The second round of the 2018/2019 FIM Endurance World Championship was the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the world-famous Bugatti Circuit. Dunlop equipped teams dominated the Superstock class finishing first and second respectively. The Team Motors Events Suzuki GSX-R 1000, ridden by James Westmoreland, Johan Nigon and Adrien Ganfornina, cruised to victory ahead of the Moto Ain Yamaha YZF-R1 ridden by Roberto Rolfo, Robin Mulhauser and Stefan Hill.
The Superstock class is an extremely competitive class, the teams using the Dunlop tyres were very reliable and fast throughout the gruelling 24 hours. In addition to winning, the Suzuki finished 7th overall of 36 finishers, which was an impressive performance for a near-standard bike that also doesn’t have the quick-release wheel change mechanisms of the leading Formula EWC bikes.
Dunlop Motorsport Manager, Wim Van Achter talks about Dunlop's success in the Superstock class: “Motors Events are a long term partner of Dunlop, they deserve this win, they are very happy and proud to use Dunlop.
They told us the Dunlop tyres were fast and consistent, their decision to use Dunlop tyres had proven to be a good choice. Helping the privateer teams is one of our strongest focus areas. The teams deserved to be on the podium.”
As well as winning the Superstock class, Motors Events won the Dunlop Independent Trophy ahead of Moto Ain. The Trophy supports privateer teams by providing Dunlop sponsorship to encourage them to compete against manufacturer teams.
Dunlop and Honda set the pace
In the EWC class, Dunlop teams secured a double podium finish with the Honda Endurance Racing Team and the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team scoring brilliant second and third place finishes respectively.
Wim Van Achter described the positive feedback he received from the manufacturer teams: “Our EWC leading teams all used Dunlop’s latest KR109 slick front tyre, featuring jointless belt technology, along with the latest KR108 rear to good effect and were very happy with the performance”
The Honda Endurance Racing Team showed incredible pace throughout the race, setting the fastest lap of the race and leading until the closing minutes when a safety car period impacted on their strategy. Their 1:36.819 record set by Randy De Puniet was 1.3 seconds faster than their fastest lap from the 2018 race, showing the pace of bike and tyre development in a championship with a ‘tyre war’.
The next round of the FIM Endurance World Championship is at the Slovakiaring on May 11th.
Source - News.Goodyear.EU