Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team has completed First Qualifying for the 24 Heures Motos as the FIM Endurance World Championship squad to beat.
Based on the provisional average time of the fastest two riders from each team, the 2023 EWC title-winning outfit edged reigning champion Yoshimura SERT Motul, which won the 24 Heures Motos 12 months ago.
Honda-powered Tati Team AVA6 Racing is the top independent in third in the provisional order followed by ERC Endurance, which is back in the EWC and back with BMW power for 2025, with F.C.C. TSR Honda France in fifth.
Under EWC rules, the official results are not published until the completion of Second Qualifying, which gets under way at 10h20 CET tomorrow, meaning YART will have to wait before it can celebrate a back-to-back pole positions at Le Mans.
Hungarian Endurance Racing Team by Moto-Jungle (bottom imag, making its debut in the 24 Heures Motos, has set the provisional pace so far in the Dunlop-equipped Superstock category ahead of Team Étoile and TRT27 AZ Moto. Green Team 42 Lycee Sainte Claire (below) is currently the pacesetter in the EWC’s new entry-level FIM Endurance World Trophy.
HOW FIRST QUALIFYING UNFOLDED
In the opening 20-minute Blue Rider session, Karel Hanika’s 1m34.838s was the time to beat for Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team ahead of Gregg Black’s 1m34.949s effort for Suzuki-powered Yoshimura SERT Motul. Despite a fall, Hugo Clere went third quickest on his Tati Team AVA6 Racing Honda followed by Román Ramos (Kawsaski Webike Trickstar) and F.C.C. TSR Honda France’s Alan Techer. Illya Mykhalchyk was sixth quickest on his debut for ERC Endurance with Markus Reiterberger seventh for BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team. MAXXESS by BMRT3D Pirelli Motul’s new recruit Isaac Viñales placed eighth, one position in front of leading Dunlop-equipped Superstock squad Hungarian Endurance Racing Team by Moto-Jungle’s Bálint Kovács. Randy de Puniet completed the top 10 for ELF Marc VDS Racing/KM99. Nico Thöni was 11th fastest for Team Bolliger Switzerland as Tom Ward went second fastest in Superstock for TRT27 AZ Moto. Danny Webb (Team LRP Poland), Valentin Suchet (National Motos Honda FMA) and EWC rookie Kaito Toba (Honda No Limits) rounded out the top 15. In the Production-based FIM Endurance World Trophy Julien Bonnet was fastest for Green Team 42 Lycee Sainte Claire. Meanwhile, Team 18 Sapeurs Igol CMS Motostore’s Enzo De La Vega was a non-starter after he crashed in Free Practice.
After posting an unofficial sub-lap record run during this morning’s Free Practice with a 1m34.659s best, Marvin Fritz couldn’t quite top the timing screens during the Yellow Rider session as Randy Krummenacher set the pace for Tati Team AVA6 Racing (below) with a lap of 1m34.962s. Behind Fritz (Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team), Sylvain Guntoli was third quickest for BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team as Kenny Foray (ERC Endurance) and Corentin Perolari (F.C.C. TSR Honda France) rounded out the top five. Étienne Masson was sixth quickest for Yoshimura SERT Motul with Mike Di Meglio seventh on his debut Kawasaki Webike Trickstar debut. Mathieu Gines (MAXXESS by BMRT3D Pirelli Motul) went eighth quickest as Kazuki Watanabe (Team Étoile) proved to be the Dunlop-equipped Superstock rider to beat in ninth, one place ahead of Team LRP Poland’s Enzo Boulom. Pedro Romero (Team Bolliger Switzerland) was 11th on his return from injury, followed by ELF Marc VDS Racing/KM99’s Florian Marino and Kevin Manfredi (Dafy-RAC 41-Honda), the second fastest Superstock rider. Máté Számadó was next up in Superstock for Hungarian Endurance Racing Team by Moto-Jungle as Gabriele Giannini took 15th for Honda No Limits with Corentin Garcia on top for Green Team 42 Lycee Sainte Claire in Production.
Cocoro Atsumi, who is deputising for injured world champion Dan Linfoot in Yoshimura SERT Motul’s race line-up, left it late to go quickest in the Red Rider group with a best time of 1m35.187s, 0.104s faster than Martin Renaudin (Tati Team AVA6 Racing). Jason O’Halloran (Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team) was third on his 24 Heures Motos debut with Steven Odendaal fourth on his first appearance for BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team, one position higher than Jérémy Guarnoni (ELF Marc VDS Racing/KM99). Kawasaki Webike Trickstar’s Grégory Leblanc was sixth quickest followed by Dunlop-supplied Superstock contender Eemeli Lahti (TRT27 AZ Moto), ERC Endurance’s David Checa and Team Bolliger Switzerland’s Alex Toledo. Marc Alcoba was second in Superstock in 10th overall for Slider Endurance with Soma Görbe completing the category top three for Hungarian Endurance Racing Team by Moto-Jungle. Kevin Calia (Revo-M2) was 11th followed by Loris Cresson (MAXXESS by BMRT3D Pirelli Motul), Taiga Hada (F.C.C. TSR Honda France) and Roberto Tamburini (Honda No Limits). Green Team 42 Lycee Saint Claire continued its run of form in the FIM Endurance World Trophy courtesy of Gabriel Sanchez.
In the Green Rider group featuring the Formula EWC reserve riders, plus the fourth riders from the Superstock and Production categories, Alessandro Delbianco (ELF Marc VDS Racing/KM99) edged BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team’s Hannes Soomer as Jacopo Cretaro emerged as the fastest of the Dunlop-equipped Superstock runners in fourth, one place behind Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team’s back-up rider Robin Mulhauser. Wójcik Racing Team’s Formula EWC reserve Mateusz Molik, who is competing at Le Mans for the first time, was fifth quickest followed by Diego Poncet (Dafy-RAC 41-Honda) and Revo-M2’s Luca Vitali. Green Team 42 Lycee Saint Claire’s Jules Blanc topped the Production contenders.
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Original Source [ FIM EWC ]
