Dunlop heads to the hot and abrasive Losail International Circuit in Doha, Qatar for the fifth and final round of the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC), the Doha 8 Hours on November 12 where competitors race into the night from a 13:00 start to a 21:00 finish under floodlights.

Heading into the event, Dunlop development partner, the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) sits at the head of the points standings, after regaining the lead last time out at the Le Mans 24 Hours Moto.

“The Doha 8 Hours is a challenging event in many respects,” says Dunlop Motorsport Service Engineer, Peter Chapman.

“The circuit layout gives a relatively even workout to both sides of the tyres, but you often see more abrasion to the right hand side thanks to the sand which can get blown on to the track. This sand makes things interesting as a sand-free racing line soon emerges, but off-line can be very dirty.

“In practice and qualifying, riders are focusing on getting laps on the ideal racing line, but once the race is underway, with traffic and jostling for position, the luxury of the perfect line is an aspiration rather than a certainty. You need tyres which can cope with the variety of grip and track conditions, as well as the temperature change experienced from starting in the midday heat, and racing into the cool of evening. It’s an event where we learn a lot for our race and road tyre development.”

It’s the second time that Dunlop will race at Doha this year, after opening the Moto2 and 125cc World Championships at this venue back in March. Whereas those were sprint races with no tyre changes, the nature of endurance racing is very different.

“Moto2 and the 125cc World Championship are both series where Dunlop faces no competition,” says Chapman.

“In contrast, there is very fierce tyre – as well as manufacturer – competition in the EWC. This was seen most notably at Le Mans where three different tyre manufacturers on three different motorcycle manufacturers were represented on the podium.

“In this regards our tyre development is constantly benchmarked against that of our rivals, making it all the more satisfying that our development partner, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team are currently leading the championship. We are doing our utmost to ensure they remain at the top of the table and celebrate another title once the race is done.”

Chris Valentine Senior Tyre Engineer (Motorcycle Race) Dunlop Motorsport explains some of the challenges that the Losail International Circuit will present:

“At 3.35 miles Losail is the second longest track we visit after Suzuka, meaning lap times of over two minutes’ duration.

“With a very long main straight and a series of fast turns this track generates a lot of heat in the tyres, particularly when combined with the high ambient temperatures of the desert climate.

“The fast nature of the layout also demands high braking loads which add to the work load of the front tyre – meaning that a stronger front tyre construction for this circuit is frequently seen.

“The final challenge for us is the changing abrasion levels causes by the desert sand which is blown on to the circuit in sand storms and acts like sandpaper on our tyres.

“This abrasion particularly affects the Stock bikes particularly. Normally, they would run longer stints, changing tyres every two or four hours. In Doha, they will change every one or two hours, in many cases with most teams expecting to change them after the first hour before the track has cleaned up for continuous racing.”

Dunlop tyres feature on almost half of the field, with notable Dunlop entries including the reigning EWC champions and long-time Dunlop partners, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team. New to the Dunlop stable, and the EWC in 2011, is the Honda TT Legends team with John McGuiness, Keith Amor and Cameron Donald.

Whilst the EWC title is still for the taking, Dunlop shod Team Motors Events Bodyguard AMT Assurances has already won the FIM Endurance World Cup as it heads to Doha with an unassailable lead in the standings.

The FIM Endurance World Championship season-concluding 8 Hours of Doha takes place on Saturday November 12 with Free Practice and Qualifying Practice 1 from 09:30 until 20:30 on Thursday, Qualifying Practice 2 at 10:00 on Friday. The start of the 8 Hours Doha is scheduled for November 12 at 13:00, with the finish at 21:00