Bol d’Or EWC podium for injured Fastre, says Tassels

Fastré, from Belgium, was seriously injured in a high-speed crash during practice for the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans in April and hasn’t raced since.

Following Honda-powered RAC41-Chromeburner’s victory at Circuit Paul Ricard earlier this month – its first in the EWC – Dutchman Tassels said: “I am really happy we took this win because at Le Mans Grégory Fastré, our team-mate, had an injury, which was pretty bad, and it’s also for him that we finally won and I’m happy to be on the podium here.

“For us [the Bol d’Or] was a really good race. The second part was quite difficult for me personally, but I was very happy that the bike worked well and also my colleagues Jonathan [Hardt] and Chris [Leesch] did a hell of a job, a really good job.”

Luxembourg rider Leesch added: “It was very nice to get this victory at the 100th anniversary of the Bol d’Or. We have been fighting for this for a long time, we scored some podiums and finally, we managed to get a victory. As usual, the Honda Fireblade worked very well around the year, we knew from last year. We were lucky to have a good bike that was up to the task and let us push until the end because the gap was very close when we got into the last stint. The bike was running the whole time, which is the most important thing in the endurance racing and very happy with the performance of the Fireblade this weekend.”

RAC41-Chromeburner claimed Superstock category honours in the Bol d’Or ahead of BMRT 3D Maxxess Nevers in a reversal of last season’s finishing positions with Pitlane Endurance taking third place. In addition to team regulars Chris Leesch and Wayne Tessels, RAC41-Chromeburner recruited Jonathan Hardt for the final round.

The Frenchman was part of the BMRT 3D Maxxess Nevers team that took top Bol d’Or Superstock honours in 2021 and his inclusion appeared to make the difference to the squad, which overcame a late scare when its Honda’s exhaust failed.

No Limits Motor Team, Falcon Racing, Énergie Endurance, JMA Racing Action Bike, Team 33 Louit April Moto, ADSS 97, Team Aviobike, Team 202 and TRT 27 Bazar 2 La Bécane all finished but there was disappointment for Team LH Racing, National Motos Honda and 3ART Best of Bike.

OG Motorsport by Sarazin led until Alex Plancassagne crashed just before 02h50 to bring out the safety car while trackside barriers were repaired, while late mechanical issues denied Wójcik Racing Team’s pole-setting Superstock squad a class podium nearing the finish.

Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers CMS Motostore took the FIM Endurance World Cup title despite dropping out of contention for victory with a mechanical failure, which took several hours to rectify and left the squad in P17 at the finish.

L’article Bol d’Or EWC podium for injured Fastre, says Tassels est apparu en premier sur FIM EWC | Endurance World Championship.

Read the original article on Fimewc.com