Jason O’Halloran made the perfect start to his career as a Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team rider in the FIM Endurance World Championship by winning the 24 Heures Motos at his first attempt last weekend.
The Australian was recruited to replace Niccolò Canepa following the Italian’s retirement from riding at the completion of the 2024 campaign. Despite having never raced on the Circuit Bugatti before, let alone at night, the 37-year-old excelled as he partnered new team-mates Marvin Fritz and Karel Hanika to a famous Le Mans victory.
“It was super-tough, probably the toughest race of my career,” O’Halloran (above right) said. “To go out on a track you don’t know, riding at night that you don’t know, and it to be slick tyres on a wet track, it was tough but we got through it as best we could, enjoyed it and tried to keep it on two wheels. I had one crash, got back up, got going again. The whole team worked incredible, so it was an amazing feeling to win.
“The first couple of stints I was quite nervous. The first stint I thought I was heading out on wet tyres and the last-second decision was to change to slicks, it was already getting dark, the line wasn’t very wide, so I was nervous but did a good job. I worked hard through the night and did some really good stints. We all worked hard to put ourselves in the position to win the race. It was an incredible job.”
Asked if his debut win for YART and eased some the pressure given the weight of expectation on his shoulders, O’Halloran said: “There’s always pressure to perform, especially in a team like YART with so much success. But first race, first win has a nice feeling and I look forward to the rest of the year.
“I get to ride Spa and I can’t wait for that race, Suzuka’s been a race I’ve wanted to do well at for so many years but not really had the opportunity. This year with YART I’ve got the opportunity so I can’t wait for that race and, overall, it’s a great start to our world championship. The end goal for us is to be world champions and this is the perfect start.”
Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team had been second to Kawasaki Webike Trickstar with one hour of the race remaining but moved in front when Román Ramos crashed.
“It’s always a bit bitter-sweet feeling,” O’Halloran said of Kawasaki Webike Trickstar’s late woe. “Someone has to have a misfortune for you to feel good so it’s not a great thing when things like that happen. We had three crashes, we all crashed at certain points and you’ve just got to roll with it. It’s a 24-hour race and you’ve got to get to the flag first. And we managed to do that.”
O’Halloran started his preparations for round two of the EWC, the 8 Hours of Spa Motos from 6-7 June, with a test on the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps today (Wednesday).
Original Source [ FIM EWC ]
