Dunlop Test Team wins 6 Heures Moto at Spa-Francorchamps

• Dunlop Test Team dominates 6 hour endurance race
• EWC riders Markus Reiterberger and Kenny Foray teammates for 6 Heures Moto
• Dunlop continues real-world race tyre testing programme

The Dunlop Test Team often tests the next generation of Dunlop race tyres in real-world racing conditions. On Saturday, the team with riders Markus Reiterberger and Kenny Foray claimed victory in the 6 Heures Moto at Spa-Francorchamps. 

The BMW M1000RR used the proven KR108 rear tyre, paired with a new development front tyre that is a development of the successful KR109. 

Reiterberger and Foray, who regularly compete with Dunlop tyres in the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC), set the tone early in the weekend by recording a new lap record of 2:22.188 to put the Dunlop Test Team on pole by over 1.2 seconds. From there, the pair led 119 of 129 laps throughout the six-hour endurance contest, including setting the race’s fastest lap, too. 

The second place finisher was the VRD IGOL Experiences Yamaha with Florian Marino, Nico Terol and James Westmoreland making it a Dunlop 1-2. The Yamaha used standard Dunlop tyres (KR109 front, KR108 rear), providing an interesting benchmark for the Test Team, finishing on the same lap as the winning BMW. Both Dunlop bikes finished over three laps clear of the first non-Dunlop team. 

Dunlop’s Motorsport Manager, Wim Van Achter, explained how this win helps tyre development: “We do extensive private testing and development, but entering our test bike in races allows us to evaluate the performance in the heat of a real race. Markus and Kenny pushed to the limit throughout the six hours and gave us valuable feedback and data.”

The BMW is one of several race specification bikes in Dunlop’s own Test Team fleet, which regularly operates at their Proving Grounds in Mireval, France. The learnings from the Test Team programme are applied to Dunlop’s race and hypersport range. Recently, Dunlop tyres were used in open competition to win five races at the Armoy Road Races and Dunlop partner team Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar leads the EWC standings.