Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship Highlights of the 2008 season As the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team took a fourth consecutive title, the 2008 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship might have looked at first glance similar to the previous editions. However, this season gave us some intense racing, full of surprises and dramas. The SERT, running World Champion and favourite, took his fourth consecutive title at the penultimate round of the season, the Bol d’Or, but “you don’t count your chickens before they hatch”, as likes to remind team-manager Dominique Meliand. The official Suzuki team had to go through some tough time, with a faulty alternator at Suzuka, a crash at Oschersleben and a leaking radiator leading to a mechanical breakdown at Doha. Only engaged at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Bol d’Or, the SERT Suzuki 2 did a faultless season, being two times on the highest step of the podium and taking a final fourth place at the championship. Yamaha Austria Racing Team had the ascendancy over the group of challengers. With a strong technical team and experienced riders, YART took the second place at the 2008 Championship, fourteen points only behind the SERT. The Austrians finished the season with a brilliant victory at Doha, while the SERT had to retire after their engine broke down at the beginning of the race. Nowadays, YART has reached the potential of a possible world champion. Yamaha Folch Endurance was one of the revelations of the 2008 season. This Spanish team, driven by a Catalunya motorcycle dealer, had always been performing very well at their home round in Albacete. As they were competing in the whole championship for the first year, Folch Endurance had no complex and finished third overall. Their technical staff was experienced from all the endurance races in Spain. Their two top-riders, Dani Ribalta and Pedro Vallcaneras, managed to keep the Yamaha in the leading group very often and ended up on the podium at the 8 Hours of Doha. First Kawasaki in the final standings, the official ZX-10R from Team Kawasaki France did not meet the same success as last year. Despite a victory at Oschersleben 8 Hours, several crashes at Le Mans, Albacete and Bol d’Or dropped down the Kawasaki to a final fifth place. Also on Kawasaki, Bolliger Team Switzerland finished in sixth place, just behind the official team. After some engine breakdowns at Suzuka and Oschersleben, the Swiss team went on the podium at Albacete and took a fourth place from the final round at Doha. In seventh place is the best Honda, from the German permanent team RMT 21 Racing. Last year, RMT 21 finished the season in twentieth place. This year, they scored points at every round except in Suzuka. Despite a big turn-over in their very cosmopolite teams of riders, they took the fifth place in the Formula EWC class at Le Mans and Doha, and eight at Oschersleben. Phase One Endurance took with no doubt the unlucky award. At several occasions, the British Yamaha was fighting in the leading group but not once they had a chance to climb on the podium. Their best result was a fourth place at Oschersleben. Endurance World Champions in 1993, 2000 and 2003, Phase One had to keep themselves happy in 2008 with an eighth place. Except in Suzuka, RT Racing Team & Moto Virus did a great season and scored points at every round. With the support of a French Suzuki dealer based near Lyon, the Italian team made a great move this season in the world standings. Twenty-seventh in 2007, they are ninth this season. They lead by a few points the Slovakian team of Maco Moto Racing, who came with great ambitions (as they recruited two world champions, Warwick Nowland and Jason Pridmore in 2008), but had some back luck in the beginning of the season. However, Maco Moto and their Yamaha made strong impressions at Doha with a third place behind YART and Folch Endurance. After a difficult season, four permanent teams did not manage to finish in the top 10. Endurance Moto 38 was competing with two Yamaha, the 38 and the 74. The Yamaha n°38 finished last season in fifth place, but several crashes and mechanical breakdowns did not let them any chance this year. The Italians of La Fortezza Amadeus X-One on Yamaha, the British of Diablo 666 Bolliger on Kawasaki and the French of Team Raffin Motos also had the same back luck. The French only scored four points this season, at Le Mans. The FIM World Cup was there to distinguish the best teams competing in the Superstock class. The best team was definitely the Qatar Endurance Racing Team IJT. With the support in the pits of the Suzuki Junior Team, the QERT IJT was on the Superstock podium at every round. LTG 57 finished second in the Superstock class. The French Yamaha took the class victory in Suzuka but had to retire at the Bol d’Or after a crash. Endurance Moto 45 took a final third place. The French Suzuki did a very regular season, as they scored points at every race, except at Oschersleben. The Suzuki Junior Team LMS took a class victory at both rounds they entered, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Bol d’Or, which gives them a final fourth place. ABG Performance also did a great season. The French team on Suzuki could have done better without the abandons from Le Mans and Bol d’Or. Newcomer in the class, the Italian team Runner Bike was in a learning process and finished at a very honourable eighth place.