The Yamaha-powered YART team’s victory in the 24H SPA EWC Motos was all the incentive Team Moto Ain needed to keep pushing for a finish in round two of the 2023 FIM Endurance World Championship earlier this month.
Although several delays caused by mechanical issues prevented the French squad from capitalising on its fine seventh place in qualifying, it battled through to finish 11th in the Formula EWC category in 21st overall.
Frenchman Corentin Perolari plus Italian EWC rookies Roberto Tamburini and Alex Polita shared Team Moto Ain’s #96 Yamaha and were inside the top 10 when a sensor fault struck after two hours and 40 minutes of racing.
Undeterred, the team was in 11th overall at nightfall only for a lengthy stop to fix a series of small electronic and engine issues to drop it down the order.
Polita then crashed heavily on Sunday morning when oil leaked onto his rear tyre. Despite extensive damage, the Team Moto Ain mechanics carried out a major repair to ensure the targeted finish was achieved.
Team boss Pierre Chapuis said: We were lucky enough to finally cross the finish line alongside the official Yamaha YART team which won a 24 hours after 14 years of waiting. Their performance shows us that we must never give up. The objective was to finish and we did it.
Original Source [ FIM EWC ]
