July 19th, 2021.


Dunlop partner team Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar leads the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) standings after finishing on the podium in Saturday’s 12 Hours of Estoril. Several Dunlop teams finished the Portuguese race with results to celebrate after good performance from the Dunlop tyres in hot conditions.

After 12 hours of racing in the Portuguese heat, from 09:00 to 21:00, the No. 11 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10 RR finished second, while fellow Dunlop team BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team placed third. Those two bikes repeated their results from the last race, the 24 Heures Motos, where they also finished second and third.

Kawasaki riders David Checa, Jeremy Guarnoni and Erwan Nigon did look set to win the race until a mistake in the final two hours dropped the bike down the order. Nevertheless, the experienced French team regained a couple of positions in the closing stages. The lead BMW also had a comeback story after an early issue while leading dropped Markus Reiterburger, Xavi Fores and Kenny Foray back down the field.

Two other Dunlop teams - VRD Igol Experiences and Moto Ain - completed the top five, ensuring that four of the top five teams had chosen Dunlop tyres for the race. Dunlop success continued into the Superstock class, also covering four of the top five bikes, including Honda team National Motos in second.

The French outfit, with riders Enzo Boulom, Stephane Egea and Guillaume Antiga, won the Dunlop Independent Trophy for the second consecutive race, after also finishing as the highest-placed independent team running Dunlop tyres at the 24 Heures Motos last month.

David Auerbacher, Dunlop’s EWC Event Leader, said: “We’re really pleased with the results of so many of our partner teams today. To have four bikes in the top five of both classes is a great achievement, especially considering SRC Kawasaki, BMW and VRD Igol Experiences were all in serious contention for the win. Congratulations especially to SRC Kawasaki, who are now leading the championship. It’s unfortunate that they had an issue late in the race, because they could have been on course for their first win of 2021.

“The weather was hotter than expected, with track temperatures reaching as high as 52°C, but our range of tyres worked really well; especially the standard KR race slicks. It was clear to see that the teams felt comfortable on the hot asphalt, and were able to push throughout the race, even in the heat of the day. Now, we’re looking forward to even better results at the Bol d’Or in September.”


www.dunlop.eu/en_gb/motorcycle.html#/