Dunlop development squad Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) has won the 2011 FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) after scoring a podium finish in the season-concluding 8 Hours of Doha at the Losail International Circuit, Qatar on Saturday.

Despite contesting the event with just two riders – Vincent Philippe and Anthony Delhalle – after third rider Daisaku Sakai suffered an injury immediately before the event, the Dunlop-shod Suzuki squad crossed the finish line after eight gruelling hours of action immediately behind their title rivals, meaning they won the title by 109 points to 105.

Dunlop’s tyres provided the performance required to win this season’s title contested across 72 hours of racing in a wide range of weather conditions and track temperatures.

After winning an historic eleventh consecutive Bol d’Or win in the 24 Hours event at Magny Cours at the season opener in April, Dunlop and SERT contested the 8 Hours of Albacete, Suzuka Eight Hours and Le Mans 24 Hours Moto before the season culminated in Qatar. Podiums were achieved in all events except Suzuka.

The EWC win comes after Dunlop squad Team Motors Events Bodyguard AMT Assurances won the FIM Endurance World Cup for Superstock bikes after taking an unassailable lead at the Le Mans 24 Hours Moto at the end of September.

Dunlop uses endurance racing to give the best real world test for tyres as the wide range of track and temperature conditions experienced over the course of a race puts the tyres through a thorough workout. Dunlop technology such as NTEC and Multi-Tread are used and developed here.

Dunlop tyres were also on the Doha fifth-finishing Honda TT Legends Team who finished seventh in the season standings at the end of their debut development year.

Three tyre manufacturers were represented in the final round of the EWC, with Dunlop the most prevalent by being used on almost half of the 25 team entries. Illustrating the close nature of competition, three motorcycle marques and two tyre brands were presented on the podium.

Quotes

Sharon Antonaros, Director Motorcycle PBU EMEA Motorcycle Business Unit:

“Congratulations to our long-standing partner, the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team for yet another display of what it takes to win an endurance world championship, and in particular for showcasing Dunlop’s tyres. Earlier this year we saw the eleventh consecutive Bol d’Or victory with Dunlop tyres. Now to win the championship with our development team is another endorsement of our tyre technology and the efforts we put behind pushing the technology forwards. All these efforts are not just to win titles; they are to benefit our consumers with the very best products possible such as our recently launched RoadSmart II. Thank you for all the dedicated hard work of our staff at events and all our engineers away from the circuit to bring another title to the Dunlop brand.”

Stephen Male Dunlop Motorcycle Motorsports Manager:

“Motorcycle endurance racing is one of the hardest challenges that we face as a tyre manufacturer. We have to find technology that allows performance at the level required across a huge variety of conditions. In a typical 24 hour race, you can start the race with 30ºC track temperature, and by 05:00 the following morning it can be down to single figures. Then there is the prospect of rain. Making a tyre which works well in the dry is straightforward; making a tyre which works well in the wet is straightforward; finding technologies which cope with the transition between the two conditions is the huge challenge. What’s really exciting is that this challenge is exactly the same which faces road riders every day of the week. If we can find solutions to those problems, then we can integrate those solutions into our road tyre product and improve tyres for all motorcyclists.”

Peter Chapman, Dunlop Motorsport Service Engineer:

“It was a long, hard, hot race to end the season and once again the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team were able to pull out a strategic masterpiece to win the championship, even with one less rider than the opposition in the final race. The track temperature ranged from a high of over 40ºC to the low 20s by the end of the race, so our tyres had to cope with a variety of conditions. We delivered consistent performance, which has been the secret to success this season. Now the focus moves to 2012.”

Doha full results here: http://bit.ly/rItVw