Fan-favourite Motobox Kremer Racing is returning to the legendary Suzuka Circuit for Japan’s round of the FIM Endurance World Championship next week (4-6 August) with a top-20 finish the target.
The German squad, complete with its striking mainly orange colour scheme, has always been a hit among the ever-enthusiastic Suzuka fans. But having been absent from the venue’s famous eight-hour EWC race in recent years, there will be plenty of catching up to do.
It’s a famous race and now we were six times there, Motobox is famous also, said Team Manager Manfred Kremer. The fans are looking to get the signature of our riders, they want to see the orange bike, because our Yamaha is the orange bike, and they will queue during the pitwalk because they want to see us.
For me to be manager of a very small team, to have the possibility to go over there is very exciting. It’s a different race and it’s a different culture. When we went there for the first time, we were a little optimistic with only four mechanics. But people wanted to help us. They were not asking for money, they only wanted to help and that was very impressive for me.
The #65 Motobox Kremer Racing Yamaha will be ridden by team regular Geoffroy Dehaye, plus new-for-2023 recruits Christian Napoli (Italy) and Daniel Rubin (Germany). Having placed 11th and eighth among the Formula EWC competitors at Le Mans and Spa respectively, Kremer is aiming for another strong result at Suzuka.
Our best result at Suzuka was 25th but then we went a little bit down so I would like to go in the 20s, said Kremer. I want to be better than our best result, we will try.
French rider Dehaye said: Suzuka is the most famous race in the world, it’s a famous track, so fun, so fast, so up and down. The humidity is so hard for the rider and the level of the competition is very high. But I know with my team we can make a good result in this race, I want to finish in the top 20.
Dehaye, 35, still recalls his first Suzuka experience with great fondness. When I come in Suzuka the first time a fan from Japan comes with a poster of me with a lot of pictures and he had a mug with my picture on the mug also. He speaks with me a lot and tells me he follows me in France. I realised we must be famous in Japan, it was very nice.
The privateer Motobox Kremer Racing team previously highlighted the backing it has received from “loyal sponsors and supporters, especially Bücher Bau – Schlüsselfertiges Bauen from Idstein” for making its participation in the 44th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race possible in the first place.
Georg Haas, who runs Motobox Kremer Racing alongside Manfred Kremer, said: Thanks to our strong sponsors, we can now look forward for the rest of the season and we are particularly looking forward to returning to Suzuka and we are very excited about the adventure.
The 44th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race is due to start at 11h30 local time on Sunday 6 August.
Original Source [ FIM EWC ]
