YART YAMAHA DOMINATE BOL D’OR TESTS

The factory-backed Austrian team dominated the Bol d’Or tests at Le Castellet. Reigning champions Team SRC Kawasaki France also set a cracking pace, ahead of the amazing VRD Igol Pierret Experiences, who are racing their second season in the premier EWC class.

Minus Broc Parkes, but with Loris Baz replacing the Australian rider, who is racing in Sepang the weekend of the Bol d’Or, YART Yamaha dominated the two-day test on the Paul Ricard circuit. The fastest lap set by YART Yamaha (Loris Baz, Marvin Fritz and Niccolò Canepa), a 1:54.154, sets the stage for a thrilling Bol d’Or. Last year, Randy de Puniet posted a record lap time in qualifying, a 1:54.007.

Five other teams came in under the 1:55 mark today. Team SRC Kawasaki France (Jérémy Guarnoni, David Checa and Erwan Nigon) proved worthy of their championship crown with a 1:54.398 lap. Manager Gilles Stafler is looking fairly confident in the run-up to the 24-hour race on 21 and 22 September at Le Castellet.

VRD Igol Pierret Experiences and Tati Team Beaujolais Racing among the top four

The Bol d’Or could also see a standout performance by VRD Igol Pierret Experiences. Following a successful first season overall in the Formula EWC class, the Yamaha-supported French team set the third-fastest time of the Bol d’Or tests with riders Xavier Siméon, Florian Marino and Florian Alt. “We did a lot of work with Dunlop,” explains Yannick Lucot, the team manager of VRD Igol Pierret Experiences. “The input from Xavier Siméon, a development test rider for Dunlop, was very helpful. We’re also getting increasingly familiar with the bike, which makes setup easier. But we still have room for improvement.”

Tati Team Beaujolais Racing also turned in a great performance with the 4th-quickest time of the tests. After their move up into the premier class at the beginning of the year, the Kawasaki-mounted privateer team have recruited Alan Techer, the 2017-2018 FIM EWC world champion with F.C.C. TSR Honda France, to partner Julien Enjolras and Kevin Denis.

Fifth-placed F.C.C. TSR Honda France focused on race preparation rather than pure performance with an unchanged three-rider line-up (Josh Hook, Freddy Foray and Mike Di Meglio), like Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, the 8th-fastest, who are once again fielding Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Gregg Black, albeit with a new team manager, Damien Saulnier.

BMW slotted in between these two heavyweights. BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team wrapped up their first outing neck and neck with Team ERC Endurance, also BMW-mounted.

Two Superstocks in the Top10

Moto Ain, the winners of the FIM Endurance World Cup, posted the fastest time of the Superstock class with riders Roberto Rolfo, Robin Mulhauser and Hugo Clère. Their main rivals for the quickest time were Team 33 Coyote Louit Moto’s Enzo Boulom, Kevin Manfredi and Christian Gamarino. They will however also have to reckon with BMRT 3D Maxxess Nevers and the returning Team Motors Events in this class.

All the teams competing in the Bol d’Or will be back on the track for free practice on Thursday 19 September. The 83rd Bol d’Or will be flagged off at 3pm on Saturday 21 September.

Top 10 – Bol d’Or tests, 3 and 4 September 2019

1 – YART Yamaha – 1:54.154

2 – Team SRC Kawasaki France – 1:54.398

3 – VRD Igol Pierret Experiences (Yamaha) – 1:54.659

4 – Tati Team Beaujolais Racing (Kawasaki) – 1:54.860

5 – F.C.C. TSR Honda France – 1:54.947

6 – Team ERC Endurance (BMW) – 1:54.968

7 – BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team – 1:55.076

8 – Suzuki Endurance Racing Team – 1:55.123

9 – Moto Ain (Yamaha) – 1:55.422

10 – Team 33 Coyote Louit Moto (Kawasaki) – 1:55.688

More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport:

BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team completes two-day test with the BMW S 1000 RR in Le Castellet.

Preparation for the maiden season in the FIM Endurance World Championship.

The team continues the development of the endurance version of the RR with riders Kenny Foray, Julian Puffe and Ilya Mikhalchik.

Season start on 21st/22nd September with Bol d’Or in Le Castellet.

Le Castellet. The BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team is preparing for their maiden season in the FIM Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC). Ahead of the 2019/20 season opener, the team took part in the official pre-test in Le Castellet (FRA) on Tuesday and Wednesday with riders Kenny Foray (FRA), Julian Puffe (GER) and Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR). The first race will take place in the same location; the Bol d’Or on 21st/22nd September.

With the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team, BMW Motorrad Motorsport is expanding their works involvement with the new BMW S 1000 RR to include the FIM EWC. The team has developed an endurance version of the RR, which is based on the Superbike that competes in the FIM World Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK). At the two-day test in the South of France, development of the endurance bike continued.

Quotes after the test at Le Castellet.

Werner Daemen, Team Manager BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team: “The test went very well. We had two minor falls on the second day but these things can happen. Overall, we were able to test a lot of things here at Le Castellet, and all riders were pretty fast. We are happy and I think that we are well prepared for the race.”

Kenny Foray: “It was a really good test for us. The bike was performing well from the word go. My team-mates and me completed many, many laps with the two test bikes. We also tried many different things and were able to find a good base set-up. I am very happy with these two days of testing. I’m really looking forward to the race at the Bol d’Or because I’m sure that we can do something really good.”

Julian Puffe: “These two days of testing were really good. It was the first encounter of the team, the bike and the tyres. And I have to say: the team works perfectly together. At the beginning, the bike was of course very different for me compared to the bike I ride in the IDM but step by step I got used to everything. There are for sure some things I still have to adapt but I’m really happy with how the test went. Everything is still new but after this positive first shakedown, I’m already looking forward to the race in two weeks’ time.”

Ilya Mikhalchik: “It was a really positive test. We have completed a lot of laps and tested everything. The two test bikes had different set-ups we worked with to step by step increase the confidence. We also did a race simulation during which I set my fastest lap time on used tyres. This make me confidents for the race in two weeks’ time. But overall we did not focus on lap times but more on the race pace. They way the team works together is really great. Everything went perfectly well and I think that we are ready for the first race.”

More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:

YART Yamaha top pre-season testing at Circuit Paul Ricard

The YART Yamaha EWC Team enjoyed a very successful two-day pre-season test this week at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, ahead of the 24-hour Bol D’Or race which will open the 2020 Endurance World Championship.

The YART Yamaha EWC Team enjoyed a very successful two-day pre-season test this week at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, ahead of the 24-hour Bol D’Or race which will open the 2020 Endurance World Championship. Testing on 3-4 September, regular YART riders Marvin Fritz and Niccolò Canepa were joined on the YZF-R1 at the recently resurfaced Circuit Paul Ricard by Frenchman Loris Baz, standing in for Broc Parkes at the opening round while the Australian competes in the penultimate race of the Asia Road Racing Championship in Sepang.

A solid opening day on Tuesday saw the team top the timesheets comfortably with the #7 bike, with YART returnee Baz immediately on the pace and setting a lap of 1’54.601 to end the day fastest, 0.522 ahead of the second-placed team.

Wednesday saw lap times tumble even further. The team was once again in dominant form, with Canepa setting a blistering 1’54.154 lap that was not bettered all day, coming close to last year’s outright lap record of 1’54.007 set by Randy de Puniet. Fritz and Baz enjoyed another strong day to finish just a few tenths off their teammate’s time. After completing a clean sweep in the final pre-season test the team head to the first race of the season in promising form.

The teams now have less than three weeks to wait until the 2019/2020 EWC season commences with the Bol D’Or on 20-22 September at the Circuit Paul Ricard.

Niccolò Canepa

YART Yamaha EWC Team

I’m really happy about these two days of testing. Loris was immediately fast and this is good for the race. It’s not easy to replace a rider like Broc Parkes!

We improved the bike each day and we worked a lot on the electronic settings. This helped us to improve the lap time and out consistency. We also did a long run with Marvin, and again with very good lap times.

We are in a good position now, and we are all ready for the Bol D’Or later this month.

Marvin Fritz

YART Yamaha EWC Team

We had a really good test, the weather was great all week and it was really nice to have Loris with us. He was immediately good with the bike, and myself and Niccolo were already faster than last year.

The resurfacing at Paul Ricard is good to ride, and we worked hard on the setup and also with the new tyres. We all did really good lap times today, and all set the same time of 1’54.4. We got a lot of laps in and the bike is feeling great.

As a team we are all really well prepared, our long run pace was good and we are in a much better position than last year. I just want to say thank you for an amazing job from the team and from my teammates.

Loris Baz

YART Yamaha EWC Team

I’m really happy with how the test went. It was great to be back with YART for the first time since 2011, there are some familiar faces still and I had a warm welcome from the whole team which was really nice. It was great to ride with Niccolo and Marvin also. We worked really well together, and I didn’t know the track when I arrived so they helped me a lot there.

We did a great job as a team to set up the bike, we had the same focus for the direction of the setup, we knew what we had to improve and found a position that suited us all. All week we did good lap times and had good pace, which is always positive, even though it is just testing.

It’s important to have a strong pace for all three riders, I can’t wait for the race and it will be a good challenge to do a 24-hour race. I want to thank YART again for the opportunity, thanks to the whole team and of course to my teammates for this week.

Mandy Kainz

YART Yamaha EWC Team Manager

The test was very good for us. We know that we have very strong pace, we didn’t use any qualifying tyres so all our lap times were done on race tyres, which is very positive for our race pace. We know that the other teams had to really push with the qualifiers to come close to our times, so there is a really good feeling for the race.

Loris and support rider Karel Hanika both set really good times, even Karel was in cruising mode to and was able to do a 1’55 lap. All the riders are in a good place with the bike, we need a little bit of luck as always but with the competition struggling to match our pace, I am hopeful of a good result at the Bol D’Or.