FIM Endurance World Championship explained

FIM Endurance World Championship
Inaugural:1960
Category:Motorcycle racing
Region:International
Constructors:Suzuki, Yamaha, BMW, Honda, Kawasaki
Tyres:Dunlop, Pirelli, Bridgestone
Champion Rider: Niccolò Canepa
Marvin Fritz
Karel Hanika
Champion Team: YART Yamaha
Current Season: FIM Endurance World Championship

The Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC) is the premier worldwide endurance championship in motorcycle road racing. The championship season consists of a series of endurance races (with a duration of six, eight, twelve or twenty-four hours) held on permanent racing facilities. The results of each race are combined to determine three World Championships – riders, teams and manufacturers.

Until 2016, the championship was held on a yearly basis, but in order to take advantage of the winter break in MotoGP and WorldSBK season, since September 2016 it runs from September to July, with the European races held in September, and then spring and summer of the next year.[1] Scheduling arrangements for the 2020 and 2021 COVID-19 years were different.

History

The long-distance races appeared almost at the same time of the invention of the internal combustion engine at the end of the 19th century, with races being held between major cities such as Paris-Rouen in 1894, Paris-Bordeaux, Paris-Madrid and others. In those years cars and motos raced together, competing for speed (fastest time) or regularity (achieving a certain objective time). These races on open roads were very dangerous, and the successive fatal tragedies (such as 1903 Paris-Madrid) move the race to roads closed to normal traffic (before the creation of real racing circuits) led to the separation of cars and motos, and the long-distance races turning into rallies.

The Bol d'Or (most famous and prestigious Endurance race) was held for the first time in 1922 on the circuit of Vaujours, near Paris (a beaten-earth road circuit used since 1888 for 24-hour competitions for bicycles).Other endurance races were created after World War II, such as 24 Hour Race in Warsage (Belgium) in 1951, the 500 Miles of Thruxton in 1955, the 24 Hours of Montjuich in Barcelona in 1957, and the 24 hours of Monza (Italy) in 1959.. At the beginning, most races were held over 24 Hours, but soon shorter races were introduced, defined in terms either of distance (500 Miles, 1000 Miles, and much later even 200 Miles) or of time (12 Hours, 8 Hours or 6 Hours).[2]

The series was founded in 1960 as the FIM Endurance Cup.[3] Initially it was made up of four races: Thruxton 500, 24 hours of Montjuïc, 24 hours of Warsage and the Bol d'Or.

The Bol d'Or was not held between 1961 and 1968, while the 1000 km of Paris was held twice on the circuit of Montlhéry. In the first decade, the FIM EC races were held essentially in Great Britain, Italy and Spain – the three countries with more riders

In 1976 the FIM Endurance Cup became the European Championship and in 1980 a World Championship. During the 1980s the Endurance World Championship calendar numbered up to ten events. The championship's popularity gradually declined and the calendar was gradually reduced to just the four so-called "classics": 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Liège (held in Spa-Francorchamps), 8 Hours Of Suzuka, and the Bol d'Or (held mostly on Paul Ricard or Magny-Cours).

In 1989 and 1990 the Championship went back to a World Cup status, as the number of events required by the FIM Sporting Code was not reached.

The 4 events championship (with 24 Hours of Liège being replaced by other races) in the same year was maintained until 2016. In 2015 FIM and the pan-European television sports network, Eurosport signed a deal for the promotion and coverage of the competition. With this, the organization re-ordered the events, in order to the new championship starting in September and finishing in July, with the European races being held during the winter avoiding the MotoGP and Superbikes schedules.

Races

RaceCircuit
Bol d'Or Circuit Paul Ricard
Sepang 8 Hours Sepang International Circuit
24 Heures du Mans Moto Le Mans
8 Hours of Slovakia Ring Slovakia Ring
8 Hours of Oschersleben Oschersleben
12 Hours of Estoril Estoril
Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Suzuka 8 Hours Suzuka
8 Hours of Spa EWC Motos Spa-Francorchamps

World champions

[4] [5]

1980–1988, 1991–presentWorld Championship
1989–1990World Cup
YearWinning ridersWinning bike2nd place riders2nd place bike3rd place riders3rd place bike
1980 Marc Fontan
Hervé Moineau
Honda Christian HuguetKawasaki Helmut DähneHonda
1981 Jean Lafond
Raymond Roche
Kawasaki Christian HuguetKawasaki Jean-Claude ChemarinKawasaki
1982 Jean-Claude Chemarin
Jacques Cornu
Kawasaki Hervé Guilleux
Jean Lafond
Kawasaki Johan van der WalHonda
1983 Richard Hubin
Hervé Moineau
Suzuki GS series Patrick Igoa
Jean Lafond
Kawasaki Jacques CornuKawasaki
1984 Gerard Coudray
Patrick Igoa
Honda RVF750 Guy Bertin
Dominique Sarron
Honda Patrick de Radigues
Jean-Pierre Oudin
Suzuki
1985 Gerard Coudray
Patrick Igoa
Honda RVF750 Jean-Pierre OudinSuzuki Patrick de RadiguesSuzuki
1986 Patrick IgoaHonda RVF750 Alex VieiraHonda Gérard CoudrayHonda
1987 Hervé Moineau
Bruno Le Bihan
Suzuki Johan van VaerenberghKawasaki Eric de DonkerKawasaki
1988 Hervé Moineau
Thierry Crine
Suzuki Alex Vieira
Christophe Boubehin
Honda Bruno le BihanSuzuki
1989 Alex VieiraHonda RVF750 Roger BurnettHonda Jean-Michel MattioliHonda
1990 Alex VieiraHonda Jean-Michel Mattioli
Stéphane Mertens
Honda Miguel DuhamelSuzuki
1991 Alex VieiraKawasaki Jean-Louis BattistiniKawasaki Rachel Nicotte
Pierre Monneret
Yamaha
1992 Terry Rymer
Carl Fogarty
Kawasaki Michel GrazianoSuzuki Jéhan d'OrgeixKawasaki
1993 Doug TolandKawasaki Ninja ZX-7RR and Honda RC30 Brian Morrison
Wilfried Veille
Kawasaki Simon Buckmaster
Steve Manley
Kawasaki
1994 Adrien MorillasKawasaki Bruno Bonhuil
Philippe Monneret
Juan-Éric Gomez
Suzuki Jean-Louis BattistiniKawasaki
1995 Stéphane Mertens
Jean-Michel Mattioli
Honda RC45 Terry RymerKawasaki Bruno BonhuilKawasaki
1996 Brian MorrisonKawasaki Alex Vieira
William Costes
Christian Lavieille
Honda Piergiorgio BontempiKawasaki
1997 Peter Goddard
Doug Polen
Suzuki Juan-Éric GomezSuzuki Christian Lavieille
William Costes
Honda
1998 Doug Polen
Christian Lavieille
Honda RC45 Bertrand SebileauKawasaki William CostesHonda
1999 Terry Rymer
Jéhan d'Orgeix
Suzuki Christian LavieilleSuzuki Bruno BonhuilSuzuki
2000 Peter Lindén
Warwick Nowland
Suzuki Stéphane MertensSuzuki Nicolas Dussauge
Christophe Guyot
Sébastien Scamato
Kawasaki
YearWinning TeamPointsWinning BikeWinning Riders2nd2nd riders3rd3rd riders
2001 WIM Motors Racing182 Honda RC51 Albert Aerts
Laurent Naveau
Heinz Platacis
Free Bike Performance Matthieu Lagrive
Eric Mizera
Bertrand Sibileau
Cyril Fernandez
Honda Elf Fabien Foret
Sébastien Gimbert
William Costes
Sébastien Charpentier
2002 Zongshen 2123 Warwick Nowland
Stephane Mertens
Igor Jerman
Giovanni Bussei
Zongshen 9 Bruno Bonhuil
Pierrot Lerat Vanstaen
Igor Jerman
GMT 94 Sebastien Scarnato
Christophe Guyot
William Costes
2003 Suzuki GB - Phase One143 James Ellison
Jason Pridmore
Andy Notman
Dean Ellison
Josh Hayes
Olivier Four
Jimmy Lindstrom
Zongshen 1 Warwick Nowland
Stéphane Mertens
Igor Jerman
GMT 94 Christophe Guyot
William Costes
Sébastien Gimbert
Sebastien Scarnato
David Checa
2004 Yamaha - GMT 94169 Yamaha YZF-R1 David Checa
William Costes
Sebastien Gimbert
Christophe Guyot
Suzuki Castrol Olivier Four
Vincent Philippe
Matthieu Lagrive
Endurance Moto 38 Fréderic Jond
Gwen Giabbani
Stéphane Duterne
2005 Suzuki Castrol134 Keiichi Kitagawa
Vincent Philippe
Matthieu Lagrive
Bolliger Team Marcel Kellenberger
David Morillon
Yamaha Austrian Racing Team Gwen Giabbani
Igor Jerman
2006 Suzuki Castrol185 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Keiichi Kitagawa
Matthieu Lagrive
Vincent Philippe
Yamaha Austrian Racing Team Sébastien Scamato
Gwen Giabbani
Igor Jerman
Phase One Warwick Nowland
Damian Cudlin
Christer Miinin
2007 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team165 Suzuki GSX-R1000Matthieu Lagrive
Vincent Philippe
Julien Da Costa
Team Kawasaki FranceGwen Giabbani
Julián Mazuecos
Steve Parker
Yamaha Austrian Racing TeamIgor Jerman
Sébastien Scamato
Damian Cudlin
2008 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team109 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Julien Da Costa
Vincent Philippe
Matthieu Lagrive
Guillaume Dietrich
Yamaha Austrian Endurance Team Igor Jerman
Steve Martin
Steve Plater
Gwen Giabbani
Folch Endurance Daniel Ribalta
Pedro Vallcaneras
Felipe López
David Tomás
José Rita
2009 Yamaha Austria Racing Team145 Yamaha YZF-R1 Gwen Giabbani
Igor Jerman
Steve Martin
Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers Stéphane Molinier
David Briére
Jérome Tangre
Bolliger Team Horst Saiger
Patric Muff
Rico Penzkofer
Éric Mizera
2010 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team133 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Vincent Philippe
Freddy Foray
Sylvain Guintoli
Guillaume Dietrich
Daisaku Sakai
Bolliger Team Horst Saiger
Roman Stamm
Patric Muff
Frederic Chabosseau
Yamaha Austria Endurance Team Gwen Giabbani
Igor Jerman
Steve Martin
2011 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team109 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Vincent Philippe
Freddy Foray
Daisaku Sakai
Baptiste Guittet
BMW Motorad France Sébastien Gimbert
Erwan Nigon
Damian Cudlin
Hugo Marchand
GMT 94 Kenny Foray
Matthieu Lagrive
David Checa
2012 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team128 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Anthony Delhalle
Vincent Philippe
Freddy Foray
Yukio Kagayama
Takuya Tsuda
BMW Motorad France Sébastien Gimbert
Erwan Nigon
Damian Cudlin
GMT 94 Kenny Foray
Mathieu Lagrive
Gwen Giabbani
David Checa
2013 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team93 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Anthony Delhalle
Vincent Philippe
Julien Da Costa
Alexander Cudlin
GMT 94 David Checa
Kenny Foray
Matthieu Lagrive
Maxime Berger
SRC Kawasaki Grégory Leblanc
Loris Baz
Jérémy Guarnoni
Nicolas Salchaud
Fabien Foret
2014 Yamaha Racing - GMT 94 - Michelin141 Yamaha YZF-R1 David Checa
Mathieu Gines
Kenny Foray
Suzuki Endurance Racing Team Anthony Delhalle
Erwan Nigon
Vincent Philippe
Damian Cudlin
Team Bolliger #8 Horst Saiger
Daniel Sutter
Roman Stamm
Marc Wildesen
2015 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team154 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Anthony Delhalle
Etienne Masson
Vincent Philippe
GMT 94 David Checa
Kenny Foray
Mathieu Gines
SRC Kawasaki Grégory LeBlanc
Mathieu Lagrive
Fabien Foret
2016 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team88 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Anthony Delhalle
Etienne Masson
Vincent Philippe
GMT 94 David Checa
Niccolo Canepa
Lucas Mahias
April Moto Motors Event Grégory Fastré
Gregg Black
Alexander Cudlin
2016–17 GMT94 Yamaha146 Yamaha YZF-R1 Niccolò Canepa
David Checa
Mike Di Meglio
Lucas Mahias
Suzuki Endurance Racing Team Anthony Delhalle
Vincent Philippe
Etienne Masson
Alexander Cudlin
Sodo Hamahara
Yamaha Austria Racing Team Broc Parkes
Iván Silva
Marvin Fritz
Kohta Nozane
2017–18 F.C.C. TSR Honda France171,5 Honda CBR1000RR Joshua Hook
Alan Techer
Freddy Foray
GMT 94 David Checa
Niccolo Canepa
Mike Di Meglio
Honda Endurance Racing Julien Da Costa
Sébastien Gimbert
Erwan Nigon
Yonny Hernández
2018–19 Team SRC Kawasaki France145,5 Kawasaki ZX-10R Jérémy Guarnoni
David Checa
Erwan Nigon
Randy de Puniet
F.C.C TSR Honda Freddy Foray
Josh Hook
Mike Di Meglio
Suzuki Endurance Racing Team Vincent Philippe
Etienne Masson
Gregg Black
2019–20 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team167,5 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Etienne Masson
Gregg Black
Xavier Simeon
Vincent Philippe
Yamaha Austria Racing Team Marvin Fritz
Niccolo Canepa
Broc Parkes
Karel Hanika
Loris Baz
F.C.C. TSR Honda Freddy Foray
Josh Hook
Mike Di Meglio
2021 Yoshimura SERT Motul175,5 Sylvain Guintoli
Gregg Black
Xavier Simeon
BMW Motorrad World Endurance Ilya Mykhalchyk
Markus Reiterberger
Kenny Foray
Javier Forés
Webike SRC Kawasaki David Checa
Jérémy Guarnoni
Erwan Nigon
2022 F.C.C. TSR Honda France154 Honda CBR1000RR-R Joshua Hook
Mike Di Meglio
Gino Rea
Alan Techer
Yoshimura Suzuki Endurance Racing Team Gregg Black
Xavier Simeon
Sylvain Guintoli
Kazuki Watanabe
Viltais Racing Igol Erwan Nigon
Florian Alt
Steven Odendaal
2023 Yamaha Austria Racing Team181 Yamaha YZF-R1 Niccolo Canepa
Marvin Fritz
Karel Hanika
Yoshimura Suzuki Endurance Racing Team Gregg Black
Sylvain Guintoli
Étienne Masson
BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team Markus Reiterberger
Illia Mykhalchyk
Jérémy Guarnoni

Points systems

Points systems[6]
Duration1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th15th16th17th18th19th20th
24 Hrs4033282421191715131110987654321
12 Hrs3529252118161413121110987654321
Less than 8 Hrs 3024211917151413121110987654321

Latest races

Classes and specifications

Motorcycles must be based on road going models with a valid FIM homologation

Formula EWC

Formula EWC for the FIM EWC Endurance World Championship. Black number plate background, white-light headlamps and minimum weight 175 kg. This is the top category and performance improvements during the race are possible. The overall appearance of the bike cannot deviate from the homologated model, but the fork, damper, swing-arm, brakes, radiator and exhaust can be modified. Teams are also given a relatively free hand to soup up engine performance. The chassis is equipped with a quick wheel change system.[8]

Displacement

The displacement capacities must remain at the homologated size. Modifying thebore and stroke to reach class limits is not allowed.

Superstock

Superstock for the FIM World Endurance Cup. Red number plate background, yellow-light headlamps and minimum weight of 175 kg. For Superstock, the machines are practically identical to production bikes. The engine is as provided by the manufacturer, with very limited modifications permitted (injector jets and fuel mapping, clutch reinforcement, a different exhaust silencer, etc.). Wheels must remain as homologated, so teams need a good wheel change strategy at pit stops.[8]

Displacement

The displacement capacities must remain at the homologated size. Modifying the bore and stroke to reach class limits is not allowed.In both Formula EWC and Superstock, the fuel tank is modified to a maximum capacity of 24 litres and fitted with a quick refuelling device.

Experimental

Green number plate background, yellow-light headlamps and minimum weight of 165 kg. The category includes motorcycles whose engine, main frame or suspension are completely different from the design of the original models. Machines in the Experimental category appear in the general classification of the event but are not classified in the World Endurance Championship. They are only admitted to the start after deliberation by the Race Selection Committee, which selects the machine for its technical and innovative interest. This category can also include electrical machines.[9]

Displacement

External links

See main article: world championships.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: New developments for FIM EWC in 2016 . fimewc.com . 2016-10-12 . 2016-02-24.
  2. Web site: A Short History of Endurance . fim-live.com . 2013-10-02 . 2016-02-24.
  3. Web site: Coupe FIM d'Endurance 1960 . racingmemo.free.fr . fr . 2016-07-18.
  4. Web site: Endurance: 35 anni di storia per il Mondiale di categoria. corsedimoto.com . 2015-02-02 . 2020-03-24. it.
  5. Web site: FIM Endurance European/World Championship results. motorsporttop20.com. 2022-11-30.
  6. Web site: 2021 FIM EWC Standings . fimewc.com . 2021-11-30 . 2021-11-30.
  7. Web site: Calendar, Ranking, Rules and documents . fim-live.com . 2015-09-03.
  8. Web site: EWC Explained . fimewc.com . 2021-11-28 . 2021-11-28.
  9. Web site: Catégories Motos . fimewc.com . 2022-05-25 . 2022-05-25.