Christian Gamarino, Grégory Leblanc and Róman Ramos were the heroes for Kawasaki Webike Trickstar when Japan hosted round three of the 2024 FIM Endurance World Championship last month.
Leblanc’s bravery was apparent when he suffered a broken leg during Warm-up for the 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race, which left Gamarino and Ramos to race as a pair.
Gamarino rose from the team’s 18th-place starting position to the extent he was in 14th place when he handed over the #11 Kawasaki ZXR-RR to Ramos, who fell nearing the completion of his stint and then fell ill, leaving Italian Gamarino to double stint in the hope that Ramos would be well enough to continue.
But with the Spaniard temporarily out of action and with Gamarino unable to ride alone, particularly given the intense heat and humidity, Kawasaki Webike Trickstar called time on its challenge for two hours to give Gamarino sufficient opportunity to rest and recuperate.
Following what amounted to a two-hour break, Gamarino returned to the track and set lap times similar to those running in the top 10 before Ramos sealed his comeback by riding for the final few moments of the race and take the chequered flag in 42nd position. However, because Kawasaki Webike Trickstar only covered 123 laps – the winning Team HRC with Japan Post managed 220 – it was not classified in the final results.
Nevertheless, Ryuji Tsuruta’s squad will start the season-deciding Bol d’Or next month seventh in the provisional standings.
Meanwhile, a post-race Facebook post from Kawasaki Webike Trickstar read: “It's over at Suzuka! #11 has finished the race and the whole Team wishes a speedy recovery Grégory Leblanc”.
Original Source [ FIM EWC ]
