BMW Motorrad Motorsport news 2007 QMMF Endurance FIM World Championship Round 4, Oschersleben, August 11/12 Circuit: 3.667 kms. Saturday 11th August QUALIFYING AND PRE-RACE NEWS. Final qualifying on Friday was blighted by drizzle and overcast conditions, but generally the track was never either fully dry or wet, so riders had to exercise caution during their thirty minute sessions. Because of the varying conditions, riders were unable to improve on their previous best qualifying times. BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s two teams qualified in thirteenth and twenty-fifth places respectively for the Oschersleben 24 hour race. The regular trio of Thomas Hinterreiter, Rico Penzkofer and Marcus Barth set an average laptime of 1:32.756, with Penzkofer marginally quicker then his team mates. The second bike ridden by Jose-Luis Nion, Richard Cooper and Peter Ottl averaged 1:33.977, with Cooper the fastest of the trio. For the race, which starts at 15.00 today, Rico Penzkofer will make the start on bike number 17 and Cooper will do the same on bike number 71. Kawasaki France (Steve Plater, Gwen Giabbani, Julian Mazuecos) took pole position, with an average time of 1:28.881, with the Suzuki of SERT (Matthieu Lagrive, Vincent Philippe, Julien da Costa) just a tenth of a second behind. Third quickest is Yamaha Austria (Steve Martin, Igor Jerman, Damian Cudlin), with Yamaha Moto Endurance 38 (Erwan Nigon, Julien Millet, Hugo Marchand, Joao Contente) fourth. BMW WELCOMES BACK STEPHANE A very welcome visitor to the Oschersleben 24 hour race was Belgian Stephane Mertens. Stephane has been riding for BMW for some years now, but suffered a nasty crash in a preseason test and has only recently become more mobile. Since then, he has been working hard on his physiotherapy and is now able to sprint round the paddock very speedily on a pair of high-tech crutches. His presence in Oschersleben is a big boost to the already good atmosphere in the BMW encampment and within moments he was talking freely with riders and mechanics alike – just like old times. Although, Stephane could physically get on a motorcycle at the moment, he wants to continue his rehabilitation and get completely fit before going out onto the track. Whether or not that will be at the Bol d’Or or anytime this season is up to Stephane himself. In the meantime, BMW have told Stephane that when he is ready to ride, there will be a place for him in the team. Team manager – Berti Hauser It’s good to see Stephane back at the track and talking so positively about the future. When he came into the pitbox, he was talking to everybody as if he’d never been away. We talked a little about his return to racing, but we will not put any pressure on him to come back before he is ready. It is entirely up to him. When he wants to come back, we would be very happy to have him on one of our bikes again. Stephane Mertens Coming to racetrack again brings back so many good memories and once I’m in the paddock of course I start thinking about when I can race again. It’s a special feeling and one that is hard to give up, but if I decide that the time is right to stop then I will stop. I have been working hard to get my body in good condition again and things are going very well. I’m happy that BMW want me and I’m happy that they aren’t pushing me to come back before I’m ready. The Bol d’Or could be a possibility, but I do not want to take somebody else’s place and not do a good job. So probably I will continue at working getting fully fit before we make a decision as to where and when I get on a bike again.