Like last year, the 8 Hours of Doha, last round of the Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship, will crown the 2011 World Champion. Scheduled on Saturday 12 November in Qatar, this final round will decide who will get the title between the two contenders, the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team and the BMW Motorrad France 99. As the Team SRC Kawasaki is not entering the race (they only participated in the Bol d’Or and the 24 Hours of Le Mans), the battle also promises to be intense for the third spot on the podium.
The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team French team leads the Belgian team BMW Motorrad France 99 by nine points only; however, the Qatar winner will take 30 points. Winner of the 8 Hours of Albacete, 4th in Suzuka just behind the Japanese top teams, the BMW Motorrad France 99 is one of the favourite for a Qatar victory despite the technical problems encountered in Le Mans. The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team is currently still uncertain, as Vincent Philippe is recovering from a broken collarbone…
Like last year, the 8 Hours of Doha, last round of the Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship, will crown the 2011 World Champion. Scheduled on Saturday 12 November in Qatar, this final round will decide who will get the title between the two contenders, the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team and the BMW Motorrad France 99. As the Team SRC Kawasaki is not entering the race (they only participated in the Bol d’Or and the 24 Hours of Le Mans), the battle also promises to be intense for the third spot on the podium.
The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team French team leads the Belgian team BMW Motorrad France 99 by nine points only; however, the Qatar winner will take 30 points. Winner of the 8 Hours of Albacete, 4th in Suzuka just behind the Japanese top teams, the BMW Motorrad France 99 is one of the favourite for a Qatar victory despite the technical problems encountered in Le Mans. The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team is currently still uncertain, as Vincent Philippe is recovering from a broken collarbone…
The QMMF, Qatar Motor & Motorcycle Federation, is making history in Doha. With the support of the FIM ‘Women in Motorcycling’ Commission, the Qatar Endurance Racing Team entered an extra team, composed with 3 female riders alongside their regular team. The QERT Suzuki # 96 motorcycle has three European women, with German rider Nina Prinz who has proven herself in the IDM, the International German Superbike championship, as well as in the European Superstock Women’s Championship. Prinz has the support from Italian Paola Cazzola who has also made a strong impression in the European Superstock Women’s Championship as well as in the ‘Feminine Italian Championship’. Hungarian lady, Nikolett Kovacs performed well enough in the European Supersport Championship to receive a wild-card ride for the World Supersport championship round in Misano.
With the technical support of the regular QERT team, the feminine trio obtained the 22nd best time on the provisional starting grid. ‘’I love the Losail…
There is more and more pressure on the Losail racetrack. The second qualifying session of the 8 Hours of Doha will stay an impressive one after the incredible BMW Motorrad France 99 pole position, with a 1'59.928 lap which astonished the competition. The Belgium official team seems untouchable and has major assets to target the victory and the 2011 world title: the S1000RR is incredibly fast, their three riders are on top form (1'59.818 for Sébastien Gimbert, 1'59.824 for Damian Cudlin and 2'00.143 for Erwan Nigon), and their Michelin tyres have obviously more grip than their competitors on the Losail racetrack.
Hence, the first three on the grid are running on Michelin tyres. In second position is the Monster Yamaha YART with Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Katsuyuki Nakasuga, but they are already more than one second behind the BMW, and just ahead of the Yamaha Racing France GMT 94 Ipon with David Checa, Kenny Foray and Matthieu Lagrive.
The two official Yamaha outperformed the Suzuki…
Yamaha Racing France GMT 94 Ipone riders David Checa, Kenny Foray and Matthieu Lagrive closed the season with a first victory and hence, offered their French official Yamaha the third place of the 2011 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship at the last race, in Qatar.
Reaching the end of the race through a very fast pace, BMW Motorrad France 99 finished second in Doha. For the honours, Sébastien Gimbert, Erwan Nigon and Damian Cudlin outperformed Suzuki Endurance Racing Team of Vincent Philippe and Anthony Delhalle. Nonetheless, this third place gave Suzuki Endurance Racing Team their eleventh world title, with a four point lead over BMW Motorrad France 99.
The race started at a very high pace, as Vincent Philippe took the holeshot but the fight to lead was quickly shared between Yamaha Racing France GMT 94 Ipone, Monster Yamaha YART and BMW Motorrad France 99 riders. The collision between the BMW and the Monster Yamaha YART riders during the eleventh lap gave then an open shot to the…
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