2024 FIM EWC Round 4 — Bol d’Or 24 Hours | Private Test Report (September 10)
First running at Paul Ricard, venue of the season finale. Though it was a debut there for Kamei and Kawasaki, the team made a strong start from day one, the newcomers building pace with help from the data of Bol d’Or-experienced Watanabe and Okubo.
Sep 10th, 2024
Having the final round of EWC 2024 series Bol d'Or 24h just around the corner, Team Étoile has now arrived at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Our four riders, Yudai Kamei, Hikari Okubo, Kazuki Watanabe, and Shogo Kawasaki have also arrived at the track on Sep 9th Monday and spent the day meeting with the whole team, checking out the track, and getting familiar with the environment in general. On Tuesday, Team Étoile went out on track at Circuit Paul Ricard for the first time.
Given that there will be only 3 track sessions before the race begins on Saturday, today's session was critical for Team Étoile as Yudai and Shogo have to familiarize themselves with the bike and track quickly. Kazuki and Hikari used their prior experience of the track to further sophisticate our BMW M1000RR.
Through the 2 track sessions we had in AM and PM, all of the 4 riders could gain a quality track time. Kazuki and Hikari showed relatively fast pace, and Yudai and Shogo learned from their log data to gradually improved their pace as well.
Tomorrow on Wednesday will be a day for the official vehicle inspection and for the team to discuss strategy for the remaining week.
Rider comments
Rider
Yudai Kamei
'It was not the smoothest day for me as I struggled to get used to the track, so I would rate myself as 7 out of 10. But I'm not so worried as I could see my pace improving session by session and I'm aware of my weak-points and its root cause.'
'To be honest, the famous Mistral Straight was scary. With the help of a slip strem effect, the top speed has reached more or less 330km/h. Overall I'm happy about how the first day went and really enjoying such a legendary and exciting track.'
'Kazuki and Hikari are lapping very fast, so if I could at least get quick enough to maintain the overall position throughout the race, I believe we can aim high, so that is my target.'
Rider
Hikari Okubo
'I had a track experience here twice in the past, but it was the first time to ride BMW M1000RR here. I'm happy to hit the target lap time on day 1 already, and it's really great to have the bike set up really well from the beginning of the week. Today went much smoother than I expected.'
'All of my teammates are riding very fast already. It was a first time for Yudai and Shogo but both improved their pace very quickly. Team Étoile has a good potential here again at Bol d'Or.'
'It is our first year in the EWC championship but we are standing 4th in the series championship ranking already, and the chance to stand 2nd is high depending on the result of this weekend, so that is my target for now. Also, it is important to remember that we as Team Étoile have not finished 24h race before, so not only that we aim high, we will focus on finishing the race as well.'
Rider
Kazuki Watanabe
'My first race with Team Étoile was at Spa, and that was right after Le Man 24h where the team had to retire from the race due to crash, so our target at Spa was to finish the race and nothing more. This time at Bol d'Or, we will focus on gaining as much championship points as possible to stand 2nd on the championship ranking after the race.'
'I was expecting a difficult day today as the track time was limited to 2 hours in each AM and PM, but the team did a great job managing the limited track time to test different bike settings for the weekend.'
'Our BMW M1000RR is fast on the straight already, and there are room for improvement for the qualifying pace, race pace, and for the management of used tires towards the end of each stint. We have a good chance to finish on the podium if we focus on the average pace of each rider, so tomorrow we will discuss more on the strategy for the rest of the week.'
Rider
Shogo Kawasaki
'The track appeared wide and long, but it felt quite tight on BMW M1000RR. I heard the track layout is simple and easy to learn but it was not true. There are changes in elevation and wide varieties of corners around the lap. The Mistral Straight was very thrilling, but with the big front fairing of the BMW M1000RR, it felt quite safe and comfortable. The speed was not as scary as I initially anticipated, maybe my prior experience of Mugello helped.'
'I need to improve my pace. I was gaining speed the more I ride, but I need to lap at least 2 sec quicker than my current pace. I'm usually good with getting familiar with a new track so I'm not too worried. I just need to ride a bit more and find where I can improve.'
'I'm the fourth rider but there is a good chance I also ride during the race. For that I would like to focus on improving my pace as much as possible so that the rest of the three riders don't have to work too hard. That is my target.'
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