Race1: Race 2:

This year’s Doha 8 Hours takes place on the same weekend as the celebrated Tourist Trophy. John McGuiness, Donald Cameron, Gary Johnson and Simon Andrews will all be in the Isle of Man, so Honda TT Legends has had to find a new threesome for the EWC’s second clash. Japan’s Ryuichi Kiyonari will consequently join Michael Laverty and Jason O'Halloran on the N°77 CBR1000RR Fireblade. The four-time Suzuki 8 Hours winner is the most experienced of the three riders. O'Halloran has also contested the Japanese classic once, but endurance racing is unknown territory for Laverty.

The same weekend will see Fabien Foret contest the Supersport World Championship race at Misano, Italy, so SERT has called in Japan’s Yukio Kagayama to join Vincent Philippe and Anthony Delhalle at Losail. The team is expected to run the same trio at Suzuka.

Nori Haga, who has already been recruited to contest the 8 Hours of Suzuka, will now also defend YART’s colours in Doha. The two other riders for the Austrian team’s N°7 Yamaha-Michelin have yet to be named, however.

There are no changes at Michelin’s partner teams GMT 94 (Checa/Lagrive/Foray) and BMW Motorrad France Thevent (Gimbert/Nigon/Cudlin) compared to the Bol d’Or.

Marco Melandri and Leon Haslam secured BMW Motorrad’s first one-two finish in the Superbike World Championship. Pole-winner Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) came out of his virile battle with Haslam on top to round off the top three. Jonathan Rea narrowly beat Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) to clinch fourth place. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) was sixth without figuring among the front-runners. Eighth place went to Sylvain Guintoli (Effenbert-Liberty Ducati) and Kawasaki Racing Team’s Loris Baz ended up just shy of a points finish in 16th spot.

The second race was a breath-taking affair until the very last corner as Melandri, Haslam, Biaggi, Rea and Sykes frequently traded positions from start to finish. The final turn saw third-placed Jonathan Rea collide with race-leader Haslam as he took an inside line. In his fall, the BMW Motorrad rider brought down his team-mate Melandri as Jonathan Rea survived to take his second victory of the year. Max Biaggi and Tom Sykes were second and third. Sylvain Guintoli crossed the line in fifth place, while Loris Baz’s second race bagged an encouraging eighth place.

Max Biaggi (128.5 points) maintains his command of the provisional standings, ahead of Sykes (123.5) and Rea (108).

In notching up his first win, Sam Lowes became the fifth race winner from five rounds. Frenchman Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda) qualified on pole position and led to the halfway point, before being passed by Lowes. Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini) clinched second place, forcing Cluzel to settle for third. The provisional standings are topped by the Turc (81 points), ahead of Lowes (76) and Cluzel (64).

Next round: Miller Motorsport Park, USA (May 28)

Enjoy the weekend’s highlights:

Superbike (Race 1) Superbike (Race 2) Supersport

“I arrived on the Wednesday in order to re-familiarise myself with the circuit which I knew quite well already, because I won the Oschersleben 8 Hours there with Team Kawasaki France in 2008. It hasn’t changed, so that was reassuring following the worries I had after the first round: I knew my rivals, my team AND the circuit."

“I immediately felt at home during Friday morning’s 30-minute free practice session which I used to collect as much data as possible and see how I went over the distance of the race. I did the same on the second session. I was happy with my pace, and my bike and tyres felt competitive. We profited from the last session to test an alternative set-up, but I wasn’t happy with it."

“It rained during qualifying, so the conditions were very different. I profited from a slight break in the rain to fit a wet weather tyre at the front and a rear slick. It paid off because I qualified on the front row (fourth). The conditions were too wet for the second session, however."

“Both races took place in dry weather and our work in free practice paid dividends. I started the first race cautiously and was passed by several slower riders. By Lap 5, however, I was back up to second place. I was 1.1s behind Smrz when I made a small mistake with just a few laps to go, so I decided to settle for second overall and some welcome points."

“After the start of the second race, I soon found myself in the lead and I succeeded in pulling clear of my chasers. I had a big scare which made me decide to slow down a bit, but I still managed to score my first win in the IDM! There was a tear in my eye when I heard the French national anthem at the podium ceremony. There were some fans with a big French flag that had my personal logo on it. It was a great event."

“There’s a break in the IDM calendar now, because the next round – at the Nürburgring – is on June 16-17. In the meantime, I’m now looking forward to catching up with my team-mates at BMW Motorrad France Thevent for the second round of the Endurance World Championship at Qatar.”

Erwan Nigon

It didn’t take Erwan Nigon long to claim his first success in Germany. After finishing fifth and sixth at the first round, the Frenchman followed up a runner-up finish in the first race to collect victory in the second.

Nigon started from fourth on the grid but fell to fifth during the opening lap of Race 1. The BMW-Michelin rider was soon on the pace, however, and fought back to finish second, 1.580s behind early leader Matej Smrz (Yamaha) who succeeded in pulling gradually clear of the pack.

Nigon collected his first podium finish in the series, ahead of Jorg Teuchert (Wilberg BMW Racing-Dunlop) who clinched third on the final lap after an exciting fight with Gareth Jones (Wilbers -BMW-Racing-Dunlop). Despite qualifying on pole, Karl Muggeridge (Honda Holzhauer Racing Promotion-Dunlop) failed to make an impact and had to settle for 10th spot.

Matej Smrz made a mess of the start of Race 2 and found himself at the back of the field, while Muggeridge led for the first four laps. Fifth time round, however, he was passed by Erwan Nigon whose speed and consistency enabled him to pull out a useful gap. By the halfway point, the Frenchman was 4.522s clear of Muggeridge and was first past the chequered flag by a margin of 7.403s. Matej Smrz fought back superbly to squeeze Muggeridge out of second spot, while Gareth Jones and Jorg Teuchert rounded off the top five.

“I’m delighted,” beamed Nigon at the finish. “To have finished second and first at only the second round is a great result! My bike and my Michelin tyres were very competitive and allowed me to lap quickly throughout the second race to pick up my first win.”

Teuchert (70 points) continues to top the championship standings, narrowly clear of Smrz (68) and Nigon (66).

Next round: Nürburgring (June 16-17)

Pole-winner Casey Stoner got away to a clean start to lead ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa. The Australian then posted a sequence of quick laps to pull out a useful cushion over his chasers. At the halfway point, Jorge Lorenzo succeeded in bridging the gap but failed to find a way past Stoner. The Honda rider held firm to the flag to win by 1.4 seconds.

Like last week at Jerez, it was Stoner’s first ever success at Estoril in MotoGP’s premier class. However, he has won at every other circuit on this year’s calendar at least once!

The two Yamaha Tech 3 riders battled together for fourth place, with Andrea Dovizioso winning the day this time to the detriment of his team-mate Cal Crutchlow who made an error in the closing laps.

Álvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda Gresini) was sixth, ahead of Valentino Rossi (Ducati) who collected his best result of the year so far. Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) crossed the line in eighth spot, while Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda), Héctor Barberá (Pramac Racing) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati) rounded off the top 11.

The best-placed CRT runner was Aleix Espargaró. The Power Electronics Aspar rider beat his team-mate Randy de Puniet who was still recovering from a fall on Saturday afternoon.

Casey Stoner (66 points) tops the provisional championship standings, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo. Dani Pedrosa (52) is third.

Next round: Le Mans, France (May 20)

Once again, the riders were greeted by poor weather for the two qualifying sessions at Oschersleben where the grid order was decided by this morning’s run which took place in drying conditions. Heavy rain meant that nobody improved second time out.

Australia’s Karl Muggeridge claimed his second pole position of the year with a 1m34.248s, and he was the only rider to squeeze below the 1m35s mark. He finished clear of championship leader Jorg Teuchert (Wilberg BMW Racing-Dunlop) and Troy Herfoss (RAC Racing BMW-Dunlop).

Erwan Nigon topped the timesheet for much of the first session but ended up fourth on the grid with a 1m36.372s. His team-mate Arie Vos also produced a strong run to clinch fifth place (1m37.251s). “I believe pole position was within reach,” says Erwan Nigon. “With 10 minutes to go, however, I preferred to stay on the same tyres [front slick, rear rain tyre] to avoid taking any risks. I feel confident for tomorrow and my objective is to finish on the podium in both races…”

Matej Smrz (Yamaha Motor Deutschland by Monster Energy-Dunlop), who won both races here in 2011 after qualifying on pole, follows in sixth spot. Gareth Jones (Wilbers-BMW Racing-Dunlop) is ninth (1m37.832s) and Michael Ranseder (Rac Racing BMW-Dunlop), who is second in the provisional championship standings, will start from 11th place.

Both races are expected to take place in dry conditions on Sunday.

Sunday’s timetable: 08:15-08:25… Warm-up 11:30… Race 1 (21 laps) 15:30… Race 2 (21 laps)

Unlike the Lausitzring, which provided the backdrop to the IDM’s recent curtain-raiser, BMW-Michelin’s Erwan Nigon is already familiar with this weekend’s venue since he won the Oschersleben 8 Hours there in 2008 with Kawasaki France.

Although he is targeting a top-three result on Sunday, the French rider is aware that he will face fierce competition from the championship’s stars, including the 2000 Supersport world champion Jorg Teucher (Wilberg BMW Racing-Dunlop), winner and runner-up in the two races at the Lausitzring and provisional leader of the championship. Meanwhile, Matej Smrz (Yamaha Motor Deutschland by Monster Energy-Dunlop), who won the first race at the Lausitzring, dominated last year’s visit to Oschersleben where he qualified on pole position and won both races.

The list of likely front-runners continues with Michael Renseder (Rac Racing BMW-Dunlop), who is second in the championship, Gareth Jones (Wilbers-BMW-Racing-Dunlop) and Karl Muggeridge (Honda Holzhauer Racing Promotion-Dunlop).

Erwan Nigon will be able to count on the support of Michelin whose tyres helped YART (Yamaha Austria Racing Team) win the Oschersleben 8 Hours in 2009. “This 3.677km circuit isn’t too hard on tyres, but it does call for agile handling and good speed through the fast corners,” notes one of Michelin Competition development engineers.

Timetable: Friday, May 4 09:35-10:05… Free practice 1 11:20-11:50… Free practice 2 14:20-15:00… Free practice 3 Saturday, May 5 09:40-10:20… Qualifying 1 13:35-14:15… Qualifying 2 Sunday, May 6 08:15-08:25… Warm-up 11:30… Race 1 (21 laps) 15:30… Race 2 (21 laps)

After qualifying in fifth place on the grid, Stoner waited patiently until the third lap before taking the lead of the Jerez Grand Prix. After that, he successfully controlled his slender lead over Jorge Lorenzo to pick up his first ever victory in Andalusia.

Pole-winner Jorge Lorenzo finished second to maintain his position at the top of the provisional points table, while his compatriot Dani Pedrosa was third across the line.

Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso were fourth and fifth, but the factory Ducatis were not really competitive and Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi had to settle for eighth and ninth places respectively.

Lorenzo’s team-mate Ben Spies produced another disappointing run to finish 11th, while Aleix Espargaró (Power Electronics Aspar) was the best-placed CRT rider, despite crossing the line more than a minute after the winner.

In the provisional championship standings, Casey Stoner (41 points) has closed to within four points of Lorenzo (45). Dani Pedrosa (36) is third, nine points behind.

Next round: Estoril, Portugal (May 6)

Enjoy video highlights of the Jerez GP:

“When I arrived at Lausitz at the beginning of last week, I was pleasantly surprised by the paddock facilities for the teams. I felt at home straight away. It’s a sensation I had already felt some years ago when I arrived on the MotoGP scene.

“I used Friday’s free practice session to observe as much as I could; things like the levels and styles of the different riders, my new rivals. It didn’t take me long to realise that the level was very high. It isn’t a big grid but there are some talented and successful international riders out there who come from extremely competitive championships. I focused on setting up my bike and choosing my tyres for the race. The IDM is also new for Michelin.

“I started both races cautiously, but I got hemmed in at the second start. Given my lap times, a podium finish might be possible at the next round in Oschersleben which is a circuit I know. I won the eight-hour race there in 2008 with Kawasaki.

“I was surprised by the fervour of the spectators. During the autograph-signing session, there were some people who brought along photos of my MotoGP days to sign! I signed more autographs in half-an-hour at Lausitz than I did at the previous weekend’s Bol d’Or, in France.

“I was thoroughly delighted with my first taste of the championship and I can’t wait for the next race. The IDM is second wind for my career as a rider and I would like to thank Michelin for joining me in the adventure.

“I’ll see you soon, at Oschersleben [May 5-6].”

Erwan Nigon