Adamant that there was much more to come from Kawasaki Webike Trickstar in last month’s 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race following qualifying, Grégory Leblanc never got the chance to put his words into practice after a fall in Warm-up left him with a broken leg and on the sidelines for Japan’s EWC counter.
But one of the FIM Endurance World Championship’s most determined and accomplished racers has no plans to prolong his absence from the track for very long with his sole focus on recovering in time for next month’s Bol d’Or EWC season finale. This is what the 39-year-old French ace and four-time Bol d’Or winner has had to say.
There was a collective sense of despair and disappointment for you when you crashed at Suzuka. How is your recovery going?
“It's going very well, I managed to get repatriated to France because the hospital in Japan wanted me to stay for one month. It’s been more than three weeks since the accident and I’m already starting to walk again so it’s going well.”
Can you explain what happened in the accident?
“I made a stupid mistake. The lap I was coming into the pits I was distracted, I wasn't paying attention, and in a corner, at full speed, I was too close to the edge and the rear wheel touched the grass and I flew off at 180kph, resulting in a fracture of the neck of the femur.”
Having worked so hard all week at Suzuka, how disappointing was the injury and the realisation you wouldn’t be able to take part in the race?
“It was definitely a big disappointment for me to miss this legendary race, especially since our pace was good enough to get a good place in the race. But falls are part of the sport and you have to accept that. I would have much preferred to have participated in the race with my team-mates rather than having a broken leg that would impact the end of my season, but that's how it is and I accept it.”
Is there any possibility you can recover in time and race in the Bol d’Or?
“Yes of course, I can't guarantee anything at this time but I'm doing everything I can to try to be ready for the next race. My goal is to race.”
Finally, what do you think of your team-mates Christian Gamarino and Román Ramos trying to continue at Suzuka especially after Román became ill?
“They did their best but it was definitely a black Sunday. I got injured during the Warm-up when I was supposed to start the race, which forced my team-mates to ride with two people. Unfortunately, Román was sick and had difficulties in the race, which forced the team to stop the race as they couldn't ride with one rider. Definitely a black Sunday.”
The all-action 2024 EWC season concludes at Circuit Paul Ricard in France from 12-15 September with the famous Bol d’Or 24-hour race. For ticket information click HERE.
Original Source [ FIM EWC ]
