Oschersleben 24 Hours set to be a decisive Championship race on 1112 August The fourth leg of the QMMF Endurance FIM World Championship, the Oschersleben 24 Hours in Germany, marks the start of the second half of the season and is set to be a decisive point in the race for the Championship. 35 points are on offer for the winner at Oschersleben on 12th August with only 25 points separating the two teams at the head of the classifications. Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, second in the Superbike class at Suzuka, lead Kawasaki Motor France who did not take part in Japan. A thrilling battle therefore looks likely in Germany between these two official French teams. SERT have recorded two consecutive victories at Oschersleben, however Kawasaki France, winners at Albacete last May, will be formidable challengers for the top podium spot with everything at stake in this race. FCC TSR 778, the Japanese team that was victorious in the Superbike class at Suzuka and lie third in the overall classifications, is not taking part in Germany. This track, as highly demanding for the machines as for the riders, also offers certain permanent teams the opportunity to make an impact. Yamaha Austria Racing Team, fifth overall, along with Yamaha Phase One Endurance, Bolliger Team Switzerland Kawasaki and Endurance Moto 38, following their strong results at Suzuka, have all made an impressive leap up the classifications and could surprise a few people. Each of these permanent teams have been on the podium at Oschersleben in the past few seasons. The best performance has come from Endurance Moto 38 who were victorious in 2002 ahead of the Suzuki Zongshen and GMT 94, the top teams in the 2002 Endurance World Championship. As in every year, the 2007 Oschersleben 24 Hours will showcase a good number of German teams including one official team. 16th at the 2007 Le Mans 24 Hours, BMW Motorrad Motorsport will be using two R1200Ss in the Open category. Among the other peculiarities at this German race will be the sight on the track of the Harley Davidson VRSC RR of HD Racing Bonn as well as the two Super Dukes of the KTM Dealers team. One of the Super Dukes in fact finished in 18th position in 2006. Finally there will also be an MZ 1000 and four Triumph Daytonas entered into the Open category. Free practice will take place on Thursday morning and the first round of qualifying on Thursday afternoon before the night-time testing session. The second qualifying session is scheduled for Friday morning. The race itself will start on Saturday 11th August at 15:00. This German race is always supported by a festival of concerts, animations and shows. Oschersleben will welcome everyone to this tenth ever edition of the race. More, from a press release issued by Amadeus X-One: Will Gruy Comeback at Oschersleben 24 Hour Amadeus X One Welcome Back American Rider, Introduce Young Italian Nico Morelli for Classic German Race Nico Morelli, who comes from the Italian region of Tuscany, made his debut with Amadeus X One at Rijeka a few weeks ago and is an interesting addition to the team for the Oschersleben 24 Hour race. He will be the “reserve” rider on hand to replace Will Gruy if the injuries Gruy sustained in a road accident two months ago have not healed sufficiently. Gruy, of course, is determined to ride and to hold onto his place in the team: “All through the long process of recovery I have had in my mind the objective of being back at Ocshersleben, but I won’t hide the difficulties of this comeback. The German circuit is very tortuous and there’s no rest from physical effort. Also, a 24 hour race is surely the most difficult to face after a serious accident.” After a great race at Suzuka (finishing 2nd in SuperPorduction and scoring 5 vital points) on their Yamah YZF-R1, the team’s other riders Paolo Tessari and Riccardo Ricci are now endurance experts; reliable, consistent and fast like few others in the endurance paddock. More, from a press release issued by Steve Plater’s publicist: STEVE PLATER RETURNS TO ACTION After missing the last couple of outings because of injury, Woodhall Spa Superbike rider Steve Plater returns to action this week as he contests the fourth round of the FIM World Endurance Championship riding in a three man team for Kawasaki France in the 24-hour race at Oschersleben in Germany over Saturday and Sunday. The race marks the start of the second half of the season and is set to be a decisive point in the race for the championship. Thirty five points are on offer to the winner at Oschersleben and with only 25 points separating the two top teams it will be a highly competitive challenge for Plater whose Kawasaki team is running second to the Suzuki French team. Kawasaki France won the round at Albacete in Spain and was only a point adrift from Suzuki, but while the Kawasaki team did not compete in the Suzuka eight-hour race two weeks ago their closest rivals did and scored a strong second place to extend their series lead to 25 points. “Obviously we are looking for nothing less than the win at Oschersleben” said Plater. “We need to pick up as many points as possible over our rivals if we are to win the championship. I feel a lot better now and my ribs are healing well. I can actually sneeze or laugh now without any discomfort although I am still having a bit of difficulty getting into a comfortable position to sleep.” Plater is joined at Oschersleben by his two teammates Gwen Giabbani (France) and Julian Mazuecos (Spain) where free practice will take place on Thursday morning and the first round of qualifying on Thursday afternoon before the night-time testing session. The second qualifying session is scheduled for Friday morning. The race itself will start on Saturday, August 11 at 2pm and after a gruelling 24 hours ends on Sunday at 2pm (British time). Because the race clashes with the British Superbike round at Croft on Sunday, Keith Amor will once again deputise for Plater who will be back in action for the next round of the series which takes place at his local circuit of Cadwell Park on August 27.