From a press release issued by FGSPORT GROUP:

The FIM World Endurance Championship visits eight international circuits over seven months, featuring five different race formats with a truly diverse range of machinery all competing for overall championship honours. The first three rounds of the Championship have all gone down to the wire, with the Suzuki Zongshen 1 bike of Nowland and Mertens winning at Imola and Brno, and the Zongshen No.2 bike of Jerman and Bonhuil taking the honours at Assen.

Zongshen 1 lead the championship standings with 66 points, but Suzuki GB Phase One (Four, Ellison, Pridmore, Lindstrom) have taken two second places and a third to stay in touch in second place with 56 points. Third place is held by the Suzuki Police Nationale team, on 33 points, and fourth by Yamaha GMT94 on 30 points. With five races to go and 150 points (the Oschersleben 24 Hour race awards 50 points to the winner, shorter races just 25) available the championship is still wide open, but for both Zongshen 1 and Phase One only a win will be good enough. Zongshen 1, Phase One, Police Nationale and the Swiss Suzuki Jet Team are the only teams to have scored points in every round so far.

Albacete 12 Horas Nocturnas

The Albacete race will, as the title suggests, run for 12 hours through the night. The race will start at dusk on Saturday evening, running non-stop through until Sunday morning. Although the circuit will be fully illuminated (and is the only such circuit outside Japan) night racing has its own very specific demands. The body reaches its lowest ebb in the early hours of the morning, and this can affect the concentration of pit crews as well as riders. As we have seen at Brno, fuel strategies will be vital and the slightest miscalculation could cost a team the race. With the race starting at sunset and ending after dawn the track conditions will also change significantly during the race; tyre life and grip could be significantly affected.

This will also be the longest race of the championship so far this year, and will test the durability and stamina of both man and machine. In ideal conditions teams will make refuelling and rider changes at around one hourly intervals, with the leading contenders changing both front and rear tyres at each stop. The wear rates of items such as brake pads must also be monitored; pads typically last around three hours but changing them adds both time and risk to stops. The levels of coolant and oil must be checked, and running with full lights will place extra loading on the bikes’ electrical systems.

The Albacete race will present a real endurance challenge to all the competitors. The winning team will be the one which manages to combine lap after lap at qualifying speed with faultless pit stops and a fuel strategy that keeps the bike on track and at racing speed for as long as possible.

Last Year’s Race

There was no round of the World Endurance Championship at Albacete last year. The last time the championship visited Spain was in 1987, when the Jerez 8 Hour race was won by the Suzuki team of Moineau and Le Bihan. The same pair went on to win the World Championship later that year.

A twenty four hour race at Barcelona was a permanent fixture in the calendar for many years during the nineteen seventies, with the Montjuich Park circuit proving so popular that Laverda named one of their bikes after it. The Barcelona 24 Hour race still runs today as a Spanish national event, with the 2002 race being won by the Yamaha R1 of Folch Endurance 1, ridden by Eduard Ullastres, Alex Hervas and Guim Roda. A number of the Barcelona competitors are expected to take part in the Albacete 12 Horas Nocturnas, where their local circuit knowledge and long-distance race experience will prove useful.

Protagonists’ Quotes

Michel Marqueton, team manager of Zongshen has seen mixed results from his two bikes so far this year, and this is reflected in his thoughts on the Spanish race: “Albacete will be very tough because it’s a very short track, very twisty, with heavy braking then acceleration then braking. It’s not really made for Suzukis, so my prediction is that the other teams have a good chance here; we will just have to take our chances.”

Russell Benney, Team manager of Suzuki GB Phase One is much more upbeat about the coming weekend: “Brno was not one of our best meetings. We had crashes in qualifying and the race but outstanding performances from Olivier Four and Jason Pridmore made up for that. Dean Ellison (brother of regular rider James Ellison) joins us for Albacete, and I have no doubt that he will be one of the quickest riders there.

We’re well up for the challenge of Albacete!”

For the riders, Albacete will set its own challenges. Mike Edwards, rider and tutor for Trackdaze, tested there over the winter: “The circuit is flat and smooth but quite tight, so passing others is hard. A home for the ‘late brakers’ and brave hearted.”

Stephane Mertens, rider for Zongshen 1, has raced at Albacete many times before: “It’s a very nice track but very technical – very hard for the rider, and it will be hot in qualifying. I’m looking forward to racing in the night – the real spirit of endurance.”