Dunlop have secured their 10th FIM Endurance World Championship in conjunction with the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team since the two started working together back in the year 2000.
The final round of the championship took place at the Paul Ricard circuit in the South of France, where teams competed in the 24 hour Bol d’Or watched by tens of thousands of fans. The SERT squad secured their 14th title to date by finishing 3rd in the final round of the season, whilst this also gave Dunlop their 15th title in 21 years.
The race was eventually won by Team SRC Kawasaki, who had the only bike out of all the front runners that did not encounter any issues during the 24 hour race. Fellow Dunlop runners and title contenders GMT94 Yamaha were involved in a first lap crash which saw them rejoin in last place. However, by the 8 hour mark, they had climbed up to 2nd and they held on to this position for the rest of the race.
SERT’s bike encountered an issue just before the halfway mark, meaning that the team had to make an extended pit stop whilst working on an axle problem. During this time they lost six laps, dropping back to 8th when they finally rejoined the field. With a podium in each of this year’s four races, their points total was more than enough to secure the title despite missing out on the race win.
Conditions at the circuit were hot, so teams ran the softest available Dunlop compound during the day, and then a slightly harder compound as darkness came in and the temperatures began to drop. This ensured that the team benefited from optimum warm-up as the track cooled, despite the long feature straight.
Clinton Howe, who is the Moto Race Central Business Manager at Dunlop Motorsport said:
“Congratulations to SERT for taking another well deserved title – they were the highest permanent team to score points at Suzuka and stood on all the other podiums and that’s how titles are won. It’s great to add another collaboration to our title statistics. GMT94 Yamaha rode a fantastic race to recover from their first-lap incident – it was a fantastic comeback. As Oschersleben race winners they could have been worthy champions again. It was a shame that we couldn’t retain the Superstock title, especially after Junior Team Suzuki won the previous two Superstock class events but I’m sure they will bounce back next year.”
