After shining in the spotlight in MotoGP, the Japanese manufacturer chose endurance to maintain its sporting image. He announced his lofty ambitions by supplying the factory Yamaha and a semi-official Honda to the World Championship.
Bridgestone has already been present in this discipline in the past, in particular during the Suzuka 8H. In the world, he provided the GMT 94 during the 2010 season, but seemed too busy then with MotoGP and F1 to be able to devote himself fully to endurance.
For Bridgestone, returning to the top in the sporting field is not so easy in 2017, because the main championships already have an exclusive tire supplier. Bridgestone therefore accepted the difficulty by entering the only major championship still open to all suppliers: endurance.
To hope to obtain good results, you have to partner with good teams. The first is the YART which officially represents Yamaha (along with the GMT 94). Formerly Yamaha Austria Racing Team – hence its initials – the team of Mandy Kainz is now called “ YART Yamaha Official EWC Team » and can count this year on Marvin Fritz, Kotha Nozane, Broc Parkes et Max Neukirchner.
Le FCC TSR Honda Team made himself known in France with a good third place obtained at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year (with Watanabe, Techer and Cudlin) after being in the lead at the end of the first hour. But his biggest victories were achieved at the Suzuka 8 Hours, in 2012 with Jonathan Rea, Tadayuki Okada and Kousuke Akiyoshi, and in 2011 with Kousuke Akiyoshi, Ryuichi Kiyonari and Shinichi Ito, after 2006 with Takeshi Tsujimura and Shinichi Ito. Still on Honda. For this season, its drivers are Damian Cudlin, Alan Techer et Greg Black.
