The French factory team – winners of the 2018-2019 FIM EWC title – are going into the 12 Heures of Estoril, the season finale, with a 47-point gap to the provisional leaders in the championship. But Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar will still be worth keeping an eye on as one of the favourites for the win in Portugal on 26 September.
After a tricky start to the season and a switch to a new tyre supplier, the factory Kawasaki team shot up the standings as a result of their second-place finish at the 24 Heures Motos.
Though Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar are mathematically in with a chance of claiming back the world title this season, they will have to reckon with four other factory teams, all playing to win. Gilles Stafler, team manager of the Kawasaki squad, anticipates a hard slog, but we can expect the ZX-10RR #1 to feature in the action at the lead of the race in Portugal.
Gilles Stafler gives us his analysis.
First off, I’m very happy with the team’s result in the 24 Heures Motos – let’s not forget we had just changed our tyre supplier and are still not one hundred percent. We’re totally unfamiliar with the Estoril circuit, so though we’ll continue with Michelin, we still have a lot of work to do. We’ve bounced back in a big way in the championship. If our rivals make any mistakes, we’ll seize our chance. If it happens to rain, the Michelin tyres could give us an advantage. But we’re not in a position to draw up a title-winning strategy. There’s too much of a gap and too many rivals. The goal is to keep working during this race and over the winter to get to the next season on top form.
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Original Source [ FIM EWC ]
