A fifth-place finish at the Suzuka 8 Hours has given F.C.C. TSR Honda France overall victory in the 2017-2018 FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC). Bridgestone, as the team’s exclusive supplier, says it is “particularly proud to have contributed to this incredible accomplishment.”
After four years of partnership with Bridgestone, Belgian motorcycle brand Saroléa has now selected Dunlop as a technical partner for its Saroléa SP7 electric racing motorcycle. Dunlop comments that the change of technical partner accompanies yesterday’s announcement of the next goal for Saroléa, which is to be recognised as a candidate for future Le Mans 24h and FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) competition and thus directly compete with the most powerful petrol-powered EWC machines. The switch, adds Dunlop, was a move Saroléa made “to help achieve this goal.”
Earlier this month, Bridgestone’s Nico Thuy commented that the tyre maker was “aiming for great results with our new team partners” during the year’s FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) series, and during the second round event this goal was realised with a second-place finish. On 16 April, some 75,000 spectators watched the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team finish the 24 Heures Motos Le Mans less than 20 seconds behind fellow Yamaha-backed team GMT 94. The two teams finished 12 laps ahead of the rest of the field.
The Porsche Team followed up Le Mans 24 Hours victory with a one-two finish at the 2015 6 Hours of Nürburgring. While the N°17 Porsche 919 Hybrid was driven to victory by Timo Bernhard, Marc Webber, Brendon Hartley, their N°18 teammates overcame three Stop & Go penalties (of five, 30 and 60 seconds), for excessive fuel consumption, to steal second place from Audi Sport thanks, in part, to the tyre strategy that was adopted for Switzerland’s Neel Jani on Lap 143. Michelin supplied a total of 2,400 tyres to its 23 partners at the event, with bespoke products designed to suit the particular needs of Audi Sport, Porsche Motorsport and Toyota Racing teams’ vehicles.
Dunlop says it is optimistic for its teams’ chances in the third round of the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC), and the manufacturer has good reason for this sunny outlook. In the 2013 meeting at Oschersleben Dunlop experienced success in both EWC and Superstock classes. The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team converted pole into victory, while the works Honda squad also showed great pace with a recovery from a fuel issue and R2CL set the second fastest lap of the race.
