Last weekend saw the season finale of the 2021 FIM Endurance World Championship, which took place at Most Circuit in the Czech Republic.
The tradition has always been to end the season at Suzuka, but with Covid-19 still playing havoc with international travel the event had to be moved.
All three races so far this season had been won by teams using Bridgestone race tyres, with Yoshimura SERT Motul leading the championship race with two victories; namely the grueling 24 Heures Moto at Le Mans and the 24 hour Bol d’Or at the Paul Ricard Circuit.
The 6 hour race at Most may have been shorter than others this season, but it wasn’t without drama.
Yoshimura SERT Motul chose to ensure they finished the race intact to secure the championship, while at the front fellow Bridgestone backed team Yamaha Austria (YART) went toe-to-toe with BMW’s Belgium based Motorrad Endurance Team.
A third place was more than enough for Yoshimura SERT Motul to secure their first title in partnership with Bridgestone, while YART narrowly missed out on the race victory as they were beaten by just 0.07 – the finest margin in FIM EWC history!
“I am very pleased and honored to win the championship in the first year of participation as YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL by using Bridgestone tyres,” said Yohei Kato, Team Director of YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL. “We vowed to fight in this Endurance World Championship on behalf of the Suzuki Factory Team, and this season has proved to be a dream come true by winning two of the world’s most famous 24-hour races, namely, the 24 Heures of Le Mans and the Bol d’Or.The whole team has been respecting each other in the spirit of “One for all, all for one”, and we will keep working together to improve the Suzuki GSX-R1000R into an even better package. Thank you to all the sponsors, partners and fans who warmly supported the YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL this year. We pledge to attract everyone to an even better championship next year and YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL will go all out to defend its title.”
“I would like to congratulate all of the members of YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL on their EWC title,” said Masato Banno, Senior Vice President and Executive Officer, Global CTO (Global Chief Technology Officer), Bridgestone Corporation. “YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL won both the Le Mans and Bol d’Or 24-hour endurance races, two of the toughest races in the series and showed why they deserved to be champion. Bridgestone is very proud to have contributed to their series championship in our first year as a team partner by supplying highly durable tyres. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the many motorsports fans who supported us and to all the teams who worked so hard and cooperated in tire development. We will continue to refine our technology and support motorsports from the ground up through the development and supply of high-performance tyres.”
