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2024 EWC 4th Round Bol d'Or 24h Final Sep 14th~15th Report


Sep 15th, 2024


So close yet so far. Race retired with just 4.5 hours to go.

Finally the day has arrived for the 2024 FIM EWC final round, Bol dO'r 24h. Team Étoile has retired from Le Man 24h earlier this year, so the goal for Bol dO'r is to finish the race and aim for the second position in the championship standing. 

Race started at 15:00 local time with Kazuki Watanabe onboard. Firing up the bike didn't go so smoothly at the start. We were already a couple second behind, but Kazuki has recovered all the delay by the end of the first stint, and Team Étoile were running fourth in SST class (12th overall). The rider lineup for the race was Kazuki Watanabe, Yudai Kamei, and Hikari Okubo. Due to the lack of practice session available for Shogo Kawasaki, he did not get to rider during the race. 

Aside from the one time Hikari had to come back to the pit earlier than expected due to the rear tire failure, everything went quite smootly. Team Étoile was running 2nd in SST class (7th overall) at the 5th hour, and 1st in SST class (6th overall) at the 11th hour. It was as if Team Étoile was going to win both the race and the championship. 

Situation has changed at the 19th hour. Yudai came back to the pit exexpected as he felt something strange on the bike. Mechanics worked on the bike quickly and sent Yudai back on track, but the bike stopped on track during his outlap. The bike was towed back to the pit. Mechanics did their best to investigate the issue and find a potential fix, but the damage was catastrophic. Team has decided to retire the race at 574th lap.

It is however important to remember that it was Team Étoile's first year in EWC, and yet we got a pole position at Spa, finished 2nd in SST class at Suzuka, and battle for the win at Bol dO'r 24h. How well done was it for Team Étoile? it must have surpassed everyone's expectation. 

2024 season ended with 5th in the SST championship standing. Team Étoile to aim for the series champion in 2025 season.

For everyone who supported Team Étoile this season, we would like to show appreciation to each and all of you, and please race with us again for the upcoming season. 



Rider Kazuki Watanabe

'It was quite windy and hot when the race started. We had a minor issue remaining from the Friday qualifying, and because there was no morning practice session before the race, we fully utilized the 15min sighting lap to make sure the bike was ok. The start did not go so well. I tried to recover as much as possible during the first lap but it was a bit risky. I touched other riders and went out wide at some points.'

'Despite how the start went, I'm happy about my first stint as I could recover all the lost position. The bike felt good for the rest of the race, so I was mainly focusing on managing the tire. The bike felt so good that I could not expect such failure at the end, so I was very disappointed to know that we had to retire. '

'It might be common at Bol dO'r to end the race like this due to the long straight, but still I felt that our bike was alright. I felt helpless, speechless, but it was well fought. But the fact that we were fighting for the series champion is amazing for a first-year team.'

'We only got a podium once at Suzuka this season, but I believe the potential of Team Étoile was proved to both ourselve and those who support us. We will come back stronger next year to fight for the series champion.'


Rider Yudai Kamei

'My pace wasn't the best at the beginning of the week, so I knew it was going to be important in terms of how much I could improve. At the end my pace was decent in all conditions, so I'm happy about that.'

'There was not a lot that we could do there to prevent the engine failure at the end, but still it leaves some regrets in my thought. We only look forward from here for the next year.'


Rider Hikari Okubo

'Looking back now, we had an engine failure on the qualifying 1 session, but after that the bike felt very well for the rest of the week. Very dissapointed for how we had to finish the race. We were so close.'

'I think we showed our potential, that's for sure. It's not so easy to do this well in EWC from the first year. Finishing the season in 5th is not bad at all, great start for Team Étoile. '


Rider Shogo Kawasaki

'I'm mainly dissapointed about myself. I was literally helpless as I could not ride because of my pace. I could have done more for the team if only my pace was better'

'Although I could not ride here at Bol dO'r, all the things that I experienced this year with Team Étoile both as a rider and as a staff are precious to me and I believe it'll help for my future self.'


Owner Takashi Ichikawa

 'I have two different ways to look back the season. Pole position at Spa, finished Suzuka at 2nd, and battling for the win and the series champion at Bol d'Or for the first year is unexpected. I can only thank the team.'

'On the other hand, I'm disappointed about how the engine failed with just four hours to go at Bol d'Or. Mixed feeling, 50% satisfied and 50% regret. I'm already focused for the 2025 season. We will go get the series championship.'


EWC 2024 Season Race Schedule

1st round: Le Man 24 hours (France, Le Man): Aprl 18th ~ 21st
2nd round: Spa 8 hours (Belgium, Spa Francorchamps): June 6th ~ 8th
3rd round: Coca Cola Suzuka 8 hours (Japan, Suzuka): July 18th ~ 21st
4th round: Bol d'Or 24 hours (France, Paul Ricard Circuit ): Sept 12th ~ 15th


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Copyright Team Étoile 2024
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