Motobox Kremer Racing endured a tough 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race after being forced to retire following 15 laps of running.
The German privateer outfit had once again dug deep to make the trip to Japan through a partnership with Favorite Factory and had targeted a top 20 finish in round three of the FIM Endurance World Championship.
Despite its best efforts the Yamaha-powered squad was out of luck with mechical issues early on to compound a frustrating 10th visit to Suzuka for the team, which featured riders Marco Fetz, Daniel Rubin and Dominik Vincon in its line-up.
“This race, it’s a challenge,” Team Manager Manfred Kremer said. “It starts at home when you put everything in the cases with all the organisation. The event was the worst it can be because we had already lost our luggage in Shanghai so we came a little bit late. After there was a problem with the suspension because we had to change from Pirelli to Dunlop, we had one big crash with Daniel, we had an electrical problem and solved it, then we had a brake problem and solved it, then we were ready to go for the race.”
Of the presence of more blue on the mainly orange #65 Yamaha, Kremer explained: “I talked to Yamaha, they said, ‘we can support you but KTM is our main competitor in Europe, KTM is orange so please make some blue’. We come to an arrangement, we are a little bit orange and for me it’s okay and for them it’s okay.”
With September’s season-deciding Bol d’Or to run, Motobox Kremer Racing holds 10th place in the FIM Endurance World Championship for Teams.
Original Source [ FIM EWC ]