Le Castellet. The BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team and the
newly developed endurance version of the BMW S 1000 RR enjoyed a
successful debut in the FIM Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC).
At the Bol d’Or at Le Castellet (FRA), rider trio Kenny Foray (FRA),
Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR) and Julian Puffe (GER) battled for the podium
down to the wire. After 311 laps, they crossed the finish line in
fourth place, just four seconds behind the top three. Team ERC
Endurance, with riders Mathieu Gines, Julien Da Costa and Louis
Rossi (all FRA), secured a BMW podium. The BMW customer team claimed
third place overall with the previous version of the RR which is
already known in the FIM EWC.
The 83rd edition of the Bol d’Or kicked off the 2019/20
FIM EWC season, which the newly formed BMW Motorrad World Endurance
Team is contesting as a works team for the first time with the new RR.
The development of the endurance version of the motorcycle for the FIM
EWC started just a few months ago. This year’s Bol d’Or had to be
stopped between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. due to extremely bad weather
with rain and storms, meaning that the actual race duration was just
around twelve hours instead of 24.
The BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team caused a stir with the new RR
early on. On Thursday, Mikhalchik set an interim new lap record for
the FIM EWC at Le Castellet on Thursday, with a time of 1:53.669
minutes. The qualifying sessions, in which reserve rider Bastien
Mackels (BEL) was also in action, ended on Friday with a terrific
fourth place on the grid for the #37 RR.
When the race was interrupted on Saturday evening the BMW Motorrad
World Endurance Team was in seventh place. The #37 RR then restarted
the race on Sunday morning from that position. In drying conditions,
Foray, Mikhalchik and Puffe soon moved up into the top three, and the
#37 was even in second place for a long time. However, a technical
problem arose in the final phase which prevented closing rider
Mikhalchik from defending the almost-certain podium. Just a few
minutes before the chequered flag, Gines on the #6 RR, who also set a
new race lap record at the Bol d’Or, overtook Mikhalchik to move into
third place. The Ukrainian ended up crossing the finish line in fourth
place, just four seconds behind Gines.
The Tecmas BMW GMC team also finished the Bol d’Or in the top ten.
Camille Hedelin, Alexis Masbou and David Perret (all FRA) finished in
ninth place with the #9 RR. 15th place overall and fifth
place in the Superstock class went to the GERT56 by GS YUASA team with
Stefan Kerschbaumer (AUT), Lucy Glöckner (GER) and Pepijn Bijsterbosch (NED).
Quotes after the Bol d’Or at Le Castellet.
Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director: “It
was a turbulent opening race with a very good result. There has never
been a Bol d‘Or like it. On one hand, the BMW Motorrad World Endurance
Team faced an additional challenge since we did not to find a good
rain set-up for the chassis and electronics in the run-up. Ilya also
had his first ever experience of Dunlop rain tyres in the race. In
this respect, the interruption suited us. On the other hand, as a
totally new project it might have benefitted us that the team and bike
weren’t subjected to the usual pressures of a full 24-hour distance.
But overall, it has to be said that with our speed, the pit stops, the
team performance and also in terms of fuel consumption, we were on
track. That shows that we have developed a super basis in the short
time available. Yes, we were gifted a few places by the problems the
top teams experienced, but that’s all part of 24-hour races. Toward
the end of the race, we struggled with a minor technical problem which
cost us the podium by four seconds. It would have been amazing, but to
come away with a fourth place is still remarkable. Congratulations to
our customer team ERC, who overtook us eight minutes before the end of
the race, thereby securing the spot on the podium.”
Werner Daemen, Team Manager BMW Motorrad World Endurance
Team: “The conditions really were difficult. It was the first
time that we competed here, and I honestly never dared believe that we
would be up there at the front. It was clear that we only had problems
with the rain. Second place would have been possible, but we had a
minor technical problem in the final hour of the race, which is why,
unfortunately, we only finished in fourth place, with a deficit of
four seconds on the podium. I’m happy about what we achieved, but I’m
also slightly disappointed that more wasn’t possible. But, we are a
new team and this race makes us optimistic looking to the future.”
Kenny Foray: “It’s a new team, a new bike, and given
these circumstances our result is really good. We only just missed out
on the podium because we had a technical problem in the closing stage.
That’s why I’m a little bit disappointed. Everyone in the team did a
fantastic job and they deserved the podium. But that’s all part of
endurance racing and we will continue to grow.”
Julian Puffe
: “The team worked night and day over the past few
weeks to be competitive here, and with fourth place we achieved a
great result. My two team-mates did an amazing job, and it’s a
fantastic result for our debut in the FIM EWC. Obviously, we would
have liked to finish on the podium, especially when it was so close.
But on the whole, we can be very pleased.”
Ilya Mikhalchik: “I’m really happy that we finished
the race. I didn’t expect that we would even have been fighting for
the podium! It’s a brand-new bike, so we were aware that we might
experience a technical problem over such a long race distance. We saw
here how strong the bike is and how well the team works. It was really
unfortunate that there was a problem in the end. That’s why my pace
slowed down. But overall I am happy that we were able to get so close
to the podium.”
Bastien Mackels: “It was a real pleasure to join the
team because the atmosphere is really unbelievable. It is one of the
best teams I’ve ridden with so far. The BMW S 1000 RR is easy to ride
and competitive. It’s a great project and I am convinced that the time
will come and the team will fight for the win.”
Mathieu Gines (Team ERC Endurance): “I’m over the
moon. The bike was really good and the team did a perfect job. My
team-mates were brilliant, and I also gave it my all. It was so much
fun. Thanks to Team ERC Endurance and to BMW – I hope that I can
compete in many more races with them.”