanks to a lower fuel consumption compared to our competitors. At the end of the race, our bike had spent a total of 3’46” in pit stops after eight hours of racing, making us the fastest team in the pit lane. The GMT 94 mechanics reached a new level of efficiency and competitiveness in pit stop operations. The riders were fantastic and our Michelin tyres performed perfectly. It should be noted that the French tyre manufacturer also earned a well-deserved victory, taking the first two places in the race. Their investment and the competence of each technician involved definitely deserved this reward. Our Yamaha R1 also performed flawlessly. It was both fast and reliable and allowed us to compete with the best teams and score a great result. Of course, we would have preferred to win but we came 31 seconds short of the winning team after eight hours of racing. Perhaps we could have made up for the difference with a slightly more aggressive strategy. But after a few unsuccessful races, we are sincerely happy to be on the podium and have no regrets.” More, from a press release issued by Michelin: A one-two finish for MICHELIN at Albacete The second round of the 2011 Endurance World Championship at Albacete, Spain, saw MICHELIN tyres claim the top two places thanks to its partners BMW Motorrad France and Yamaha GMT 94. The eight-hour marathon enabled MICHELIN to showcase its expertise round this difficult circuit where teams faced a particularly broad range of temperatures. It might not be the championship’s most technically demanding venue, but Albacete is always a big challenge for tyre manufacturers. The chief reasons for this are its high number of turns, the abrasive nature of its surface and the big fluctuations in temperature between the daylight and night-time phases of the race. To be competitive here, tyres must be extremely versatile and MICHELIN’s range rose to the challenge of the Spanish track with flying colours”¦ Philippe MUSSATI (manager of MICHELIN Competition’s two-wheel racing programmes): “Albacete is reputed for being very hard on tyres and we had to carefully tailor the range we took there for our partner teams. Track temperatures of around 40°C called for competitive, durable and versatile products, which are three essentially opposing qualities. Yet the combination of our engineers’ excellent development work and the first class job the teams did setting up their bikes gave our partners a certain edge throughout the race. The BMW set a new lap record for the track during qualifying before going on to dominate the race, while Yamaha GMT 94 quickly made its mark to secure an unchallenged second place. Indeed, only two bikes succeeded in lapping under the 1m32s mark during the race, and they were the BMW and YART Yamaha, which had the honour of posting the fastest race lap (1m31.609s). It’s such a shame that YART ran out of fuel at one point, because we were heading for a MICHELIN one-two-three at that stage. I would also like to underline DG Sport’s outstanding run in the Superstock class. Had it not been for a fall, they could well have finished on the podium.” This MICHELIN one-two has boosted the positions of the firm’s partners in the provisional world championship standings. BMW Motorrad France is now just two points short of the current leader, while Yamaha GMT 94 has moved up to third spot.