BMW Motorrad Motorsport news
2008 Endurance World Championship
Le Mans 24 hours, France
First qualifying, Thursday 17 April
Conditions: Overcast, damp, cold
Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport steady in difficult
conditions.
The first qualifying session for this year’s Le Mans
24 hours took place in tricky conditions, so all BMW Motorrad
Motorsport riders took things steadily rather then risk crashing.
For most of qualifying the track was either wet or wet and
dry and a dry line was hard to find. Belgian Stéphane
Mertens celebrated his return to race action by posting the
team’s fastest time, with Briton Richard Cooper close
behind.
Stéphane Mertens - 1:44.930
I feel much more comfortable on the bike now compared to when
we tested here two weeks ago and now I am much more ready
to race. I just needed to put in the laps to improve my feel
and confidence with the bike and today has done that for me.
Conditions were not all that good today and the qualifying
was a bit wet. It was a bit strange because I could see the
rain on my visor , but the track felt mostly OK. But I didn’t
want to risk anything at this stage, so I took it fairly steady.
I feel very happy at the moment and glad to be back racing.
I am enjoying myself again and looking forward to the race.
Richard Cooper - 1:44.984
The qualifying started just about OK, but then it deteriorated
and ended with a fine drizzle which made life interesting
on the track. Of our trio, I probably got the best conditions,
but it didn’t last long. I took things fairly cautiously
this afternoon because it would not have been too clever to
push harder and crash. The forecast is for rain and that will
be new territory for me as I have never ridden in the rain
in the dark before! If it’s wet in the night practice,
I will be putting on two sets of knee sliders. My legs are
pretty small and our bike is a bit tall, so the only way I’ll
be able to feel the wet track is by getting my knees down.
Berti Hauser (Director of BMW Motorrad Motorsport)
It has been a very difficult qualifying because of the mixed
conditions. It was important to be safe for the grid and all
our riders rode sensibly and used their heads. I am really
surprised at Stéphane’s comeback. He did a qualifying
time that surprised us - and maybe himself also! After missing
last year, it’s good that he is able to get back into
the groove so easily and already he is looking happy on the
bike.
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