The final event of the 2023 FIM Endurance World Championship took place over the weekend, the Bol d’Or 24-hour race at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France. The Slovak Yamaha Maco Racing Team, which has been a permanent part of the world championship for 21 years, also took part in it. He comes to the place with the goal of placing in the top 10 not only in this race, but also in the final ranking of the championship.
The team arrived at the legendary circuit on Monday, and the first free practice sessions were held on Tuesday. In them, the already well-known Enzo Boulom from France, the young 21-year-old Hungarian rider Bálint Kovács and, for the first time on this circuit, the excellent Martin Vugrinec from Croatia presented themselves on the team’s Yamaha R1.
After an excellent performance, the Slovak team finally won eighth place overall, which brought points for 6th place in the EWC class and third among private teams. It was also possible to meet the goal in the overall ranking of the championship, when the Maco Racing team finished in an excellent eighth place.
Martin Kuzma, team owner:
„It rained before the race and the track was wet, but the decision was made to go to the race on slicks. This decision turned out to be the right one and right after the first driver change we were already moving between 12th and 14th place. A great start, the strategy worked and gradually the advantage of smaller pit stops proved to be correct. Early morning we were already in the top 10.
The bike held up, the mechanics did a fantastic job, perfect tires changing and fast refueling during pit stops. In these parameters, we were also one of the fastest teams, and to top it all off, the riders rode balanced times without falls or complications. All of this what I said come together for us to leave France as the sixth team in our category, eighth overall and third in independent teams.
My big thanks go to the whole team, the competitors. Our Yamaha was the second fastest Yamaha after the motorcycle of the YART team, which won the world championship title together with the Czech racer Karel Hanika, for which I want to congratulate them as well.
We thank all our fans, partners and sponsors, Yamaha for their support and we look forward to next season.”
