BMW fastest in practice

Going by the opening free practice sessions, it looks like the FIM 8 Hours of Doha Endurance Race at the Losail Interntional Circuit tomorrow will be a highly competitive affair. With two free practice sessions completed on Thursday night, the BMWMotorrad France Team Thevent found itself leading the field by a small margin. With a best lap of2’01.161 in the first practice session, the official BMW Team leads the YamahaFrance GMT 94 Yamalube, themselves credited with a lap time of 2’01.680 during the second practice session. Team Manager of the official French Yamaha Team, Christophe Guyot explains: “Wehave regained our level of performance. Our result from the last race, the Bol d’Or, was quite deceiving and due to an electric problem.” The Monster Energy Yamaha Team Yart registered the 3rd best time of the day, with a2’02’162. However, Gwen Giabbani finished the practice session with a crash, luckily without any injuries. The Austrian Yamaha Team finishes slight ahead of the Suzuki Endurance Racing team, themselves with a days’ best of 2’02.397. In the Superstock category, the Suzuki #95 of the Qatar Endurance Racing Team with Nasser al-Malki, Anthony West and Nina Prinz, lead another Suzukiof the d’AM Moto Racing Compétition. Qatar’s second team is represented by Elena Rosell, Saeed al-Sulaiti and Sultan al-Kuwari. Team Principal, Nasser Khalifa al-Attiyah, QMMF President and QERT team manager explained: “We recruited these female riders not because they are women but because they are very good racers.” With an ambient temperature of 30°C at 22hrs and a track surface of 33°C, the main concern is to find the correct tyres capable of handling the heat. The start of the race will be at 17h00 local time, just a little over one hour before sunset. Sebastian Gimbert in action at Losail on Thursday. Marielou Cruz, FIM Women Commission representative,  Paul Duparc, FIM CCR Co-ordinator,  Charles Hennekam , FIM Technical Director, Jean Marc Desnues, FIM Jury President, Tamas Zettner, FIM Jury Member and QMMF chief and FIM Vice-President Nasser Khalifa al-Attiyah pose at the Losail International Circuit on Thursday.from gulf times.