Bridgestone on the podium at Oschersleben

In another thrilling duel between two R1 Yamaha machines, the Bridgestone-equipped YART Yamaha Official EWC Team finished a close runner-up at the 8 Hours of Oschersleben in Germany on May 20.

YART on Bridgestone completed 318 laps less than 31 seconds behind its fellow factory-backed Yamaha team, and 3 laps ahead of the rest of the field.

With a second consecutive podium finish since Bridgestone entered Endurance World Championship racing – 2nd place at 24 Hours of Le Mans Moto on 15-16 April and now 2nd at 8 Hours of Oschersleben – the YART team on Bridgestone has shot up the EWC team standings from 13th place to 4th, with two big races still to come this season.

Mandy Kainz, Team Manager at YART Yamaha Official EWC Team commented: “We showed again at Oschersleben that with Bridgestone tyres we have the pace, durability and consistency to compete right at the top of endurance racing. We will be working hard to improve performance even more before the next big challenge at the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring on 24 June”. 

Bridgestone’s other team partner in the FIM EWC series – F.C.C. TSR Honda – also impressed at Oschersleben, finishing 5th after starting from the bottom of the pack due to a puncture.

Bridgestone, the world’s largest tyre and rubber company, announced its return to top-tier motorcycle racing in February 2017, with its decision to supply two teams in the prestigious FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) series; Austrian-based YART Yamaha Official EWC Team, and the F.C.C. TSR Honda team.

The FIM EWC is a worldwide championship competition consisting of five races; two in France and the remaining three in Germany, Slovakia and Japan. The 8 Hours of Oschersleben is the third race of the current season that began in September 2016 and will end with the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race at Japan’s Suzuka Circuit on 30 July 2017.