Suzuka. This weekend, the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team
and the FIM Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC) are in Asia.
Round three of the 2023 season will take place at Suzuka, Japan,
from 4th to 6th August. The eight-hour race is a real classic on the
series’ calendar and is being held for the 44th time this year. The
BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team and its riders Markus Reiterberger
(GER), Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR) and Jérémy Guarnoni (FRA) will be
making their second appearance at Suzuka.
Armed with the new #37 BMW M 1000 RR, the BMW Motorrad World
Endurance Team finished on the podium in third place in each of the
first two races of the season, the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans (FRA)
and the 24H SPA EWC Motos at Spa-Francorchamps (BEL). The Suzuka 8
Hours has always been the most important race of the year for the
Japanese manufacturers. As such, they line up with a host of strong
teams. In preparation for the weekend, the BMW Motorrad World
Endurance Team spent two days testing at Suzuka at the start of July.
More test sessions followed this Wednesday. One challenge facing
everyone at Suzuka is the climate; high temperatures combined with
very high humidity are among the features of this event.
The race weekend begins on Friday with free practice and the first
qualifying sessions. That is followed on Saturday by the second
qualifying and the Top 10 Trial, in which the first ten positions on
the grid are determined. The race itself gets underway at 11:30 local
time (04:30 CEST) on Sunday. As well as the BMW Motorrad World
Endurance Team, four private BMW teams will also start at the Suzuka 8
Hours: TONE RT SYNCEDGE 4413 BMW, the Shinshu activation project Team
NAGANO, SANMEI Team TARO PLUSONE, and TEAM FRONTIER.
Quotes ahead of the Suzuka 8 Hours.
Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director: “We
are very excited about the Suzuka 8 Hours. It is a very special
circuit with its own specific challenges, with regard to the layout
and the climate. We know how important the event is to the Japanese
manufacturers, who are traditionally very strong and line-up with many
factory and factory-supported teams. It will not be easy to challenge
for the podium. Our goal is to finish in the top-five and score as
many points as possible towards the world championship. The BMW
Motorrad World Endurance Team and our three drivers Markus, Ilya and
Jérémy have worked very hard during the tests to prepare for this
challenge. I will have my fingers firmly crossed for them, as I will
for the private BMW teams from Asia, who start at Suzuka.”
Werner Daemen, Team Manager BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team:
“I think that the test day was really good. To be honest, I
came here lacking a bit of confidence, because the pre-test was not so
good and not what I had hoped for. But I can say that everyone did a
great job. I also want to thank the team, Dunlop, who provided a lot
of tyres for us, and BMW who brought a new engineer. The preparation
was good, the riders made a great job. We have always been in the top
eight which was the goal for the test. To have such a successful test
day here at Suzuka gives an extra boost to the entire team. Regarding
the goals for the race, I changed my mind, to be honest. When we came
here, I thought that top-ten would be already good with the strong
Japanese competition we have her. Now I think, that top five or top
six is possible if we do not any mistakes. If we collect enough
points, everything is possible for the season finale at Le Castellet.”
Markus Reiterberger: “The test day was pretty hot but
very productive. To be honest, after the last test, we went into the
event with lower expectations because we still had some things on our
list. However, we got off to a good start, and Dunlop Japan also
helped us a lot. We also tried a lot with the suspension and
electronics, and in the process, we found and improved several things.
In the morning, Ilya and I were relatively equally fast in the top
six; in the afternoon, I struggled a bit, but he was really quick.
Now, we will work on finding a good setup for all three of us.
Overall, we are motivated and want to get the best out of it. In terms
of race pace, we are in a good position. The competition is
particularly strong here at Suzuka, but we want to take as many points
as possible. If we want to be modest, we’ll say the goal is the top
ten, but we’re aiming more for the top five. We can achieve that, and
we also need these points for the season finale where we want to
become world champions.”
Ilya Mikhalchik: “Suzuka is a very special place and
the test day was a pretty good day. We found a good base with bike and
tyres which was working pretty well for us and we got some good pace
on the race tyres as well as on the qualifying tyres. We made some
simulations and it looks like the bike is well prepared for the
conditions and the Suzuka track. I am really looking forward to
qualifying and the race. The target is to finish the race collecting
many points. If we are doing a constant job on the bike we will be
able to minimum finish in the top ten and even close to the top five.
It will be really interesting to see what the weather will be like. It
could be mixed. I just hope that we have good luck and a good race.”
Jérémy Guarnoni: “The test day went pretty good
because we had been quite fast. Especially Ilya was really fast. Now
we need to make the test pay off. It is clear which tyre we are going
to use. The team has done a really good job. With the lap times we saw
at the test, the goal is to fight for the top five or even the podium.
But we need to try to have a good package also for the race not only
for one lap so that is going to be the work for the next days.”
