From a press release from Octagon Motorsports, organizers of the FIM Endurance World Championship:

200 Miglia di Imola: Endurance Starts Here

The FIM World Endurance Season begins in less than three weeks, with the San Marino round of the championship to be held at the Imola circuit.Last year’s race was the first time the 200 Mile ‘sprint’ format had been used in the World Endurance Championship. Over the course of the season the shorter races turned out to offer a unique mix of flat out flag-to-flag racing combined with the tactical planning needed to plan in two fuel and tyre stops.

Calculated Strategies

This year the opening race of the championship is expected to be particularly competitive. The winter has seen an unprecedented amount of testing by the top teams who are all aiming to arrive at Imola in peak form. Qualifying will be closely fought as teams seek to gain a psychological advantage over their rivals while perfecting machine set-up for the sinuous parkland circuit. Team managers will be comparing the abilities of other teams’ riders before planning their pit stop strategies, and taking calculated risks with fuel loads and tyre choices.

Every Point Counts

The race itself is bound to be close. Last year saw an epic fight back from thirty-third place to an eventual fourth by Zongshen’s Warwick Nowland and Giovanni Bussei, with first placed Phase One’s Jason Pridmore and Mike Edwards pushing constantly to maintain their lead. The close racing was also carried through to pitlane, with slick stops needed to maintain the on-track advantages. Five different teams won a race last year, making every championship point vital. Everyone who starts the Imola 200 on Sunday the 4 th of May will be aiming to bring home as many points as possible.