Yoshimura SERT Motul banked its 13th FIM Endurance World Championship crown in its various incarnations with victory in the Bol d’Or earlier this month, the 20th time the 24-hour event has been won with Suzuki power. This is what riders Cocoro Atsumi, Gregg Black, Dan Linfoot and Étienne Masson, plus Team Manager Damien Saulnier, had to say following another hugely successful weekend in the EWC.
Cocoro Atsumi: “I have been working with the team since the winter development tests and I am very happy that Yoshimura SERT Motul has achieved its goal to win the world championship. The teamwork was amazing during the Bol d’Or – my team-mates were solid, the crew was so efficient, while the preparation and decisions made by the management were meticulous. Even though my name will not be documented as a world championship winner, I am proud that I was able to contribute to the team’s overall result by competing at the Suzuka 8 Hours, where we finished third. I have seen how hard the team has worked throughout the season, and I want to congratulate everyone.”
Gregg Black: “Injuring my wrist was a pretty difficult moment after winning Le Mans and getting a podium at Spa. The injury in the Suzuka test was quite a complicated break and put me out for the race. But Cocoro, Dan and Albert [Arenas] did a great job and got some important points for the championship. It’s been two complicated months for me, getting my wrist back into condition and trying to have the mental and physical strength to get back on the bike. A lot of strength goes through the wrist on a bike, and I wasn’t sure 100 per cent if I would be back, but I said I would be. Just a few days before coming here I tried a bike again and managed to ride. I knew Coco was here in case I had any issuers during the week, and I couldn’t make it or had any problems. I didn’t want to disappoint myself or my team-mates and just basically once I said I was going to do all my stints and do my job, I did all my stints, I did 10 stints.”
Dan Linfoot: “Of course when you join a team like Yoshimura SERT Motul you expect to have the results to fight for the championship but to win the championship in the first year is a dream for me. To win Le Mans, second in Spa, third in Suzuka and finally winning the Bol d’Or to take the championship has been an incredible experience. To work with this fantastic team and my incredible team-mates, all the staff, it’s been a fantastic year. It’s an amazing moment. It was a hectic schedule with very little rest and staying awake for more than 24 hours, it’s tough. But you have to find the energy, you have to find the motivation, when you get on the bike you have to bring the energy and push 100 per cent. Of course, I had some stints that were not as competitive as others but I’m happy with the race I rode, I was fast when I needed to be fast and safe when I needed to be safe. The objective was to try to bring home the championship for the team and it seems this package is very settled in the Bol d’Or. It won last year and it won again this year so congratulations to the team as well.”
Étienne Masson: “For sure the season was quite good because we start with victory at Le Mans. We know that for the eight-hour races we were not so strong as our competitors but we make a good result in Spa and Suzuka so we know that here, when we are in Bol d’Or the bike is fitted very well to the track and we are much more competitive so we were expecting a good result. And our crew chief did a fantastic job with all the team to give us the perfect bike. For sure it was demanding but at the end we win the Bol d’Or for a second time in a row and we win the championship”
Damien Saulnier: “When two of our main rivals had tyre problems, it inevitably reshuffled the cards. We took the decision to bring the bike in earlier. It was the right decision. But there were other top teams out there and we had to fight hard to stay ahead. After that, our task was to manage our lead without losing concentration, which is never easy. But the whole team did a superb job from start to finish. We made no mistakes and had no problems. It was the perfect race but it was not east to manage the gap because we still get some pressure on our shoulders.”
Original Source [ FIM EWC ]
