Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme : FIM Endurance World Championship

Bol d'Or at Magny Cours the 11th-12th of September

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:17:00 +0200

65 teams on the starting grid for the 74th edition

The Bol d'Or will be a decisive round of the Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship. Four of the main contenders for the 2010 title are in the provisional top 5 with a small gap of 16 points, as 35 points are to be taken by the winner of the next 24 hours race.

The Kawasaki of Bolliger Team Switzerland is currently leading the championship due to very regular results so far from the first three races of the season with Patric Muff, Horst Saiger and Roman Stamm. Ten points behind are the Yamaha Austrian Racing Team (Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Gwen Giabbani). With a podium at Le Mans but an average race at Albacete and no points scored at Suzuka, YART can't afford another mistake and will have to deal with the pressure from two highly motivated teams, the Le Mans winner GSR Kawasaki with Julien Da Costa, Olivier Four and Gregory Leblanc, and the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, winner at Albacete after they had to retire from the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Winner of the 2009 Bol d'Or, SERT will race with Vincent Philippe, Freddy Foray and the Japanese rider Daisaku Sakai. Seriously injured at Le Mans, Guillaume Dietrich is coming back into racing as the fourth rider.

Those four teams are not the only ones with ambition for victory - and the 35 points. The Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone, with David Checa, Kenny Foray and Greg Junod, "borrowed" from team RAC 41 to replace Gregorio Lavilla, still injured after his crash at Albacete, surely wants to score a podium after a fourth place at Le Mans and two "dnf" results at Albacete and Suzuka. The BMP Elf 99 Racing team is moving from its partnership with Honda and Dunlop and enters a new challenge! The Belgian team of Michael Bartholemy is taking over the official BMW and their Michelin tyres and will take part in the race with a high-class trio of riders, Sébastien Gimbert, Erwan Nigon and Matthieu Lagrive. Even if this mid-season change adds some difficulty for the team BMP, we can be sure that the BMW 99 will be one of the fastest motorbikes on the track.

This 24 hours race is not short of challengers. The RAC 41 (Gregg Black, Olivier Depoorter and Mathieu Gines) is also aiming for a podium as at Le Mans. The Franco-Italian RT Moto Virus, fifth at Le Mans and Albacete, gives its Suzuki to Frédéric Jond, Eric Mizera, Cyril Brivet and William Grare. Unlucky at Le Mans but impressive at Albacete, the Honda National Moto will also compete with the big guns with Emeric Jonchière, Sébastien Scarnato and Sylvain Barrier.

In the Superstock class, the Junior Team Suzuki LMS wants to take revenge after a dreadful 24 Hours of Le Mans experience. The Suzuki of Qatar Endurance Racing Team, current leader of the FIM World Cup, will try to keep their lead over the Yamaha X-One, Superstock winner at Albacete. We'll have to keep an eye on the Suzuki of Team Motor Events, who was a strong class contender at Le Mans.

The first qualification sessions will take place on Thursday, September 9th on the Nevers Magny Cours racetrack. The event will also host a round of the FIM e-Power International Championship, reserved to electric-powered motorcycles, as well as a round of the Sidecar FIM World Championship.

Provisional Starting List

Pirelli Moto riders before the break

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:05:00 +0200

The 2010 world racing scene has been filled with action and memorable competition, but the season will soon take a short break for the summer. The various Pirelli Moto riders have competed at the very maximum and will benefit from a well-deserved break from their racing activities. As part of a mid-season racing update, we are pleased to inform you that many of our teams and riders lead of their respective championships. Many of our worldwide Pirelli locations have also experienced successes from their local and national Pirelli riders.

At present time Pirelli riders maintain leadership positions in the following World Championships:

FIM WORLD MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP (after 11 rounds)

#1 World Championship MX1 – Toni Cairoli

#1 World Championship MX2 – Marvin Musquin

#1 World Championship Women’s MX (5 rounds) – Stephanie Laier

FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ENDURANCE (after 3 rounds)

#1 Endurance SBK Class - Team Bolliger Switzerland Kawasaki (Saiger/Stamm)

FIM WORLD ENDURANCE SUZUKA 8-HOURS

#1 Endurance 600cc Class – Team Moriwaki (Miyazima/Brodie)

FIM CROSS-COUNTRY RALLIES WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (after 3 rounds)

#1 OVER 450 CC – Marc Coma

FIM E-POWER INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP (after 3 rounds)

#1 Electric Racing - Betti Moto Racing

Pirelli continues to deliver performances as official tyre to riders in the various world-class championships:

FIM SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (after 10 rounds)

Superbike World Championship – Max Biaggi

Supersport World Championship – Kenan Sofuoglu

Superstock 1000 FIM Cup – Ayrton Badovini

Superstock 600 European Championship – Jeremy Guarnoni

Three Hondas on the podium at Suzuka

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:42:00 +0200

The Honda MuSashi Harc Pro determination to win defied all bets! The Honda ridden by Riyuichi Kiyonari, Takaaki Nakagami and Takumi Takahashi took victory after 8 hours of racing under the heat of a sunny Suzuka, ahead of two other Honda, which were considerate as favourites for success, the Keihin Kohara of Shinichi Itoh and Makoto Tamada, and the FCC TSR of Kosuke Akiyoshi, Jonathan Rea and Yuki Takahashi. After a 2009 edition won by Yoshimura Suzuki, Honda puts their hands back on Suzuka with three machines on the podium.

If Keihin Kohara did a faultless race being constantly in the top-3, that was a great comeback for FCC TSR. At the very beginning of the race, Kosuke Akiyoshi overtook twice under the yellow flag. Penalised by two stop and go, the Honda FCC TSR then crashed with Jonathan Rea. They got back on track in 42nd position, four laps behind the leaders, before achieving a fantastic come-back with the best race lap, in 2’08.705.

Once again, Suzuka 8 Hours confirms their reputation of being an incredibly exciting round, full of suspense and drama. The Yoshimura Suzuki with Eneos of Daisaku Sakai and Yukio Kagayama can testify for sure: being the favourite after clinching the pole position, the leading Suzuki was delayed by two crashes and finished the race in sixth place. The first Suzuki is Faro Plot Panthera, in fourth place, ahead of the Honda Team Plus One.

Current Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship leader, Bolliger Switzerland is the best permanent team placed. Scoring the eight points of the ninth place, the Swiss team on Kawasaki increased to ten points their championship lead over Yamaha Austria Racing Team.

Although they managed to be qualified in 8th position, YART had so suffer two crashes from Gwen Giabbani. The Austrian Yamaha finished 16th, just behind the points.

There is also a mix of frustration and disappointment for Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone. After being worried by some overheating problems during the qualifications (14th on the starting grid), the team managed by Christophe Guyot did a great start. They were seeking to pass the first hour in ninth position. Unfortunately, a broken valve made the Yamaha 94 to retire from the race.

Next round is scheduled for September, 11th-12th, with the Bol d’Or at Magny-Cours (France).

Suzuka : Midrace

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:36:00 +0200

At mid-race, the Honda MuSashi Harc Pro of Riyuichi Kiyonari, Takaaki Nakagami and Takumi Takahashi leads with a fair gap. For several hours, MuSashi Harc Pro and Yoshimura Suzuki were engaged into a dual battle under the Suzuka sun. Riyuichi Kiyonari managed to take the lead on the Honda. Just behind him, Daisaku Sakai crashed on the Suzuki and is now in third place.

Placed in ambush from the start, the Honda Keihin Kohara of Shinichi Itoh and Makoto Tamada did not miss that opportunity to take the second position. Behind the three leaders are the Suzuki Plot Faro Panthera, the Honda Team Plus One and the Teluru Honey Bee.

The Honda FCC TSR gave up their chances for victory from the beginning of the race. As Kosuke Akiyoshi was competing for the race lead with the other leaders, he was caught overtaking twice under the yellow flag. Penalised by two stop and go, the FCC TSR then crashed with Jonathan Rea and was sent back to the 42nd position, four laps behind the leaders. After an impressive come-back, the FCC TSR is currently in seventh place, three laps behind the leaders.

At mid-race, Bolliger Team Switzerland holds the best position by far amongst the permanent teams, being 13th. The Swiss Kawasaki was in the top-20 after 10 laps but lost some time due to a faulty gear stick. They went back on track after a pit stop, around the 30th place. Horst Saiger, Patric Muff and Roman Stamm did then a fantastic comeback. As they are currently the only permanent teams into the points, Bolliger, who also leads the Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship, might also increase their championship leadership.

Yamaha Austria Racing Team is only in 29th position. After a very good start with the leaders, Gwen Giabbani crashed due to a brake problem. He was then involved in a second crash later and withdraws the chances of the 2009 FIM Endurance World Champion to score significant points at Suzuka.

Yoshimura Suzuki on Superpole at Suzuka

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:24:00 +0200

At the very end of the Superpole session, Yoshimura Suzuki with Eneos took the pole position of the Suzuka 8 Hours. Winner of the 2009 edition, Yoshimura Suzuki is proving to the Honda clan that they are still determined for another victory. There is no doubt that the race will be intense between this Suzuki and the best two Honda Teams’, the FCC TSR and the Keihin Kohara.

However, FCC TSR was leading the Superpole’s on the first two sessions. Kosuke Akiyoshi made an impression by reaching an impressive 2’07.683 lap during Superpole 2, which was fastest than his own 2009 pole position.

Hence, Yoshimura Suzuki with Eneos was ready to fight back, Daisaku Sakai was already doing very well in Superpole 2, and made the best from Superpole 3. He finally placed the Yoshimura Suzuki in pole position with a 2’07.905 lap, as Kosuke Akiyoshi did a 2’07.963 in Superpole 3.

With Shinichi Itoh, the Honda Keihin Kohara took the third place on the starting grid with a best lap in 2’08.268. Behind them are the Honda MuSashi Harc Pro of Takumi Takahashi, the Suzuki Plot Faro Panthera of Osamu Deguchi and also the Honda Dream Sakurai of Chojun Kameya and the Honda Teluru Honey Bee of Hiroki Noda.

Qualified for Superpole 3, Gwen Giabbani took the eighth and last place of that session on the Yamaha Austria Racing Team. He crashed as he was entering in his best lap. Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone will start from the 14th place. After having suffered from some overheating problems during the qualifications, the French team seems more confident for the race.

Follow all race results on www.suzukacircuit.jp/result_s/2010/8tai

See the results:

See the Starting Grid:

Suzuka 8 Hours qualifications

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:50:00 +0200

Honda FCC TSR takes an option for pole position Jonathan Rea put the hammer down by clocking an incredible 2’08.053 on the Honda FCC TSR during the second qualifying session of Suzuka 8 Hours. Winner of the 2006 edition and regular contender of the Japanese classic, FCC TSR takes then a serious option for the pole position, as the second rider Kosuke Akiyoshi also did a great 2’08.363.

There is a special rule at Suzuka since, unlike all the other rounds of the Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship, the qualifications rely on the best individual lap rather than the average time of the team’s three riders. Tomorrow afternoon at Suzuka will take place the Superpole sessions, which will reallocate the twentieth first slots on the starting grid.
FCC TSR leads another contender for victory, Yoshimura Team with Eneos, winner of the 2009 Suzuka 8 Hours. Yoshimura is second on the provisional starting grid with Daisaku Sakai’s best lap in 2’08.397. The Honda Keihin Kohara did not hide their ambitions for victory and took the third place with Shinichi Itoh (2’08.539). Itoh is pairing with Makoto Tamada (2’08.996).

Two more Hondas are completing the top-5, the Honda Team MuSashi Harc Pro with Riyuichi Kiyonari (2’08.817) and the Honda Crown Keibihosyou with Toshiyuki Hamaguchi (2’09’813).

The Honda Dream Sakurai was certainly expecting to do better than a seventh place. Wayne Maxwell, their fastest rider, did a 2’11.217 and put the Honda Sakurai just behind the Suzuki Plot Faro Panthera with Osamu Degucchi (2’10.550).

Amongst the permanent teams, Yamaha Austria Racing Team did the best as Gwen Giabbani improved significantly during the second session with a best lap in 2’11.458. Although YART suffered from a tyre choice inappropriate for the track conditions (60 °C), they managed to take the tenth place on the starting grid. YART leads the Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone, 12th on the starting grid, with David Checa’s best lap in 2’11.835 during the first qualifying session. Those two European teams will enter the Superpole sessions.

Bolliger Switzerland also improved their lap times during the second qualifying session with Patric Muff’s best in 2’13.617. The Swiss Kawasaki will start in 22nd position.

Follow the results on www.suzukacircuit.jp/result_s/2010/8tai

See the results:

FCC TSR Honda dominate the free practice sessions

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:03:00 +0200

The two free practice sessions of Suzuka 8 Hours was dominated by FCC TSR Honda. Kosuke Akiyoshi, Jonathan Rea and Yuki Takahashi are the only ones to have completed a lap under 2’09 for the first session. They conserved the best lap time for the second session.

They precede the Honda MuSashi RT Harc Pro of Ryuichi Kiyonari, Takumi Takahashi and Takaaki Nakagami (2nd of the 300 km of Suzuka 2010) and the Yoshimura Suzuki with Eneos de Daisaku Sakai, Nobuatsu Aoki and Yukio Kagayama. Sakai and Aoki, winners of the 300 km of Suzuka on 13th June, also won Suzuka 8 Hours in 2009.

This Suzuki Yoshimura is the only rival of the Honda armada at Suzuka. As for the CBR1000RR, the most successful today in the free practice session were Keihin Kohara of Shinichi Itoh and Makoto Tamada and the Honda Dream RT Sakurai of Chojun Kameya and Wayne Maxwell.

As for the European teams, the Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone of David Checa, Kenny Foray and Damian Cudlin are the most successful with a lap time in 2’12.431 seconds. They lead the Yamaha Austria Racing Team of Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Gwen Giabbani who did their best lap in 2’12.878. The Kawasaki Bolliger Switzerland finishes further down the grid with a lap time of 2’15.535.

The first qualifying sessions will begin tomorrow, Friday, at 11h in Suzuka (GMT + 9 h). It is sunny and very hot (37° C) in Suzuka at the moment. However, the local weather station announces possible thunderstorms Saturday and Sunday.

See the results:

Suzuka 8 Hours

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 08:33:00 +0200

Three European teams to challenge the Japanese armada

The Suzuka 8 Hours, third round of the 2010 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship mark the 2010 mid-season. This round does not count for the FIM Superstock World Cup and is not compulsory for the teams entered in the Qtel FIM World Championship. However, three of the permanent teams targeting the 2010 crown will enter the race, alongside 48 Japanese teams.

Bolliger Switzerland will definitely try to keep their championship’s current leadership. The Swiss Kawasaki with Horst Saiger, Patric Muff and Roman Stamm has a certain experience of the Japanese classic event and scored their best result in 2007 with a fifth place (in SBK class).

Yamaha Austria Racing Team, 2009 Qtel FIM Endurance World Champion, is the most experienced European team in Suzuka this year. Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Gwen Giabbani will try to take back the championship lead as they are only two points behind Bolliger Switzerland. YART finished fourth of the 2009 Suzuka 8 Hours and also finished eighth of the 2010 300 km of Suzuka last June, just behind the Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone.

In Suzuka, the official French Yamaha will try to score big points after two difficult races in Le Mans (4th place) and in Albacete (retired after a crash). David Checa and Kenny Foray will team with Damian Cudlin, since Gregorio Lavilla, the third official rider, is still recovering from a broken pelvis following his Spanish crash. Damian Cudlin is an Endurance regular rider and was seen this year on the Honda BMP Elf 99, but in the end the Belgian Honda team did not enter the Suzuka 8 Hours due to financial reasons. Another big absence in Suzuka is the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, which is now under great pressure to do their best at the Bol d’Or and the 8 Hours of Doha to clinch the 2010 title.

These three permanent teams will have to battle against the highly prepared Japanese competition, which benefits from the support of the official factories and are entering with Moto2, World Superbike, Australian SBK and British SBK riders. Amongst the favourites for victory are the Yoshimura Suzuki (Yukio Kagayama, Daisaku Sakai, Nobuatsu Aoki), winners of the 2009 8 Hours and the 2010 300 km of Suzuka, FCC TSR Honda (Kosuke Akiyoshi, Jonathan Rea, Yuki Takahashi), 3rd in the 300 km in June, Honda Dream Sakurai (Chojun Kameya, Wayne Maxwell), 3rd in the 2009 8 Hours, but also the Honda Keihin Kohara (Shinichi Itoh, Makoto Tamada).

The first practice will start in Suzuka on Friday 23 July and the start of the race is scheduled for Sunday 25 July at 11:30 local time (GMT + 9).

Provisional entry list

Looking forward to Japan

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:05:00 +0200

The 8 Hours of Suzuka, third round of the 2010 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship, is scheduled on 25th July in Japan. With the official support from the Japanese factories, the competition promises to be stronger than ever.

This round is non-compulsory, but teams will score points for the 2010 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship. Four permanent teams are expected on the starting grid. 2009 Qtel FIM Endurance World Champion, Yamaha Austria Racing Team will try to take over the championship lead with Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Gwen Giabbani. Current championship leader, the Bolliger Switzerland Team, will do their best to keep their leadership with Patrick Muff, Horst Saiger and Roman Stamm on their Kawasaki. For the Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone, the mission will be to race ahead after a difficult race at Le Mans and a crash at Albacete. The Honda BMP Elf 99 Racing Team of Matthieu Lagrive, Damian Cudlin and Werner Daemen will also try to achieve a great race at Suzuka.

The 2010 8 Hours of Suzuka favourite team is without any doubt the GSX-R 1000 Yoshimura Suzuki of Daisaku Sakai and Nobuatsu Aoki, as they won the recent 300 km of Suzuka the 13th June and the 2009 edition of the 8 Hours of Suzuka. This year, they will also pair with Yukio Kagayama. Another 8 Hours of Suzuka great contender, the Honda FCC TSR, is entering with an impressive trio of riders: long-time team rider and third of the 2010 300 km Kosuke Akiyochi will race with World Superbike rider Jonathan Rea and Moto 2 Tech 3 rider Yuki Takahashi.

We’ll also have to keep an eye on the Honda Dream RT Sakurai of Chojun Kameya (3rd of the 2009 8 Hours and 5th of the 2010 300 km), the Honda Musashi Harc-Pro of Ryuichi Kiyonari, Takumi Takahashi and Takaaki Nakagami (2nd of the 2010 300 km), and the Kawasaki Trick Star Racing of Atsushi Watanabe, Sinya Takeishi and Ryuji Tsuruta (2nd of the 2009 8 Hours). But the surprise could also come from to two very experienced riders, Shinichi Itoh and Makoto Tamada, racing on Honda for team Keihin Kohara.

Another interesting fact from the coming 8 Hours of Suzuka is the attendance of French woman rider Magali Langlois on the Yamaha of Team Frontier Clever Wolf, 22nd of the 2009 Suzuka 8 Hours. Moto Journal and their two riders, Zef Enault and Stéphane Coutelle are entering this year with a Japanese Team, MSA 903, on a Yamaha. Several Japanese teams will also race on European machines! A Ducati 1098R, two Aprilia RSV4 and one BMW S 1000 RR are expected on the starting grid.

Provisional Entrly List

300 km of Suzuka

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:21:00 +0200

Testing ground for Yamaha France GMT 94 and Yamaha Austria

Last weekend the Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone and Yamaha Austria Racing Team entered the 300 km of Suzuka in Japan, in order to prepare for the next round of the 2010 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship, the 8 Hours of Suzuka, scheduled for 25 July.

2009 8 Hours of Suzuka winners, Daisaku Sakai and Nobuatsu Aoki, on the Yoshimura Suzuki, took the victory in this race, known as the “Road to the 8 Hours” in Japan. It was a very difficult event due to various track conditions resulting from changeable weather.

Competing against some highly prepared local challengers, David Checa scored the best result at these
300 km of Suzuka. Dealing wisely with the tyre changes, he finished in seventh position on his Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone, ahead of Igor Jerman on the Yamaha Austria. As he was discovering Suzuka, Kenny Foray took an honourable 24th position on the second Yamaha France GMT 94. Gwen Giabbani was supposed to race with Igor Jerman on YART. However, he had to give up after suffering a crash on Saturday afternoon during the qualification session.

After this successful testing ground in difficult conditions, Yamaha France GMT 94 and Yamaha Austria have taken some advantage over the other permanent teams expected for the 8 Hours of Suzuka. Current championship leader, the Bolliger Team Switzerland, is looking forward to racing the 8 Hours of Suzuka, the third round of the 2010 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship, with Patric Muff, Horst Saiger and Roman Stamm. The Honda BMP Elf 99 Racing Team with Matthieu Lagrive, Damian Cudlin and Werner Daemen, should also enter.

Classification after the 300 km of Suzuka
1. Yoshimura Suzuki with Jomo (JPN/Suzuki/D. Sakai, N. Aoki) 52 laps
2. Musashi RT Harc Pro (JPN/Honda/T. Takahashi, T. Nakagami), 50.457
3. Honda FCC TSR (JPN/Honda/K. Akiyoshi), 1’47.677
4. Taira Racing (JPN/Yamaha/T. Yuiti), 2’15.358
5. Sakurai Honda RT (JPN/Honda/K. Osamu, W. Maxwell), 1 lap
6. Trick Star Racing (JPN/Kawasaki/S. Takeshi, Y. Hiroshi), 2 laps
7. Yamaha France GMT 94 (FRA/Yamaha/D. Checa), 2 laps
8. Yamaha Austria (AUT/Yamaha/I. Jerman), 2 laps
… 24. Yamaha France GMT 194 (FRA/Yamaha/K. Foray), 5 laps