YART Yamaha wins Endurance World Championship on Bridgestone Battlax tyres

YART Yamaha Official EWC Team won the 2023 FIM EWC (Photo: Bridgestone)

YART Yamaha Official EWC Team won the 2023 FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) title on Bridgestone Battlax tyres at Circuit Paul Ricard (16-17 September), Le Castellet, France. It is the fourth time and the third consecutive year that a team using Bridgestone’s flagship motorcycle tyres has won the EWC title. The brand has been supplying the tyres, which are designed to provide high grip, durability and comfort handling, to teams in the EWC series since 2017. YART Yamaha Official EWC Team, one of the three teams supported by Bridgestone, finished second in the opening race and first in the second race of the series, concluding the series with fourth place in the Bol d’Or 24-hour endurance race.

“I am very pleased and honoured to achieve the EWC championship, which we have been aiming for with Bridgestone tyres,” said Mandy Kainz, team manager of YART Yamaha Official EWC Team. “I am so happy for our riders. They have been leading in every single round this year. At Le Mans, we had a problem where we crashed on some oil. Spa was the perfect race for us, even with some issues. We showed such a good pace in Suzuka, but a very minor technical issue meant we missed out on a dream podium. In the Bol d’Or, since it was a tough race for us and we had to be conservative to ensure our bike survived, but we did this to ensure we could finish the race. I was so proud of the riders in Japan, as we were close to retiring, but the boys did not give up and fought back from last position to 22^nd. So, for me, our guys are the real heroes and true endurance riders. They always show such amazing fighting spirit, bravery, and determination, and they really deserve it. This championship means a lot to us all, and the whole team has worked so hard, so we will enjoy this feeling and then start thinking about next year and how we can defend our title.”

“I would like to congratulate riders and all of the members of YART Yamaha Official EWC Team on their EWC title,” added Tatsuya Uchida, director, Motorsport Division, Bridgestone Corporation. “YART Yamaha Official EWC Team won the second place in the opening race of Le Mans and the first place in Spa and continued to show high level of teamwork throughout the entire season and deserved to be the champion. Bridgestone is very proud to have contributed to their championship by supplying tyres that maximize the performance of both riders and their bikes – even under the extreme conditions of endurance races. 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 tyre development. Bridgestone looks forward to supporting the series champion as a member of their team from the ground up, and to taking on the challenge to develop and supply tyres with even higher levels of quality and performance next year as well, with our passion to support motorsport.”

(Photo: Bridgestone)