12 August 2007
Round 4 – Oschersleben 24hrs Germany
Less than two weeks after having arrived back from Japan, Diablo 666 were heading off to race at Oschersleben, Germany in the next race in the 2007 World Endurance Championship.

Arriving at the circuit with no time to work on the bikes, Chief Mechanic, Geoff Randall immediately set to work stripping and rebuilding the Diablo 666 Kawasaki?s.

After very difficult practice, Geoff?s hard work seemed to pay off with the Team starting the race in 10th position their best starting position of the year so far. Diablo 666?s sister team Bolliger Kawasaki would start from 6th.

It was decided to let young Alex Cudlin start the race but the start would be very difficult. The rain was falling and the track would be very wet. What tyres would he choose? In the end he elected to run with a wet front and an intermediate rear. After the first hour it began to dry and as he handed over in 8th position and his choice of tyres had been spot on.

For the next 16 hours of racing, Diablo 666 would be in a fierce battle with Yamaha?s Moto 38 team. Running in 4th place for most of the night the race was looking very promising with the prospect of another possible top 3 finish being on the cards.

Then at 7am on Sunday morning with Alex Cudlin on board, the bike just stopped while he was going down the fast back straight. Alex had to push the bike over a kilometre back to the pits. The Diablo 666 pit crew flew into action and after 5 minutes had diagnosed the problem as being blown fuel pump fuse!

A part worth 50 pence had cost the Team six places and they returned to the race in 10th. All three riders again rode brilliantly to eventually end the race in 7th position outright, 6th in class.

Another 11 points in the bag has meant that the Team are now up to a very respectable 8th in the WEC table. With two rounds to go it is possible that the Team could still end the season in 5th position.

Again Diablo?s sister team had a fantastic race and finished just off the podium in 4th position.

The next round of the Championship, the Bol dOr, would be held again in France, this time in Magny Cours, in five weeks time on the 15th / 16th September 2007.

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