2016/2017 Endurance World Championship & Superside World Championship

[kals]

Bottom post of the previous page:

I think the last 500 GP there was around 95 or 95. WSBK continued to race there until the mid-late 90s. Great track

[Andy]

The FIM released a review video of the sidecars at Le Mans!

[Andy]

Practice and Qualifying to the Oschersleben 8h went underway yesterday. Again the sidecar wdc co-headlines the 20th German Speedweek

[Everso Biggyballies]

Watching the 8 hr of Oschersleben..... Just skipping through the TV channels and found it live on Eurosport! It is on uninterrupted until the end

[Andy]

Watching the 8 hr of Oschersleben..... Just skipping through the TV channels and found it live on Eurosport! It is on uninterrupted until the end

Same here

[Andy]

What an epic duell this was between the GMT94 and YART Yamaha squads ! Again only 30 secs seperated both teams over the line, much like at the Le Mans 24h when it was even closer. The podium was completed by another Yamaha squad, the Maco racing team.

Full result at https://www.fimewc.com/wp-content/uploa ... _Final.pdf

In the sidecars wdc's 12 lap sprint race the Birchall brothers on LCR Yamaha stormed to victory over Pekka Paivarinta and Kirsi Kainulainen on LCR Honda. The race started with a 40min delay after an oil spill on the warm up lap. Bennie Streuer and Ilse De-Haas also on LCR Honda slotted into third.
The gold race over 20 laps will start at 12:30pm today.

full result at: https://www.its-results.com/its

[Everso Biggyballies]

Yeah, a tight finish was guaranteed bar failures after the comfortably leading GMT94 team copped a stop and go penalty for I think a 'pit lane infraction'. Good race.

[Andy]

Yeah, a tight finish was guaranteed bar failures after the comfortably leading GMT94 team copped a stop and go penalty for I think a 'pit lane infraction'. Good race.

Yeah, they mucked up the refuelling procedure with about 3h to go, I think. The good thing for them was, that the penalty was allowed to be taken after next pit stop.

[Andy]

World superside video review of the Oschersleben round

[Andy]

The FIM released a review of last weekends superside world championship


In other news, this weekend the 8h of Slovakia at the Slovakiaring take place. Eurosport again will show bits and pieces as well as the entire race in their onlineplayer

[Andy]

*BUMP*
Coverage to the EWC Slovakia 8h has started on Eurosport 2. 5min to the start, Warm up lap about to go underway

[Andy]

1h 20min in and YART leads from GMT94 and FCC Honda

[Andy]

Unfortunately there was what turned out as a practice alert midway through the race and I was later invited to my bro and his gf for BBQ so I only could catch up with the final 5min or so. Here's the result of the 8h of Slovakia, just the top ten as I can't be arsed to full edit the copied and pasted complete result. You can find it at https://www.fimewc.com/wp-content/uploa ... anking.pdf

8 Hours EWC Slovakia Ring
Slovakia Ring Circuit (5.922 km) 6/2017 23:34
Start : 13:29, Finish flag : 21:31

1 GMT94 YAMAHA 1 EWC 223 08:01:09.914
2 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team 2 EWC 222 08:01:47.418 1 Lp
3 Honda Endurance Racing 3 EWC222 08:02:02.967 1 Lp. 15.54
4 YART - YAMAHA 4 EWC 222 08:03:02.629 1 Lp. 59.662 2:05.159
5 Voelpker NRT48 Schubert-Motors by ... 1 SST DIT 219 08:02: 54.215 4 Lp.
6 Yamaha Viltaïs Experience 2 SST 219 08:03:09.973 4 Lp. 15
7 Team LRP Poland 5 EWC 218 08:01:22.730 5 Lp.
8 Bolliger Team Switzerland 6 EWC 218 08:01:27.250 5 Lp.
9 MACO RACING Team 7 EWC 215 08:01:10.001 8 Lp.
10 No Limits Motor Team 3 SST 215 08:01:57.276 8 Lp. 47.275

Some exciting news emerged from the series yesterday, when it was announced that there are plans to hold a 24h at Spa-Francorchamps next year. An interesting footnote in the article states that the circuits ownership wants to pull back MotoGP to the Ardenne circuit and would raise the safety measures in order to get this race in the future.
Source: https://de.motorsport.com/mefim/news/ru ... rt-921922/

Rückkehr der 24 Stunden von Spa für Motorräder? FIM und Eurosport Events pushen

Geht es nach dem Promoter der FIM Endurance Weltmeisterschaft, Eurosport Events, wird 2018 in Spa wieder ein 24-Stunden-Motorradrennen stattfinden.

Im Rahmen der 8 Stunden Slovakia hat der Promoter der Langstrecken-Weltmeisterschaft im Rahmen des Teammanager-Briefings auch einige Ausblicke in die Zukunft des Sportes gegeben.

Die wohl größte Nachricht dabei ist, dass Eurosport-Events, die FIM und die Rennstrecke im belgischen Spa-Franchorchamps an einer Neuauflage der 24 Stunden dort arbeiten. „Das hat unsere oberste Priorität“, so François Ribeiro auf diesem Meeting. „Wir arbeiten eng mit der FIM zusammen, damit Spa eine Homologation für Motorradrennen bekommt.“

Dabei sei ein Hauptaugenmerk darauf zu legen, einen durchgängigen Rettungsweg um die gesamte Piste zu schaffen, auch einige Kiesbetten und Sturzzonen müssen überarbeitet werden.

In Spa hat die Geschäftsführung gewechselt und seither sind die Ambitionen klar, Motorradrennen auf dieser Piste wieder aufleben zu lassen. Man träumt dort sogar von der MotoGP.

Doch wie es dann mit dem Kalender weiter geht bleibt offen. „Die Entscheidung wollen wir nicht alleine treffen, diese Entscheidung müssen die Teams treffen, ob sie dann noch zwei 8 Stunden Rennen in Europa vertragen, oder nicht“, so Ribeiro. „Und dann müssen sie entscheiden, welches Rennen raus fällt. Wir werden mal abwarten, wie es jetzt dieses Wochenende hier läuft.“

„Fakt ist, dass wir auch Oschersleben nicht fallen lassen wollen“, lobt Ribeiro. „Diese Strecke hat über 20 Jahre extrem viel für diesen Sport getan, auch, als die Endurance am Boden war. Wir wollen sie jetzt, wo es wieder läuft, auf keinen Fall vor den Kopf stoßen.“
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Wie wichtig dabei die kleinen Teams sind, ist sich jeder bewusst. „Es nutzt uns nichts, wenn wir drei bis fünf Werksteams haben. Das alles muss für die kleinen und privaten Mannschaften machbar sein.“ Dazu stellt Eurosport Events Finanzspritzen im Wert von rund 150.000 Euro zur Verfügung.
Neue Sicherheitsbestimmungen

Neu ab der Saison 2017/2018, welche im September mit dem 24 Stunden Bol d’Or in Le Castellet beginnt, sind auch einige Sicherheitsbestimmungen. Nach dem Vorbild der MotoGP müssen Mechaniker, die in der Boxengasse am Motorrad arbeiten, nun auch Helme tragen. Dabei reichen einfache Fahrradhelme für 10 Euro, um die Kosten gering zu halten.

Für Unmut bei den Teams sorgt, dass per Le Castellet viele Teams ihre Tankanlagen komplett umbauen müssen. Es sind dann nur noch Einfüllstutzen mit einem Maximaldurchmesser von 50 Millimetern erlaubt, das System von Stäubli wird empfohlen, da es zu den Sichersten gehört. Auch dürfen Tankkannen nun eine Gesamthöhe von 100 Zentimetern nicht mehr überschreiten.

Die Teams haben diese Entscheidung mit gemischten Gefühlen aufgenommen. Während die Einen die geringe Zeit zwischen den Rennen in Suzuka und Südfrankreich beklagen, sehen andere kein Problem. „Der Igor Jerman baut dir das in zwei Stunden“, so YART-Chef Mandy Kainz.

Gegenwind kommt vom Schweizer Team Bolliger. „Dann hören wir auf“, so Junior-Chef Kevin Bolliger.
Kommunikation zwischen Fahrer und Box?

Den Promotern schwebt auch vor, eine Kommunikation zwischen Fahrer und Box einzuführen. „Das werden wir erst einmal mit einigen Teams testen“, sagt Ribeiro, „und dann müssen die Fahrer entscheiden, ob sie es wollen, oder nicht. Fakt ist, dass wir das nicht für alle Teams zur Pflicht machen würden.“

Dabei geht es vor allem darum, in den TV-Übertragungen diese Funksprüche einzubinden und weitaus mehr auf die Taktiken der Mannschaften einzugehen.

Google Translate to English

Return of 24 hours of spa for motorcycles? FIM and Eurosport events

If the promoter of the FIM Endurance World Championship, Eurosport Events, is going to be a 24-hour motorcycle race in Spa again in 2018.

Within the framework of the 8-hour Slovakia, the promoter of the long-distance World Championship as part of the Teammanager briefing also gave some views on the future of sport.

Perhaps the most important news is that Eurosport events, the FIM and the circuit in the Belgian Spa Franchchamps are working on a new edition of the 24 hours there. "This is our top priority," said François Ribeiro at this meeting. "We are working closely with FIM to make Spa a homologation for motorcycling."

In doing so, it is important to create a complete escape route around the entire runway, and some gravel and dead zones must also be revised.

The management has changed in Spa, and since then the ambitions are clear to revive motorcycle racing on this track. You even dream of the MotoGP.

But how it goes with the calendar remains open. "We do not want to make the decision on our own, this decision must be taken by the teams, if they can still compete for two 8 hours of racing in Europe," Ribeiro said. "And then they have to decide which race will fall out. We'll wait and see how this weekend is going. "

"The fact is, we do not want to drop Oschersleben," praises Ribeiro. "This track has done extremely much for this sport for over 20 years, also when the Endurance was on the ground. We do not want to bother them now, when it's running again. "

How important the small teams are, everyone is aware of this. "It does not help us if we have three to five workdays. All this has to be feasible for small and private teams. "For this, Eurosport Events provides financial prizes worth around EUR 150,000.
New safety regulations

New from the season 2017/2018, which starts in September with the 24 hour Bol d'Or in Le Castellet, are also some safety regulations. Following the example of the MotoGP, mechanics who work in the pit lanes of the motorcycle now also have to wear helmets. Simple bike helmets for 10 euros are enough to keep costs down.

The teams are concerned about the fact that many teams have to completely refurbish their fueling stations by Le Castellet. Only the filler neck with a maximum diameter of 50 millimeters is allowed, the Stäubli system is recommended as it is one of the safest. Tank cans can not exceed a total height of 100 centimeters.

The teams have taken this decision with mixed feelings. While some people complain about the low time between the races in Suzuka and southern France, others see no problem. "The Igor Jerman will build it in two hours," said YART CEO Mandy Kainz.

The Swiss team Bolliger comes from the opposite direction. "Then we'll stop," said junior boss Kevin Bolliger.
Communication between driver and box?

The promoters also hopes to introduce a communication between the driver and the box. "We'll test this with some teams," says Ribeiro, "and then the drivers have to decide whether they want it or not. The fact is that we would not do it for all teams. "

The main thing is to involve these radio spoofs in the TV broadcasts and to go much further into the tactics of the teams

[erwin greven]

Bikes back to Spa!! That would be something!

[Everso Biggyballies]

We have a good local showing at this weekend’s Suzuka 8 Hours motorcycle race, with Ten Australian riders are set to race. Included are a number of reasonably big names from the National and World stage. We often have a few but I cant remember so many in recent years
The event marks the fifth and final round of this years FIM Endurance World Championship, and is generally a good watch. Practice commences this afternoon, with the race on Sunday (July 30th).

Some info on the Aussie contingent...

While Marc VDS Honda MotoGP rider Jack Miller headlines the Australian contingent, he will be joined in the iconic FIM Endurance World Championship race by Josh Hook, Damian Cudlin, Alex Cudlin, Broc Parkes, Josh Waters, Anthony West, Jamie Stauffer, Josh Brookes and Mark Aitchison.

Miller will race for the factory Musashi Harc-Pro Honda team on a CBR1000RR SP2 in what will be his first start on a superbike and in an endurance race.

Ironically, the Queenslander is out of contract at HRC at the end of this MotoGP season with reports linking him to a move to the satellite Pramac Ducati team.

Hook, who finished runner-up in 2015, lines up for Team Sup Dream Honda, having joined the team for Rounds 3 and 4 in Germany and Slovakia respectively.

Damian Cudlin, currently 14th in the EWC standings, will race for the FCC TSR Honda team.

His brother Alex, who has three EWC starts to his name this season and is one position behind Damian in the riders championship, again lines up for the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team.
Hook and the two Cudlins all hail from the same town of Taree, on the NSW Mid North Coast, the former by birth and the latter two having grown up there.

Brookes, who has two Suzuka podiums to his name, will race with the Yoshimura Suzuki Motul Racing Team.
Former Australian Superbike champions Stauffer and Waters are riding for Honda Dream RT Sakurai Team and the MotoMap Supply Suzuki team, respectively.

Waters is currently fifth in the ASBK title race.

Former World Superbike and World Supersport rider Mark Aitchison is campaigning with the JP DFR & RS-ITOH Kawasaki team, while Parkes is racing for the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team.

West, who is ninth in the World Supersport Championship, will race in the Superstock class with the Keno Speed Yamaha Team.

[Andy]

Thanks for the updates Chris. I'll be at Schleiz this weekend and I'm not sure whether I can watch it. It'll depend on connection down there and if it is possible to get the mobile charged.

Josh Hook fills in for Stefan Bradl as far as I'm aware as Stefan suffers from an ear drum infection that caused the eardrum to break. Docs prevented him from flying following his illness.
That's the official part anyway. Inofficially, Stefan didn't speak too good about Hondas preparation for the 8h and one could wonder whether he was discharged and some story was made up to keep the face on all fronts.