FIM EWC 12 Hours of Estoril: Here we go with some surprises already!

Who will be able to stop the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team during these 12 Hours of Estoril? This is the question that arises at the end of free practice and qualifying dominated by the Austrian Yamaha R1 driven by Karel Hanika (1'37.674), Marvin Fritz (1'37.857) and Niccolò Canepa (1'38.278).

For this second meeting of the season, the main opposition was brought by the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team #37, led by Javier Fores, Markus Reiterberger and Kenny Foray, but the gap of 8 tenths conceded by the beautiful German during qualifying shows the advantage possessed in pure speed by Iwata's machine.

Winner at Le Mans, the Suzuki is 16 points ahead of the #11 Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar, while the #37 BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team is 20 points behind. 50 points are up for grabs in Portugal (35 points for victory, 5 points for pole position and 10 points for the leadership position after 8 hours of racing) which is exactly what separates the YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL #1 from the YART – Yamaha Official Team EWC #7, which leaves no choice of strategy for the Austrian representatives of Iwata: Maximum attack to win!

The weather conditions are perfect in the greater suburbs of Lisbon, with a pristine sky which bodes well for very high temperatures this afternoon...

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At the drop of the flag, it was the Suzuki #1 which started best in the hands of Gregg Black while the Yamaha #7, a bit as usual, conceded a few seconds before starting in seventh position.

 

 

The hierarchy at the first corner is then made up of YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL #1 (Gregg Black), FCC TSR Honda France #5 (Mike Di Meglio), BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM #37 (Javier Forés), TATI TEAM BERINGER RACING #4 ( Sébastien Suchet), WEBIKE SRC KAWASAKI FRANCE TRICKSTAR #11 (Jérémy Guarnoni), ERC Endurance Ducati #6 (Louis Rossi), YART – Yamaha Official Team EWC #7 (Marvin Fritz), TEAM 33 LOUIT APRIL MOTO #33 (Corentin Pérolari) , BMRT 3D MAXXESS NEVERS #24 (Loris Cresson) and VRD IGOL EXPÉRIENCES #333 (Florian Marino).

In the lead, Mike Di Meglio on the Honda tries to take command, which he manages to do in the straight line taken at full speed while already, after barely a lap, the Honda, the Suzuki and the BMW broke away from the chasing group made up of the Yamaha #7, the Kawasaki #4 and the Kawasaki #11.

In the process, Javier Forés took the lead in the #37 BMW.

At the end of the first quarter of an hour, the Yamaha #7 had already returned to three seconds behind the German and occupied second position. But contrary to all expectations, things remained there as the end of the first hour approached: The Yamaha #7 did not continue its recovery and remained for a good while with the Suzuki #1, around five seconds behind the BMW #37.

 

 

Louis Rossi's #6 ERC Endurance Ducati stops extremely early to refuel and check its transponder, after just 27 laps.

On the track, the junction was made between the BMW #37 and the Yamaha #7 10 minutes from the end of the first hour, and Marvin Fritz took command three minutes later, just before refueling the R1…

 

 

The YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL #1 is the last to refuel (which explains its leadership in the first hour's standings), 11 laps after the Ducati #6... While the YART #7 again lost 6 seconds during refueling by stalling when restarting.

 

 

Once all the refuelings have been completed, it is once again the #37 BMW that we find in first position, with Markus Reiterberger at the handlebars. Xavier Siméon is on his heels and putting the pressure on…

 

 

A little before 11:30 a.m., Matthieu Lussiana inaugurates without gravity at turn 10 the list of falls, riding the Yamaha #18 of TEAM 18 SAPEURS POMPIERS CMS MOTOSTORE.

 

 

At the front, the situation is gradually settling down with the #37 BMW three seconds ahead of the #1 Suzuki and eight seconds ahead of the #7 Yamaha. Next comes Kawasaki #11 at 18 seconds, Honda #5 at 32 seconds, Yamaha #3. Three at 37 seconds and Kawasaki #4 at 54 seconds. Followed by the Kawasaki #24 at 1'29 and the Yamaha #777 at 1'33, while all the other competitors are more than a lap behind, including at the moment the Ducati #6 handicapped by its very refueling. early.

We note, however, that Suzuki #1 still refuels after a full hour on the track, i.e. 2 laps later than the BMW and 4 laps later than the Yamaha, which allows it to both regain command of the standings in the second hour, but especially to consider one less supply than all his opponents over the duration of the race...

 

 

Once all the refuelings have been carried out, the BMW is 5 seconds ahead of the Suzuki, 9 over the Yamaha #7, 28 over the Kawasaki #11, 39 over the Honda #5, 51 over the Yamaha #333, 1'12 on the Kawasaki #4 and the Ducati #6.

There are 10 hours of racing left...