Webike SRC Kawasaki France TRICKSTAR: 2nd Place on the Podium at the EWC Round 1 Le Mans 24 Hours Endurance Race

Race: 24 Hours of Le Mans
Circuit: Le Mans Bugatti Circuit/France Date: June 12-13, 2021
Team name: Webike SRC Kawasaki France TRICKSTAR
Rider: Jeremy Guarnoni/Erwan Nigon/David Checa
Director: Jill Stahler
Result: 7th place in qualifying, 2nd place in final

2021 FIM World Endurance Championship Series Round 1 Race Report

Great start in the early stages of the race, running in third place

Starting from 7th on the grid, Webike SRC Kawasaki France TRICKSTAR (#11) jumped up to 3rd place after a great start by starting rider Guarnoni.

He then lost one position, but in his third stint, Checa made up another position during his run and moved up to third.

Trouble occurs! The team is forced to make a pit stop for about 7 minutes.

Around the 3 hour mark, Guarnoni was running in 3rd place when he lost feeling in his front brakes and had to make an unscheduled emergency pit stop. The problematic front brakes were replaced with a backup brake system and the team returned to the track.

This trouble forced us to make a 7-minute stop, but at the same time, we completed the time-consuming routine work and minimized the time loss when looking at the race as a whole, and the pit work that only a champion team can do shone through.

He rejoins the race in 9th place. It's still early in the race, we're starting to catch up!

He made an emergency pit stop and returned to the track, but the loss of 7 minutes had taken its toll and he had dropped to 9th position. From this point on, the team began to catch up, steadily moving up one position at a time: 6th at the 4-hour mark, 5th at the 5-hour mark, and 4th at the 6-hour mark. The gap to the #5 machine in front of them was only 2 laps, so it was necessary to be patient and steadily close the gap.

8 hours have passed, and the gap to the #5 machine running in 3rd place has been reduced to 1 lap.

Race 1/8 hours have passed, which is 3. The #11 machine was running in 4th place, and the gap to the #5 machine running in 3rd place was reduced from 2 laps to 1 lap in 2 hours, and they were steadily catching up. As the sun began to set and the temperature and track surface temperature dropped, it was time to move on to the final stage of the 24 hour endurance race, the night race.

Due to trouble with the machine in front, we're up to 3rd place. #5 and we've closed the gap to about a minute, but...

Ten hours after the start of the race, the #7 machine, which had been battling for the top spot, left the front line due to trouble. With this, the team moved up to 3rd place. The gap to the #5 machine in front of them was only about 1 minute, and they were close to catching up.

However, the intervention of the safety car due to a course accident, unfortunately, came between the #5 and the #4 machine, bringing the gap back to about one lap.

Trouble occurs again! Something went wrong with the drivetrain and it was an emergency pit stop.

Halfway through the race, 12 hours had passed. The team had trouble with the drivetrain and had to make an emergency pit stop for the second time in the race. The team quickly took care of the problem and sent the machine out on the course again, but the time loss was nearly 3 minutes, and the gap to the #5 machine in 2nd place was now only 2 laps, and the team was back to square one.

He's up to second place after trouble with the machine in front! There are only 5 hours left in the race.

After recovering from the second problem, both the temperature and track temperature for the night session were getting lower. At this risky and difficult time of the day, it was impossible to make a significant gap, and the night dawned.

With 2/3 of the race completed and only 5 hours left to go, the #5 machine in front of us ran into trouble, and with this, we moved up to 2nd place.

The #1 machine running at the top was the only one in the top group riding without any trouble, and the gap had opened up to the point where it would be realistically difficult for the #11 machine, which had lost about 10 minutes due to two problems, to catch up. Therefore, from here on, the battle became one of aiming for the goal without mistakes.

He overcame two problems to finish on the podium in an impressive second place!

In the last 5 hours after moving up to 2nd place, there was a huge gap to the #1 machine running at the top, so it was time for both team and rider to fight against themselves as no mistakes were allowed in order to get on the podium.

In such a difficult time with so much pressure on me, I was close to the limit in both physical strength and concentration, but with a high level of awareness and concentration, I was able to drive until the end without making any mistakes and take the checkered flag in an impressive 2nd place. We overcame two problems during the race and were able to get the best result we could.

Team Webike SRC Kawasaki France TRICKSTAR Team Comments

At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, we, Team Webike SRC Kawasaki France TRICKSTAR, finished 2nd with our Ninja ZX-10RR.

Three riders - Jeremy Guarnoni, Erwan Nigon, and David Checa - once again showed the courage and perseverance they showed last year.

Kawasaki, the most successful motorcycle manufacturer at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, came close to winning the race for a record 15th time.

However, the start of the race had many twists and turns and Jeremy started from seventh place and managed to take third before the safety car intervened.

However, trouble struck and the #11 machine lost its position.

After that we had a very consistent race without making any mistakes and we were able to make up a few places and we moved up to second overnight. This is a very ideal scenario for us as we had some problems at the beginning of the race, but the strategy we put in place paid off.

During the race, the Ninja ZX-10RR equipped with the TRICKSTAR IKAZUCHI exhaust and DUNLOP tires worked perfectly, especially in the cooler nighttime conditions, to give me an advantage in the nighttime chase.

Jill Stahler, Team Manager of Team SRC, said.

It was very hot, the competition was tough and you never knew what was going to happen until the chequered flag was raised.

But we were able to put up a very good fight. We were able to score some important points for the championship.

The whole team did a great job with great teamwork, great cohesion and a lot of race experience of the team and the riders, which made it possible to overcome the difficulties and get this position.

The Ninja ZX-10RR has once again demonstrated its exceptional reliability and performance.

Congratulations to the team for a very impressive and great result and thank you to all the partners, especially ELF, Dunlop, Webike, TRICKSTAR, Tivoly, Primset, NGK and RK.

See you at the next EWC World Endurance Championship on July 17 in Estoril, Portugal!

Supervisor Ryuji Tsuruta Comment

This year's Le Mans 24 hour endurance race was held in June for the first time since it was postponed, and the conditions were unprecedentedly hot, putting a considerable strain on the riders' physical strength and tires.

In spite of this, when it was all said and done, the team finished in second place, just like last year.

The race was going well and I was in 3rd position in the beginning and I thought I could go on like this, but when I got to the 3rd hour, Guarnoni complained about the discomfort of the front brake and there was an emergency pit stop.

And because there was a sense of discomfort in the drive system when we moved from the middle to the latter half of the race, we made a pit stop for about 3 minutes to correct it.

However, the mechanics made quick decisions and worked quickly, and the riders were able to concentrate on recovering.

The crew did a perfect job in the pits and took 2nd place.

Director Gilles Stahler, who was away here last year due to illness, is back and in fine form, and riders Jeremy Guarnoni, Erwan Nigon, David Checa and crew have done a really good job.

We were not able to win the championship this year, but I think it was a great accomplishment achieved by the team's overall strength.

I am confident that this result and the content of the game will be a good boost for the future series.

Finally, we would like to thank all of you for your support and enthusiasm for Team Webike SRC Kawasaki France TRICKSTAR.

Original Source [ Webike motosport ]