after a delayed start and a race suspension due to heavy showers, the first edition of the 8 Hours of Sepang lived up to its promise as a great new event in the FIM EWC World Championship. Duels at the front, changes of leadership, twists and turns and crashes enlivened an intense race on the Malaysian circuit.
despite an electronic warning at the start of the race, YART Yamaha came out on top after avoiding all the pitfalls with Niccolò Canepa, the sole rider of the #7 Yamaha throughout the race. This strategy, with a fast rider accustomed to tricky track conditions, paid off. However, Broc Parkes and Karel Hanika were also involved in the victory. "We all won together," said Niccolò Canepa at the post-race press conference.
yART Yamaha was ahead of Honda Asia Dream Racing with Showa, which completed a solid race in the leading pack with Malaysia's Zaqhwan Zaidi, Thailand's Somkiat Chantra and Indonesia's Andi Farid Izdihar. This cosmopolitan Japanese team had already made a name for itself in the Top10 Trial, snatching 2nd place on the starting grid.
bMW Motorrad World Endurance Team takes its second podium at the 8 Hours of Sepang after the Bol d'Or with Ilya Mykhalchyk and Markus Reiterberger. Kenny Foray, injured during practice, did not take part in the race. The official Belgian BMW team thus takes 2nd place in the provisional FIM EWC World Championship standings, 15 points behind the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, which remains in the lead after its Bol d'Or victory.
superstock winner just off the podium
in a race full of twists and turns, Moto Ain made its way to the foot of the podium to take another Superstock win. The French Yamaha team consolidated its position at the top of the World Endurance Cup with Roberto Rolfo, Robin Mulhauser and Hugo Clère, and finished the race ahead of the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team and Webike SRC Kawasaki France, who struggled in these difficult track conditions.
in the Superstock class, Moto Ain was ahead of Germany's GERT56 by GS Yuasa (BMW). in 14th place at the finish, Lucy Glöckner, Stefan Kerschbaumer and Pepijn Bijsterbosch held off the Japanese Tone RT Syncedge 4413 BMW team right to the end. Delayed by an early crash, Tomoya Hoshino, Kokoro Atsumi and Takeshi Ishizuka finished their first race outside Japan on the podium.
a tough race for the favourites
yamaha Sepang Racing, which dominated qualifying and the early stages of the race, and its main rival, F.C.C. TSR Honda France, lost contact with the frontrunners in their duel for the lead. A tangle between Mike di Meglio (F.C.C. TSR Honda France) and Michael van der Mark (Yamaha Sepang Racing) sent both machines to the mat. After a trip to his box, Michael van der Mark was able to restart the race in 40th place. Thanks to a series of fastest laps in the race (2'17.817 for Franco Morbidelli), Yamaha Sepang Racing finished 7th, ahead of BMW Sepang Racing, 3ART Moto Team 95 (Yamaha) and the ERC Endurance Team, which brought its Ducati Panigale into the Top 10.
f.C.C. TSR Honda France, back in the lead after the collision, lost its chances of victory when Mike di Meglio crashed with an hour to go.
other teams had a tough race. Suzuki JEG Kagayama, well placed in the top three, lost a lot of ground due to mechanical problems. Tecmas BMW GMC, who had put on a show at the start of the race with Camille Hédelin, very much at ease on a wet track, was also betrayed by mechanical problems.
the next FIM EWC event is the 24 Heures Motos on April 18 and 19 at Le Mans.
- All results and standings after the 8 Hours of Sepang 2019 -
News credits: FIM-EWC
Image credits: Yamaha Racing - ERC Endurance
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