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World Endurance Albacete: Pre-Race (updated regularly)
June 22, 2009 by admin
Filed under 2010 Race Calendar
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Amadeus X-One
The « 8 Horas Nocturnas of Albacete », third round of the Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship, will take place Saturday 4th of July in Spain on the 3539 meters of “La Torrecica” racetrack at Albacete, placed about half way between Valencia and Madrid. This race has the particularity to be held for the most at night. The start will be at 6 pm for an arrival estimated at 2 am.
The Team Amadeus X-One will contest the Spanish round after the splendid race at Oschersleben, but first of all the Italian team want to redeem by the unlucky race of last year.
Paolo Tessari had the happyness and the pride to finish under the chequered flag the German race: “The final moments at Oschersleben have been terrible; the track was flooded, the darkness quite complete, we couldn’t see not even the pit board. I’m sure that if I would fall in that moment, whe were in second place since the fourth hour, I wouldn’t return to the pit, I would bury myself directly in the escape lane. Then, after the finish flag during the whole lap I was crying and screaming in the helmet like crazy. It has been actually fantastic, Ayrton had a very fast start and when I saw our bike leading I had an hearth failure! Ayrton got on with the team and with the other riders immediately, and that made everythinh easier.
The team is by now a guarantee for the pit stop activity, the guys are between the most skilful of the whole World Championship arena; it’s very easy to lose some precious seconds during the pit stop, and then it’s very hard to recover the lost time, so a great part of the success is a merit of the team, because to work for 8, 10 or more hours without mistakes is not an easy thing. I’m confident that we’ll have a good result in Spain too, despite some bad reminiscences I like to race at Albacete, and behind the factory team we are in a group of 4-5 teams able to fight for the last place of the podium.”
Willy Gruy is more balanced as the “latin” Tessari in his words: “At Oschersleben has been fantastic, but we had also a bit of luck. Our biggest merit has been to be ready for exploit every favourable occasion. The worste moment has been when the engine died at the start of final qualifying. Paolo and Ayrton have not been able to practice and the bike has been ready just for my session, but with the old and tired engine. I’ve been fast enoug to lose just a couple of position on the starting grid. Then has been all OK, te safety of the team efficiency in the pit allowed us an easy ride, setting a good pace. At Albacete it wouldn’t be easy, but our morale is high and we’ll be able to fight with the top teams.”
The «rookie» Ayrton Badovini has been the hero of Oschersleben: “In Germany we had a bit of fortune, but we clearly merit it with a perfect racing behavior under the rain. The team welcomed me in a fantastic way and helped me to make my debut easy, so everything went in the best way. We had a small trouble with the gearbox, but riding with calme the bike didn’t gave us any trouble. I discovered that I like to ride in darkness, the show of the lights chasing each other drawing thousend of arabesques is exciting and at Albacete the race will be for the most time during the night. We have without any doubt the potential for a great race.”
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FIM
The « 8 Horas Nocturnas of Albacete », third round of the Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship, will take place Saturday 4th of July in Spain. This race that has the particularity to be held partly at night will start at 6 pm on the Spanish track, for an arrival estimated at 2 am. Yamaha Austria Racing Team, winner of the first two rounds at Le Mans and Oschersleben, is obviously the favorite for another victory at Albacete. On the Austrian Yamaha, Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Gwen Giabbani will have to defend their leadership against the best permanent teams.
Unlucky during the first two rounds, the French Honda Michelin Power Research Team still has the potential to be on its way to the podium. We’ll also have to count with the Spanish team Folch Endurance, who had been regularly on the podium of their home race. As a permanent team last year, the Yamaha Folch finished third of the 2008 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship, just behind Yamaha Austria. Even if Folch Endurance is not racing this year for the world title, they’ll be a serious contender for victory on their native soil.
Amongst the best team at the provisional championship standings, we can expect a close race from Suzuki RT Racing Team and Yamaha Amadeus X-One, as they both did a fantastic race last month at Oschersleben. Third last year at Albacete, the Kawasaki Bolliger Team Switzerland, as well as Honda RMT 21 Racing Team Germany, the Suzuki No Limits Motor Team and the Suzuki Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers will try to catch up with the leading group. So will do the Yamaha BK Maco Moto Racing Team, who is getting back Jason Pridmore after his Le Mans injury, and Suzuki AM Moto Racing, always able to surprise.
In the Superstock class, Qatar Endurance Racing Team remains the leader, but will be, as always, battling against Endurance Moto 45 and Team LTG 57 Zone Rouge. This event will also host the second round of the FIM Sidecar World Championship, with a race starting Saturday from 12.
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About FIM
FIM (WWW.FIM-LIVE.COM), the world governing body for motorcycle sport, is an independent association formed by 98 National Federations throughout the world. It is recognized as the sole competent authority in motorcycle sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Amongst its 49 FIM World Championships its main events are MotoGP, Superbike, Endurance, Motocross, Supercross, Trial, Enduro and Speedway. FIM also deals with non-sporting matters such as leisure motorcycling, mobility, transport, road safety and public policy and the environment, FIM was the first International sporting Federation to enforce an Environmental Code in 1994.
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