American Nate Kern rode a BMW R1200S fitted with a new valve train at Le Mans over the weekend, and the bike is believed to be using overhead cams instead of high cams and short pushrods as previously seen on the new generation Boxer engines. Kern served as a reserve rider and did not actually get on the bike during the race, although he did 33 laps in practice. A press release issued by BMW after the race follows: 2007 World Endurance Championship Round 1, Le Mans, France – April 21/22 Crowd: 90,000. Weather: Dry, sunny 19-25 C. BMW BACK WITH A FLOURISH! BMW returned to world championship motorcycle racing with a flourish at the gruelling Le Mans 24 hour race, ending with a win in their class and a highly impressive 16th overall on their Sportsboxer bike. Despite being down on horsepower compared to their rivals, riders Thomas Hinterreiter, Rico Penzkofer and Marcus Barth and hustled the twin round the 4.180 kilometre Bugatti circuit, entertaining the sun-soaked spectators with their late-braking manoeuvres and speed through the turns. Throughout the twenty-four hours and 776 laps, the bike’s twin-cylinder engine never missed a beat. Considering that the bike has only had one shakedown test, and that most of the top teams did not suffer any grave misfortunes or DNFs, to finish sixteenth overall was a tremendous result and one that will give the whole team a huge boost for the season ahead. Marcus Barth It is an amazing result and it’s down to the way that the whole team has worked so well together. The three of us riders put in very close and consistent lap times – probably we were closer to each other then any other threesome – and that made us very competitive. I am very, very happy with this result because, before the race I thought that we’d do well to finish between 20th and 25th place. So to get 16th is super. I want to thank all the mechanics and everybody involved because they all played an important part. Considering we were down on horsepower, I think we’ve done really well. We were good on the brakes and in the turns, but on the exits our horsepower disadvantage showed. I’d pass riders on the brakes and then could only sit and watch them go past me on the straights time and time again. I had no problems at all during the race – apart from a bit of a sore neck – and now I want to celebrate a little with the rest of the team. Thomas Hinterreiter This is a perfect start to this new challenge and I’m so happy because I never would’ve believed that we’d finish as high up as we did. Le Mans is a very tough race and most, if not all, of our rivals had much faster bikes, so to do what we did is great. We knew we’d be at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the field, but this is part of the challenge. I didn’t have any problems during the race and I actually felt that the bike was getting better the longer the race wore on! We’ve not had much time with is bike before coming to Le Mans, so this result makes me very, very happy. Rico Penzkofer I’m very happy with this fantastic performance and result in this tough race. I was thinking about a top twenty-five place before this weekend, so we did very well to finish sixteenth. Not many good teams crashed out or retired, so our sixteenth was through our own hard work and effort. Our bike is very good on the brakes and quick in the corners; we just lose out on top speed and acceleration out of the turns, but that’s to be expected considering that we’re quite a bit down on horsepower and our bike is heavier than our rivals. The team have done absolutely perfect work and the team spirit has been super. This is a great start to the season and it gives us confidence for the next race. Berti Hauser (Director of BMW Motorrad Motorsport) After five years of the Boxer Cup, we wanted a new challenge and we also wanted to give something back to the fans. We wanted to do a big race and knew we couldn’t do Superbike with this bike (because of the regulations) so we chose probably the toughest discipline of all – Endurance! Le Mans is probably the most famous and also the toughest race, with many strong teams, so we knew this wasn’t going to be easy. I never expected we’d finish in the top sixteen and I am both happy and delighted with this performance. The team’s motivation and spirit has been super throughout and this result is a great reward for everybody’s hard work and efforts. From this race we’ve got a lot of ideas to work on and we know we can improve this bike for the next challenge.