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YART Yamaha Wins Inaugural 8 Hours of Sepang FIM EWC Race

The YART Yamaha team took the win at the inaugural 8 Hours of Sepang FIM EWC Race.
It was a nerve-wracking, exciting, drama-filled race.
The weather made things even more interesting.

The YART Yamaha team took the win at the inaugural 8 Hours of Sepang FIM EWC race.

The team fought through nerves and drama throughout the entire day to come home one lap ahead of the rest of the field. Niccolo Canepa was the only rider out of the team’s three who went out on track. Their strategy of fielding the fastest rider in the tricky conditions bore fruit despite an early electronics failure scare.

Rain had begun just as the grid formed up and it suddenly became heavier and heavier prior to the start. Race Direction sent the riders out for their second sighting lap but the rain soon became a downpour, forcing the first race suspension.

Team managers were then summoned to the briefing room at 1.15 pm and they decided to wait out the rain. Meanwhile, the clock continued to tick down from the planned 8 hours, as per the championship rules.

The rain started to abate by 2.30 pm, prompting Race Direction to issue the order to open the pitlane for 2 minutes from 3.05 pm. It set the paddock in a frenzy of activity.

The riders left their respective pits and followed behind the Safety Car. But the rain came down again and the race was again suspended after completing 8 laps behind the Safety Car.

Another meeting was called at 5.00 pm to determine the direction of the race. By now, there were only 4 hours left to race. The decision was made to go out, with many team managers stating that they’ve already spent so much to come this far.

The restart began at 6.00 pm, with 3 hours left. The famous “Le Mans start” i.e. the riders running to their parked bikes was abandoned and the field had a rolling start behind the Safety Car.

Honda Asia-Dream Racing Team with Showa would eventually finish 2nd

The expected battle between the pole sitter Yamaha Sepang Racing Team and Honda Asia-Dream Racing didn’t materialize. Instead, it was F.C.C. TSR Honda rider Mike di Meglio who bought an exciting duel with Yamaha Sepang Racing Team’s Michael Van Der Mark.

The two began trading positions and their battle saw lap times that no other rider could match. it began to look like it was the last five laps of a WorldSBK race. It was a thrill for the spectators to watch, especially since the YSRT outfit is the home team.

On Lap 12, Van Der Mark outbrake and pass di Meglio into Turn 15. But the former drifted slightly wide and di Meglio decided to jump into the tiny gap. As Van Der Mark tried to tighten his line, he was surprised to find di Meglio front wheel beside him, forcing him to lift his bike. di Meglio looked to have been surprised himself and slid his Honda’s front wheel into Van Der Mark’s rear wheel, knocking both down. Both riders remounted their bikes, but it was Van Der Mark’s which suffered the most damage.

As an illustration of just how far the warring duo was in front of the pack, di Meglio actually rejoined the race still in 1^st place.

BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team – the eventual 3rd place finisher

Van Der Mark managed to get his crippled bike back to his pits, where the YART crew flew into action to repair it. The did so in 6m 25 seconds and sent Van Der Mark back out in 40^th position.

Meanwhile, di Meglio continued his demolition of the field. But with just 40 minutes to go, he binned it in Turn 5, heavily damaging his bike. The team would eventually finish in 21^st position.

The three eventual podium finishers had ridden to conservative strategies and keeping themselves out of trouble. YART emerged as the leader after the first round of pitstops, while Honda Asia-Dream Racing and BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team settled into second and third after the second round of stops.

It was certainly a great win for YART after a nerve-wrecking day, but it was also the same for all other teams and even the spectators who had to endure long periods of inactivity.

The Honda team was especially elated after Zahqwan Zaidi’s fiery crash in the morning.

The BMW Motorrad team scored their second podium of the season. It’s a great beginning considering that this is their first season and the Sepang race was only their second.

Franco Morbidelli took over from Van Der Mark after the first pitstop and fought his was up the order to finish 7^th, one spot above BMW SIC team. The F.C.C. TSR outfit finished 21st.

There was plenty of drama throughout the race, especially after it got dark. The track may appear to be drying, but wet spots caught out many riders.

Malaysian MotoGP Theft Case Solved

The Malaysian MotoGP theft case is now solved.
Six suspects were arrested.
Some of the items were sold to motorcycle owners who modified their bikes.

The Malaysian MotoGP theft case is now solved.

The Royal Malaysian Police arrested a number of individuals in raids in the vicinity of Sepang and Bangi. All six individuals are Malaysians, aged around 23 years old.

Chief of Police for the Kuala Lumpur International Airport District, Assistant Commissioner Zulkifli Adamsah told the press, “We made a series of arrests and raids between 3^rd November to 12^th December. Among the items recovered were four bags of different brands, 26 brake units, seven spanners, three dampers, two handle grips, two tyre warmers, two team black jackets, fourteen screws, six bottles of brake fluid, in addition to other items.”

“Initial investigations showed that one of the suspects owns a motorcycle workshop. He sells the stolen parts to motorcycle owners who want to modify their bikes.” The items were sold below market price. “For example, a brake caliper was sold for RM 600 when its real price could cost up to RM 1,000. Some of the loot were already installed on the suspect’s bike.” (We don’t know if it’s a typo in the press report or the police were misinformed: If a Brembo caliper for stock bike costs RM 3,000 to RM 4,000, it’s substantially more for a racing item. – Editor)

Two of the suspects has records for motorcycle theft and tested positive for methamphetamines. “Among the suspects were part-time workers who had access passes to the SIC area.

The theft occurred on 1^st November 2019, involving five to six Moto2 and Moto3 teams, but it was the Angel Nieto team which suffered the most losses.

Source: Harian Metro

2020 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade Previewed in Malaysia!

Honda gave an exclusive preview of the 2020 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade today.
The new bike is set to spearhead Honda’s challenge in production racing.
To rehash, it produces 215 hp and 113 Nm of torque.

Boon Siew Honda gave an exclusive preview of the 2020 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade today. The event is in conjunction with the 8 Hours of Sepang FIM Endurance World (FIM EWC) Championship round and announcement of the Honda Asia-Dream Racing team.

Designed to spearhead Honda’s assault in the WorldSBK, Endurance World Championship, and all other race series the world over, the 2020 bike is all-new.

Honda doesn’t like getting beaten. As such, it was designed and developed hand-in-hand with the Honda Racing Corporation (HRC).

Since production racing means that the bikes must not deviate much from er… production bikes, the road bikes have to be built to incorporate whatever “race winning” technology the manufacturer can cram in.

First and foremost, it’s a great departure from the road-friendly character of the CBR900RR all the way up to the 2019 CBR1000RR. Honda had specifically made it clear that this Triple-R is “track focused.”

To retouch, the new 999cc inline-Four shares the same 81 mm x 48.5 mm bore and stroke of the RC213V-S. That’s a 5.0 mm overbore and 6.5 mm understroke compared to the 76 mm x 55 mm architecture. This was done in the interest for more top-end power, something which Honda WorldSBK and EWC riders complained about lacking in the older model.

Other changes include DLC-coated camshafts that actuate finger-followers compared to the previous shim-under-bucket set up. Honda claims that this reduces drivetrain friction by 35% and inertial weight by a whopping 75%. A timing gear on the crankshaft turns the camchain, hence camshafts in the opposite direction of the crankshaft in order to reduce inertia.

The new connecting rods are titanium, halving the weight of the old chromoly steel ones. New forged pistons are made from another type of aluminium alloy that are 5% lighter. The piston skirt is coated with Ober while the pin clip grooves are coated with nickel-phosphorous.

There are other changes as well, in fact too many to list. But all these changes and new stuff lets the engine liberate 215 hp at 14,500 RPM and 113 Nm of torque at 12,500 RPM.

Please go to this article for more technical details: 2020 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade Debuts

Honda’s test riders are currently hard at work in adapting the bike to WorldSBK and EWC duties.

There are two models, of course – one base and the high-spec’ed SP version. No news yet of when it’ll be available in Malaysia, but we expect it to be officially launched something between May to August 2020.

Syahrin, Morbidelli, Van Der Mark, Yamaha Sepang Racing Team on Pole Position for 8 Hours of Sepang

The Yamaha Sepang Racing Team will start from pole position at the 8 Hours of Sepang inaugural FIM Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC) race.
Riders are Hafizh Syahrin, Franco Morbidelli and Michael Van Der Mark.
The race starts at 1pm tomorrow.

The Yamaha Sepang Racing Team will start from pole position at the 8 Hours of Sepang inaugural FIM Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC) race. The team consists of riders Hafizh Syahrin, Franco Morbidelli and Michael Van Der Mark. Syahrin and Morbidelli are MotoGP riders, while van der Mark rides for the factory Yamaha WorldSBK outfit. The team’s #21 Yamaha YZF-R1 is prepared by YART and shod with Bridgestone tyres. They are competing in the premier Formula EWC class.

Morbidelli on the #21 Yamaha YZF-R1. Photo credit FIM EWC

Such a great means the team is poised to gain victory in their “home” race. A win would make up for Morbidelli’s disappointment of finishing in 5^th after qualifying second fastest in the Malaysian MotoGP. Besides that, it’ll be a great confidence boost for Hafizh Syahrin as well after being dropped by the Red Bull KTM Racing Tech 3 MotoGP team for 2020.

Hafizh Syahrin and Morbidelli in the pits. Photo credit FIM EWC

The second qualifying session started at 7pm yesterday. The FIM EWC uses combined qualifying times to determine the grid positions. The 10 fastest goes through to the Top 10 Trial shootout, which is like the Superpole format. The teams then put forth their fastest rider for a single flying lap to determine grid positions 1^st through 10^th.

Thailand’s Somkiat Chantra of Honda Asia Dream Racing set the gauntlet by posting an eye-popping time of 2m 05.440s. That took the team from 9^th to 1^st. One of Somkiat’s teammate is Malaysia rider Zaqhwan Zaidi who took part in the Suzuka 8 Hours in July.

But Morbidelli, the current MotoGP rider for the Yamaha Sepang Racing Team struck back with a 2m 04.647s lap. The Italian’s effort was a valiant fight given an early crash.

Qualifying third was the F.C.C. TSR Honda France team, who were previous champions in the series.

The BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team did well again to qualify in 4^th. Remember, this is only their first season in the FIM EWC since 2015.

By contrast, the championship leading Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) ended qualifying in 11^th.

Read: Up close with the BMW S 1000 RR FIM EWC race bike

The Superstock class saw titanic battles for the starting grid up and down the field. In end, it was the Japanese team Tone RT Syncedge 4413 BMW who prevailed, just beating out French based Moto Ain. The former was team were the fastest at the Suzuka 8 Hour, while the latter was last season’s FIM Endurance World Cup winner.

The race starts at 1pm on Saturday. Be there!

Read: 10 Points about the FIM Endurance World Championship and 8 Hours of Sepang

Mahindra CEO Says Company’s Motorcycle Business a “Product Failure”

Mahindra & Mahindra CEO Anand Mahindra recently called his company’s motorcycle business a “product failure.”
He also said that the company should’ve never gotten into the motorcycle business.
This is despite owning classic brands like Jawa, BSA and Yezdi.

Indian automotive conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra CEO Anand Mahindra recently called his company’s motorcycle business a “product failure.”

“We knew our dream well and we had the right things, but how to win is where we went wrong. We should have never gone to the commuter bike side.”

While it isn’t shocking about the revelation, such a public outburst by a company’s CEO was certainly so.

But wait, Mahindra makes motorcycles, too? Yes, they do, however under a subsidiary called Classic Legends. And Classic Legends has since bought the Jawa, Yezdi and BSA classic brands.

The company had relaunched the Jawa brand late last year, but many customers have yet to receive their bikes. The manufacturer tried to talk its way out by quoting the “cult desirability” of the brand. What’s that got to do with the long wait times, we wonder.

Analysts are calling out Mahindra for their lack of direction and seem to be throwing out ideas helter-skelter in the hopes they at the public will buy into. But when they do bite, like in the case of Jawa, the company balks in producing the bikes.

Anand even boasted about the bikes being sold out until September 2019.

If that’s not enough, nothing has been done so far for the iconic BSA brand since its purchase in 2017(!).

Is it surprising then to see that Mahindra sold only 4,004 bikes in the entire FY19?

Up Close with the BMW S 1000 RR FIM Endurance World Championship (FEWC) Racer

We were given access to the BMW Motorrad FIM Endurance World Championship Team’s pit.
There we saw the BMW S 1000 RR endurance racer.
The 8 Hours of Sepang FEWC race is happening this weekend.

BMW Motorrad announced that the new BMW S 1000 RR will be entered in the FIM Endurance World Championship last year, just prior to the start of the 2019-2020 season.

The decision seemed to have justified itself when the team finished third overall in the season opener at the 24-hour Bol D’or race in France.

We’ve published an article on some of the technical rules for the FEWC, but of course, who wouldn’t want to see the bikes up close? Well, we were given access to the team’s pits and bikes, thanks to BMW Motorrad Malaysia.

Read: 10 Points About the FIM Endurance World Championship and 8 Hours of Sepang

First of all, we were surprised how “open” all the teams were in FEWC. There was no giant separators to hide the insides of the pits, bike parts were in the open, riders walked about nonchalantly without being mobbed.

Walking into the BMW pit, there were fuel tanks on top of a transport case. These tanks feature extensions underneath and to the rear. The rear portion is placed under the rider’s seat. A 24-litre capacity is allowed in FEWC so the teams need extra space to store all that fuel.

But sitting right there in the middle was a stripped out 2019 BMW S 1000 RR. It was sitting on paddock stands without its wheels, seat cover and fuel tank.

Since refuelling need to be lightning quick, all teams use the dry break refuelling system. There are those with two couplings, the rest are with single couplings. Why two holes? Air from the tank exits through one hole while fuel flows through another. Doing this speeds up the fueling process.

Team manager Werner Daemen greeted us and went on to explain about the bike. (Greeted by a team boss? Never happened in MotoGP.)

There are pitstops for fuel, tyres and rider change (and also crashes). As such, every attachment on the bike is made for quick release. Both wheel axles/spindles needed only three turns to be extracted. Consequently, tyre swaps take only 3 seconds!

The footrests, foot pedals, clip-ons and levers are also quick release systems. Their cable and hose attachments have quick-release couplings that can be twisted on and off.

Looking at the handlebar, there’s a button which says “START.” Yes, the bike’s starter is in place. That’s because riders will line their bikes on one side of the track, then run over from the opposite side. They then have to start their bikes and get going. This endurance tradition lives one.

Daemen pointed out the brakes. The team uses Nissin brakes instead of the usual Brembo. We’ll leave the good/bad arguments to the riders but it shows that there’s room for other manufacturers to shine in the FEWC.

We noticed the gorgeous swingarm. A closer inspection showed that it’s made by Suter, who were once involved in Moto2 racing.

Suter also makes the swingarm for the BMW S 1000 RR HP4 Race, but the swingarms on these race bikes were custom made.

We walked over to the other two bikes. One was crashed yesterday and the rider suffered some shoulder injuries.

Here, we could look right into the engine compartment. The huge airbox was still attached and the ECU sits atop it. The ECU is available to BMW customers who wish to race in endurance. However, instead of unlocking more of the engine’s power, it’s programmed to provide better fuel efficiency and engine reliability. Endurance racing is about strategy and who can be the fastest on a consistent basis, rather than an all-out horsepower battle like in MotoGP.

The rep explained that the riders love the new BMW S 1000 RR engine as it produces a lot of midrange torque. He says that this is due to the BMW ShiftCam variable valve timing/lift system.

It’s this midrange grunt that propels the bike and rider out of corners, not top-end horsepower. If you look at SIC’s layout, there are only two areas that require high horsepower i.e. the rear and front straights, while the rest are made up of short “chutes” leading into other corners. In fact, the torque helps the bike to build speed much quicker when exiting corners, translating to higher speeds down the straights. Remember our article?

Read: Torque vs. Horsepower: What’s the Difference

It has to be said here that the FEWC is a production-based series. That means the racebike must be essentially be the same as the homologation street bike. It also means that the engine architecture and capacity; frame design and material must be exactly be the same.

The FIM scrutineered the bikes and stamped the parts such as the frame.

As we mentioned before, the FEWC is where a proper tyre war takes place. This is where Dunlop, Bridgestone and Pirelli duke it out to produce the best tyres in terms of grip and durability.

The overall objective of all these rules is to encourage manufacturers to produce bikes and products that the buying public can benefit from.

The second round of the season is now in Malaysia at the Sepang International Circuit. Called the 8 Hours of Sepang, the race will play the role as the qualifier for the Suzuka 8 Hour season-finale for “part-time” teams. It means that these teams will compete alongside the regular teams of the FEWC.

So do make your way over to the Sepang International Circuit for this grand event. More details on the SIC webpage.

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Latest News

The YART Yamaha team took the win at the inaugural 8 Hours of Sepang FIM EWC Race.

It was a nerve-wracking, exciting, drama-filled race.

The weather made things even more interesting.

The Malaysian MotoGP theft case is now solved.

Six suspects were arrested.

Some of the items were sold to motorcycle owners who modified their bikes.

Honda gave an exclusive preview of the 2020 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade today.

The new bike is set to spearhead Honda’s challenge in production racing.

To rehash, it produces 215 hp and 113 Nm of torque.

The Yamaha Sepang Racing Team will start from pole position at the 8 Hours of Sepang inaugural FIM Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC) race.

Riders are Hafizh Syahrin, Franco Morbidelli and Michael Van Der Mark.

The race starts at 1pm tomorrow.

Mahindra & Mahindra CEO Anand Mahindra recently called his company’s motorcycle business a “product failure.”

He also said that the company should’ve never gotten into the motorcycle business.

This is despite owning classic brands like Jawa, BSA and Yezdi.

We were given access to the BMW Motorrad FIM Endurance World Championship Team’s pit.

There we saw the BMW S 1000 RR endurance racer.

The 8 Hours of Sepang FEWC race is happening this weekend.

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