Estoril. The
BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team will start the 12-hour race
in Estoril (POR), the second round of the 2021 FIM Endurance World
Championship (FIM EWC), from second on the grid with the #37 BMW M
1000 RR. In the two-part qualifying session on Thursday and Friday,
the three riders Xavi Forés (ESP), Markus Reiterberger (GER) and
Kenny Foray (FRA) achieved an average lap time of 1:38,773 minutes,
qualifying in second place.
After testing on Tuesday, the ‘12 Hours of Estoril’ officially got
underway with the free practice session at lunchtime on Thursday.
Reiterberger got the best time of 1:39.094 minutes with the #37 M RR.
Forés beat this in qualifying, securing the best time of the day with
a time of 1:38.707 minutes. The average times of the best times of
each of a team’s riders are used to calculate the starting positions.
The 12-hour race in Estoril gets underway at 9.00 a.m. local time
(10.00 a.m. CEST) on Saturday (17th July). The privateer BMW Team LRP
Poland will start the race from 14th on the grid with their #90 BMW S
1000 RR.
Quotes after qualifying for the ‘12 Hours of Estoril’.
Werner Daemen, Team Manager BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team:
“I am quite happy about qualifying. All three riders did a
very good job. Xavi and Markus both rode 1:38 times, which was very
strong, and also Kenny did a very good job. He went out in the end
when there was oil on the track, but still bettered his lap time. I am
especially very happy about the race pace, and that is most important.
We are among the frontrunners, all looks good, the team atmosphere is
good. I expect an interesting fight for the first three places.”
Markus Reiterberger: “We can be pleased with the
qualifying sessions. We all rode on the same set of tyres yesterday.
Xavi got a fantastic time, and then Kenny and I were on used tyres,
but still did well. It was cooler this morning and everyone was using
new tyres. All three of us improved on our times. Second place is
incredibly important for the start. Now we will come up with a good
strategy for tomorrow. No doubt it will be a tough, long, hot race.
But we are all feeling good and are happy with the lap times and the
feeling on the bike. Thanks go to the team, and now it’s time to go
full throttle in the race.”
Xavi Forés: “It was a positive qualifying for us
because all three of us riders have been more or less on the same
pace, which is quite good for the race. Starting from second position
is actually quite good because we have a good pace for the entire race
distance and the tyre life also has been quite good. We will try to
push hard, to fight for the win, to achieve a strong result for the
team and to collect important points for the championship.”
Kenny Foray: “It was a good qualifying, even if I was
not totally satisfied with my second session. It was difficult to
manage the tyre and I didn’t have a clear lap. But overall we are
happy with the race pace and the feeling with the race tyre. So for
me, I am confident for tomorrow. As we always say: The race is
tomorrow, but it is good to secure second place in qualifying.”