Team Kawasaki France have just pitted exactly on the hour, allowing Yamaha Austria to close to within a lap of the leaders. The Austrians will have to stop shortly, restoring the Kawasaki's advantage.

SERT Suzuki caught and passed Phase One before pitting for fuel with one hour and three minutes left to go; this dropped them back to fifth behind Folch. Will SERT need to pit again before the end of the race? Phase One are still clinging onto third but they will definitely have to stop again, probably in the next 15 minutes, and Folch are on a similar refuelling schedule.

The top six places in this race are still up for grabs, and the lap times of all the teams involved have barely slowed as night has fallen.

There are no German Superbike teams left in the top 20 places, with an hour to go in the race. The challenge from Holzhauer Honda, Yoshimura Van Zon Suzuki, Yamaha Deutschland and the rest has evaporated completely. Even one of the KTMs has beaten them. Perhaps the IDM teams *did* just enter the endurance race to get more track time and access to a pit garage?

[1] Sorry about the "Final Countdown" comment; I've been listening to the circuit PA's relentless stream of soft-rock all weekend.

Hour Six - Two To Go
TKF, YART, Phase One, Folch, Maco Moto, SERT...

Darkness is starting to set in, but all of the top five teams are still lapping in the 1:30s despite having to carve through slower traffic on the circuit.

Kawasaki France, defending first place: from Yamaha Austria right now, and from SERT before the end of the race?

Kawasaki France are eking out an advantage over Yamaha Austria - enough to stay in front despite having just pitted. Phase One are holding third place but have made one stop fewer than Folch who are just 20 seconds behind them. This may be a result of a more cautious fuel strategy by Folch, but the two teams now appear to be matching each other stop for stop.

Folch and Phase One are also sharing a pit box with each other. They've both just stopped on the same lap; the Phase One bike managed to clear the area in front of the box just before the Folch bike arrived, but it was a close call, with air lines being dragged out of the way at the very last second.

Phase One's Gowland is about to leave the shared pit box and the Folch bike is already heading down pit lane towards the box for their stop...

SERT Suzuki are up to sixth place and seem able - when back markers allow - to lap faster than the teams in front of them. Lagrive's crash was caused by his engine clipping the kerb as he passed a slower bike on the inside, and there is now even more pressure on SERT to make good progress.

Despite the hourly results apparently remaining static, this is one of the most closely fought races of recent years for all the teams in the top ten.

Night racing: Cool...

Hour Five - Three To Go
TKF, YART, Phase One, Folch, Maco Moto - SERT 6th...

SERT Suzuki are slowly picking their way back into contention, making up three places in the last hour. Kawasaki France are just 19.6 seconds - less than a pit stop - ahead of Yamaha Austria, while Phase One are one of the fastest teams on the track at the moment as Cudlin tries to break away from Folch (12 seconds behind) and Maco Moto.

Most teams have made five stops. Phase One have made just four but are due to stop again shortly, while the No.17 BMW in 9th place has made just three.

Diablo are up to 10th place, ahead of QERT Suzuki.

Fourth Hour - Half Way There!
TKF, YART, Phase One, Folch, Maco Moto - SERT 8th ...

Now it gets interesting….

SERT Suzuki have crashed; Lagrive returned the bike to the pits and the team repaired it in an eerie and shocked but frantic silence. Philippe - still not at full strength after his Suzuka crash - is now out on the track, putting in consistent 1:29 laps.

Crash repairs for SERT Suzuki

Shortly after this Yamaha Austria took the lead; they are currently 8 seconds ahead of Kawasaki France. Phase One, Maco Moto and Folch are still just seconds apart and are still trading places depending on who stops when. Folch seem to be stopping sooner than Phase One, but have a slight speed advantage on track.

Battle of the pitstops:

Yamaha Austria take the lead whle SERT are in the pits... Nowland out for Maco Moto Yamaha... Ribalta out for Folch Yamaha... Cudlin Senior out for Phase One Yamaha... Cudlin Junior out for Diablo 666 Kawasaki...

There are still three and a half hours - the equivalent of five MotoGP races or seven World SBK races - to go…

Finally, after reading comments on this site, Holzhauer Honda have relented and given Shcumacher a go on the bike. The team are currently in 50th place out of 54 starters.

Third Hour - Five To Go
SERT, TKF, YART, Phase One, Folch, Maco Moto...

The top three postions have settled, with SERT Suzuki a lpa ahed of Kawasaki France, who are themselves 44 seconds clear of Yamaha Austria.

Behind the leaders, Maco Moto and Folch are still locked in battle, with Folch 22 seocnds behind Phase One and 28 seconds in front of Maco Moto; one pit stop can completely change the order of these three bikes.

Meanwhile, inside Bolliger's engine... This is just some of the shrapnel.

The leading BMW is the No.17 bike in 19th place, with Diablo Kawasaki in 11th. The two KTMs are in 30th and 33rd place, and the two Buells are in 44th and 47th. The Holzhauer Honda continues to pit frequently; the team seem to be trying out various suspension and tyre options. Schumacher - seen here on the right in the causal outfit - shows no sign of taking part in the race.

Meanwhile, inside the Holzhauer pit box... No hurry, lads.

Second Hour - Six To Go
SERT, TKF, YART, Phase One, Maco Moto, Folch...

SERT Suzuki are currently holding a comfortable lead over Kawasaki France and Yamaha Austria, with Phase One, Maco Moto and Folch are swapping positions depending on the timing of pitstops.

The pace car was brought out after Bolliger Kawasaki put a con-rod through their crankcase, dropping oil on the track. Patric Muff pushed the Bolliger ZX10R back to the pits but it was game over for the normally reliable Swiss team.

Bolliger push in with a dead engine...

The pace car came out again after a crash by Moto38 on the final corner; the rider was taken to the medical centre for a check over but was apparently not seriously injured. Yamaha Phase One have benefitted from both of these pace car incidents, closing the gap on the bike in front rather than losing time.

RMT21 Honda refuel while the pace car is on the track...

Start and First Hour
SERT, YART, TKF, Yamaha Deutschland, Folch...

SERT Suzuki took the lead from the start put were quickly passed by Yamaha Austria and then Yamaha Deutschland. The Holzauer Honda ran un the top five at the start of the race but then pitted several times in quick succession for no apparent reason.

The start of the Oschersleben 8 Hour race

After the first round of stops, SERT Suzuki are back in the lead, ahead of Yamaha Austria and Kawasaki France. Folch are fifth, Maco Moto sixth, Bolliger seventh and Phase One Eighth.

"If I run I can make it across there, I'm sure..."

The Inghart MV Agusta broke down on the outside of the start finish straight and the rider initially wanted to push the bike across the straight - in the middle of the race, remember - to get it back to the pits. Sanity prevailed, and he pushed the bike round the long way.

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