30
August
2016
|
07:27 AM
Europe/Amsterdam

Dunlop Claims 16th FIM Endurance World Championship Title With Suzuki

  • GMT94 Yamaha take Oschersleben race victory
  • Lucas Mahias crowned World Champion rider

The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) finished the 8 Hours of Oschersleben race in second place, taking enough points to win the 2016 title, the squad’s 15th time as World Champions. It is the eleventh title won by the SERT/Dunlop combination and Dunlop’s 16th  title since 1994.

It was GMT94 Yamaha that won the race by just 21 seconds after eight hours of racing and eight pit-stops. The Yamaha outfit was the only team to win more than one event in the season but it wasn’t quite enough to top the points table, instead finishing second by just one point.

The German race was a close-fought battle, with the last two hours a sprint race between the top-two. With 45 minutes remaining the Suzuki and Yamaha pair were separated by less than 0.5 seconds, with lap after lap of similar lap times, despite SERT only needing to finish in second place for the title. Dunlop-shod privateer Team April Moto Motors Events had begun the race leading the standings but an early crash made it to difficult to score enough points to lift the trophy, instead finishing the series in third. Honda Endurance Racing crossed the line in fourth, securing fourth in the championship and making an all-Dunlop top four in the series.

Lucas Mahias became the 2016 World Champion rider. He raced with R2CL at Le Mans, finishing third, before joining GMT94 Yamaha for the remainder of the season where he scored points for the two wins in Portugal and Germany and a Suzuka finish. All his points were scored on Dunlop tyres.

Starteam PAM-Racing won the Oschersleben top prize for the Dunlop Independent Trophy of €10,000 after finishing second in the Superstock class. The team was followed across the line by Tati Team Beaujolais Racing and AM Moto Racing Competition who also claimed Dunlop Independent Trophy prize money.

Roland Wozniak, International Event Manager, Dunlop Motorsport

“After 52 hours of racing for the title it was incredible to see such a battle in the last hour. The hot track conditions really suited our new soft compound here and it worked perfectly. We must thank all of our teams for some great racing this season. With the new season beginning in September we do not have too long to wait for more. SERT and GMT94 Yamaha’s close finish today, and their close finish in terms of points shows how strong this series is. It is this competition that drives us to develop better tyres each year and we look forward to beginning the fight for our next championship at the Bol d’Or next month.”

More information at Dunlop.eu

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