2024 FIM EWC Round 3 — Suzuka 8 Hours | Second Test Report (July 17)
In the final test right before race week, Team Étoile set the fastest time in the SST class — holding its average pace even in the heat and continuing the setup progress made the previous month.
2024/07/17
After completing the first two rounds of FIM Endurance World Champion series (EWC) in Europe, Team Étoile headed back home for Suzuka 8hours where we had the first track action on June 19th ~ June 20th in the official test.
During the official test in June, team has focused on setting up the bike for the hot summer condition, which worked out well to build the fundamental for today’s test. All three riders (Yudai Kamei, Hikari Okubo, and Roberto Rolfo) continued working on improving the feeling on the bike.
The main difference for the Suzuka round compared to the last two rounds in Europe is the tire. Although it is both Dunlop which supplies the tire for SST class throughout the season, there is a difference in the tire specification between Dunlop Europe and Dunlop Japan.
Luckily we managed to avoid any significant issues while working on the fusion of BMW M1000RR and the tires from Dunlop Japan which, despite the same brand name, shows different character from the ones supplied by Dunlop Europe.
After a total of 5 free practice (FP) sessions today, our average pace has been tested and confirmed. In FP4 we had a rain which prevented us from testing the qualify-spec tire, but still our bike did 2min 09.300 sec which marked Team Étoile on the top of the list in SST Class (17th overall).
There is no track action tomorrow, but on Friday we will have a qualifying. Team Étoile to shoot for the top in class.
Rider & team principal comments
Rider
Yudai Kamei
“During the test in June, we could complete 60 ~ 70% of what we wanted to test, so today it was relatively easy to dig deep in setting up the bike for the race. Today the tarmac temperature was high, so we focused on how to manage the heat and control the grip without losing the speed. At the end it went well. All three riders including myself were happy with the bike setup. Today we could not test the qualify-spec tire so are hoping to do so on Friday session.”
“So far we are preparing for Suzuka round very well, so I would like to keep this rhythm throughout the weekend to fight for the top in both the qualifying and final. We are always happy to see comments from you on our social media platforms, thank you all for your support.”
Rider
Hikari Okubo
“Since the test in June, our mechanics has done a top job. Thanks to them, I had a good feeling on the bike from the FP1 today. At the end we did a really good lap, and the average pace of our team is quite good. I would say the bike is close to the perfection, about 80% done. Really happy to end the first day in a positive feeling.”
“We finished the day in top in SST class today, but it won’t be easy from here for sure. Tomorrow we will discuss more about the bike and strategy to get the best out of us for the qualifying on Friday.”
Rider
Roberto Rolfo
Today we did a really good job. At first I felt a bit strange because the tarmac felt different from the test in June, but at the end I could feel the grip. I could lap with a faster pace today compared to June so I’m happy about that.”
“Definitely a good progress for the race. Our bike has improved a lot. Now I’m mostly focused on the bike set up when the fuel tank is full. Tomorrow I’m looking forward to further analyzing the data we collected today.”
Team Principal
Takashi Ichikawa
Despite the rain we had momentarily in FP4, the overall condition today was good. We wanted to test our riders and the bike in the hot condition, and today was the perfect day for that. Very happy to see that our team has adapted very well to the tire from Dunlop Japan. Our result today (fastest in SST class) shows that our team is working well in sync, so I’m looking forward to what we can do in qualifying on Friday.”
“All the EWC rounds are held in Europe except for this Suzuka round. This is a great chance for the Japanese fans to enjoy the spectacular race with us. It is hot outside, but I would be very happy to have you here at Suzuka on the weekend. As always, thank you all for your support.”
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