BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent got their 2012 Endurance World Championship campaign back on track in Qatar today, with a dominant race win in the 8 Hours of Doha.

Starting from pole position for the third time in as many seasons at the Losail International Circuit the #99 BMW S1000RR, with Erwan Nigon at the controls, took the race lead on the opening lap.

Once out in front with a clear track ahead of him Nigon pushed hard to pull a gap on the field, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process, only to see his hard work negated when the safety car was deployed in response to an oil spill and the field closed back up once again.

Nigon took advantage of the safety car to pit in, refuel and handover to Sébastien Gimbert, who retook the race lead on lap 39 and was able to quickly re-establish a comfortable gap back to second place.

The #99 BMW S1000RR led the race from this point on, with Nigon, Gimbert and Damian Cudlin able to control things from the front, comfortably managing the gap on track while the team's mechanics, led by Emmanuel Rolin and Nicolas Dussauge, made short work of the pit stops.

Finishing what he'd started eight hours earlier, Nigon eventually took the chequered flag with a two-lap advantage at the front of the race, to give BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent and Michelin their first win of the 2012 season.

"I'm pleased that we've been able to bounce back from the disappointment of the Bol d'Or with an emphatic win here in Qatar, a track that hasn't been kind to us in the past. The team and all three riders have done a fantastic job this week, and for that I'd like to say a big thank you," said team boss Michael Bartholemy.

"I'd also like to thank BMW, in particular Marcel Driessen and Berthold Hauser, as well as Sachar Rodenbusch, Bischoff and Scheck and all our sponsors and partners for their continued support, without which we wouldn't be here. It's a credit to Michelin that we were able to use the same tyre throughout the race, despite the extremes of temperature. The win here means we're well and truly back in contention for the championship title, with just 19 points separating us from the top of the standings. I hope we'll be able to reduce that gap even further next time out at Suzuka."

Results:

1 99 EWC BMW MOTORRAD FRANCEG TIMHBEVEERNT TS e bastien/CUDLIN Damian/NIGON Erwan BMW S1000 RR 8:01:18.847 226 151,570 2:01.231 - 3 159,761

2 8 EWC BOLLIGER TEAM SWITZERSLAAIGNDER H orst/STAMM Roman/TANGRE Jérome KAWASAKI ZX10 R 8:02:20.325 223 3 L 149,240 2:03.480 - 97 156,851

3 77 EWC HONDA TT LEGENDS K I Y ONARI Ryuichi/LAVERTY Michael/O HALLORAN JasoHnONDA CBR 1000 R 8:02:11.994 222 4 L 148,614 2:03.072 - 217 157,371

4 1 EWC S.E.R.T. PHILIPPE Vincent/DELHALLE Anthony/KAGAYAMA Yukio SUZUKI GSXR 1000 8:03:11.345 222 0:59.351 148,310 2:02.189 - 212 158,509

5 95 SST QERT AL MALKI Nasser/WEST Anthony/PRINZ Nina SUZUKI GSXR 1000 8:02:33.790 220 6 L 147,164 2:03.304 - 170 157,075

6 50 SST MOTORS EVENTS AMT ASSSAUVRAARNYC EMSic hael/DIETRICH Guillaume/MOREIRA FrederiScUZUKI GSXR 1000 8:01:25.212 219 7 L 146,843 2:04.185 - 120 155,961

7 13 SST Penz13 Kraftw. Herpigny RaVcAinLgLCANERAS Pedro/FILLA Michal/FASTRE Gregory BMW S1000 RR 8:01:50.667 219 0:25.455 146,714 2:05.187 - 187 154,713

8 9 SST DGSPORT HEROCK V A N KEYMEULEN Didier/CUDLIN Alex/VIZZIELLO GianluYcAaMAHA R 1 8:02:01.501 218 8 L 145,989 2:04.031 - 140 156,155

9 14 EWC MACO RACING TEAM P R IDMORE Jason/JUNOD Gregory/BLACK Gregg YAMAHA R 1 8:01:42.432 216 10 L 144,745 2:05.100 - 106 154,820

10 68 SST ATOMIC MOTOSPORT M U T EAU Gerald/JOND Frederic/DEVOYON Jean Louis SUZUKI GSXR 1000 8:03:01.230 215 11 L 143,683 2:05.264 - 4 154,617

11 4 EWC YAMALUBE FOLCH ENDURRAIBNACLET A Daniel/TIZON Arturo/MARTINEZ Roberto YAMAHA R1 8:02:33.783 209 17 L 139,806 2:04.341 - 79 155,765

12 2 EWC TEAM R2CL CAPELA Thierry/BARATIN Amaury/CHAUSSE Raphael SUZUKI GSXR 8:03:04.093 206 20 L 137,655 2:07.631 - 8 151,750

13 69 SST ECURIE CHRONO SPORT H E R V EUX Lionel/PIBOLLEAU Mickael/MATHIE Jacques KAWASAKI ZX10 R 8:03:07.232 203 23 L 135,636 2:09.548 - 193 149,504

14 46 EWC TEAM FLEMBBO DIJAMANBTO SSEIROB AIAn d rea/CERSOSIMO Franck/PERISIC Dragoslav KAWASAKI ZX10 R 8:03:34.889 202 24 L 134,839 2:08.234 - 166 151,036

15 31 SST MOTORACINGPARTS End.L PEEHNNZH 1E3R R Remo/AL MARIKHI Abdulla Khalid/SEIDEL MBaMttWi S1000 RR 8:02:12.466 201 25 L 134,554 2:08.235 - 173 151,035

16 411 SST MCS RACING - IPONE B E LLUCCI Emiliano/SASETA Ricardo/PEDONI LeonardoSUZUKI GSXR 1000 8:01:55.117 200 26 L 133,965 2:01.241 - 193 159,748

Not classified

96 SST QERT II ROSELL Elena/AL SULAITI Saeed/AL KUWARI Sultan SUZUKI GSXR 1000 5:07:52.123 136 142.596 2:06.216 - 17 153,451

65 EWC MOTOBOX KREMER BY SHGEALZLI E L L O Franck/SCHERRER Martin/PAAVILAINEN TimSoUZUKI GSXR 1000 4:41:15.148 123 141.170 2:07.293 - 87 152,153

7 EWC MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA GYAA RNTo r i y uki/JERMAN Igor/GIABBANI Gwen YAMAHA R 1 3:43:02.054 102 147.626 2:02.436 - 20 158,189

67 SST MCP STARTEAM 67 L U CAS Claude/HARDT Jonathan/DIGUET Julien SUZUKI GSXR 1000 3:33:54.741 94 141.849 2:05.238 - 6 154,650

94 EWC YAMAHA FRANCE GMT 94 CMHICEHCEAL DINa vid/FORAY Kenny/LAGRIVE Matthieu YAMAHA R 1 2:16:47.270 56 132.152 2:02.336 - 55 158,318

110 SST AM MOTO RACING COMPELTOITISIOENA U Anthony/MASSON Etienne/MAITRE Romain SUZUKI GSXR 1000 2:14:44.699 47 112.595 2:04.359 - 3 155,743

44 SST NO LIMITS MOTOR TEAM S A L T ARELLI Simone/PEROTTI Fabrizio/ERBACCI CristiaSnUoZUKI GSXR 1000 0:40:24.705 19 151.768 2:06.062 - 9 153,639