It’s a season of discovery in 2024 for FIM Endurance World Championship regular Dominik Vincon. As well as switching to Yamaha power and joining Motobox Kremer Racing, the rapid German rider will race in Japan for the first time when he contests the 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race from 19-21 July. This is what the 32-year-old has had to say.
It’s a new bike and new team for you in 2024. How is the transition working out?
“I’m really happy with the Yamaha because the turning of the bike is really nice, especially at Spa with the long and fast corners. On the other side the BMW engine is really strong so this helps at a track like Spa. But even in testing for Spa I was not so far away from my fastest lap time on the BMW with the Yamaha, so I was really happy. We are a small private team, but a very good team. We only had one test pre-Le Mans and the Le Mans race before Spa, which was the third time for me on the Yamaha. But after 24 hours you know the bike, although at the Hafeneger Renntraining track days I have done we are using BMW, Yamaha, Honda so it’s easy for me to switch bikes. It’s also a bit better if you know which bike is better on some points on the track because then you can more easily improve your bike because you know where it’s missing something, where you need to improve, so it’s always a benefit for you.”
What difference does it make being a German rider with German-only team-mates in a German team?
“Maybe it makes a small difference to have a little better spirit because everybody is speaking the same language, but we also have some French guys in the team so in the end we are speaking in English so it’s not a big difference. The riders, the team manager and a few other guys are German but some other guys are French, so the language is something in between and English is super-easy for everybody.”
You’re teaming up with Marco Fetz and Daniel Rubin this season. What are they like as riders and team-mates?
“It’s super-easy. Marco I know from a long time ago because we are working on some trackdays together and I also know him from the IDM. With Daniel I didn’t have so much contact in the past but he’s a super-easy guy and we’re happy working together. It’s a really good level.”
The Suzuka 8 Hours is next for you. How excited are you by this prospect?
“It will be absolutely the first time in Suzuka so it will be absolutely amazing. I’m super-excited to be there. I am racing almost 10 years in the Endurance World Championship, but I have raced in Asia before because in 2019 we had a race in Malaysia and that was also insane to ride there. It was a track I loved from being a small child with the PlayStation. I also practiced a lot at Suzuka on the PlayStation. We know it’s impossible for us to be in the top 10 but we want to enjoy the race and have some fun. It’s possible to catch some points because last year the team was also there and they collected some points. This is the goal for us and we need to collect as much points as possible and we will see where we are.”
What keeps you busy when you’re not racing in the EWC?
“I am working at Porsche, which has an incredible history in endurance racing. But I’m not working in the racing department, I’m responsible for the assembly. It’s something completely different, but I love this job, it’s amazing and I’m really happy to be in this company with these amazing cars and super-nice people. I work there as an engineer so it’s not that easy for the holidays for the racing, especially with the big trip to Suzuka. I’m really thankful to this company that they allow me to do this. It means I am busy but if you love what you do it doesn’t matter.”
The 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race takes place from 19-21 July. Click HERE for more event information including details of how to buy tickets.
