FIM Endurance World Championship

Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC) is the premier worldwide endurance motorcycle racing championship. The championship season consists of a series of endurance races (with a duration of 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 is held on a yearly basis, but in order to take advantage of the winter break in MotoGP and Superbikes 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]

FIM Endurance World Championship
CategoryMotorcycle racing
RegionInternational
Inaugural season1960
ConstructorsSuzuki, Yamaha, BMW, Honda, Kawasaki
Tyre suppliersDunlop, Pirelli, Bridgestone
Riders' championDavid Checa, Erwan Nigon, Jeremy Guarnoni
Teams' championTeam SRC Kawasaki
Makes' championKawasaki
Official websitewww.fimewc.com
Current season

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.[3]

The Bol d’Or was not held between 1961 and 1968, while the 1000 km of Paris, was held twice on the circuit of Monthléry. 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

Race Circuit
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
Coke Zero Suzuka 8 Hours Suzuka

World champions

[4]

Year Team Points Bike Riders
2001 WIM Motors Racing 182 Honda RC51 Albert Aerts, Laurent Naveau and Heinz Platacis
2002 Zongshen 2 123 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Warwick Nowland
2003 Suzuki GB - Phase One 143 Suzuki GSX-R1000 James Ellison and Jason Pridmore
2004 Yamaha - GMT 94 169 Yamaha YZF-R1 David Checa and William Costes
2005 Suzuki Castrol 134 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Keiichi Kitagawa
2006 Suzuki Castrol 185 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Keiichi Kitagawa, Matthieu Lagrive and Vincent Philippe
2007 Suzuki Endurance Racing 165 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Matthieu Lagrive and Vincent Philippe
2008 Suzuki Endurance Racing 109 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Julien Da Costa
2009 Yamaha Austria Racing Team 145 Yamaha YZF-R1 Gwen Giabbani, Igor Jerman and Steve Martin
2010 Suzuki Endurance Racing 133 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Vincent Philippe and Freddy Foray
2011 Suzuki Endurance Racing 109 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Anthony Delhalle
2012 Suzuki Endurance Racing 128 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Anthony Delhalle, Vincent Philippe and Jason Pridmore
2013 Suzuki Endurance Racing 93 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Anthony Delhalle
2014 Yamaha Racing - GMT 94 - Michelin 141 Yamaha YZF-R1 David Checa, Mathieu Gines and Kenny Foray
2015 Suzuki Endurance Racing 154 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Anthony Delhalle, Etienne Masson and Vincent Philippe
2016 Suzuki Endurance Racing 88 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Anthony Delhalle, Etienne Masson and Vincent Philippe
2016–17 GMT94 Yamaha 146 Yamaha YZF-R1 Niccolò Canepa and David Checa
2017–18 F.C.C. TSR Honda France 171,5 Honda CBR1000RR Josh Hook, Alan Techer, Freddy Foray
2018–19 Team SRC Kawasaki France 145,5 Kawasaki ZX-10R Jérémy Guarnoni, David Checa, Erwan Nigon
2019–20 Suzuki Endurance Racing 167,5 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Etienne Masson, Gregg Black and Xavier Simeon

Points system

For registered races of less than 8 hours:[5]

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Points 30 24 21 19 17 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For registered races from 8 hours to 12 hours:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Points 35 29 25 21 18 16 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For registered races of 24 hours:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Points 40 33 28 24 21 19 17 15 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
  • For teams, the points will be those gained in each race.
  • For Constructors, only the highest placed motorcycle of a Constructor will gain points, according to the position in the race.

For registered races with duration from 12 to 24 hours, a partial classification will be established. After 8 hours and 16 hours, the 10 teams (and their riders), that are leading the race at that time will receive scratch bonus points as follow:

After 8 hours race and after 16 hours race:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Points 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
  • These bonus points will be awarded independently with the results of the race.
  • Constructors are not concerned by this rule and will not receive bonus points.

Latest races

2012 Classes and Specifications

Motorcycles must be based on road going models with a valid FIM homologation[5]

Formula EWC

This is the top category.[7]

Displacement

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

Minimum Weights

  • 170 kg: for races not taking place partly at the night.
  • 175 kg: for races taking place partly at night.

Superstock

Displacement

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

Minimum Weights

The FIM decides the minimum weight value for a homologated model as sold to the public by determining its dry weight. The dry weight of a homologated motorcycle is defined as the total weight of the empty motorcycle as produced by the manufacturer (after removal of fuel, vehicle number plate, tools and main stand when fitted). To confirm the dry weight a minimum of three (3) motorcycles are weighed and compared. The result is rounded off to the nearest digit.

The minimum weight for motorcycles will be:

  • Dry weight minus 12 kg for races not taking place partly at night.
  • Dry weight minus 9 kg for races taking place partly at night.
  • In all cases the minimum weight can not be less than 168 kg.

References

  1. "New developments for FIM EWC in 2016". fimewc.com. 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  2. "A Short History of Endurance". fim-live.com. 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  3. "Coupe FIM d'Endurance 1960". racingmemo.free.fr (in French). Retrieved 2016-07-18.
  4. "Endurance: 35 anni di storia per il Mondiale di categoria". corsedimoto.com (in Italian). 2015-02-02. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  5. "2015 FIM Road Racing Endurance World Championship and Cup Regulations" (PDF). fim-live.com. 2015-02-09. Retrieved 2016-07-18.
  6. "Calendar, Ranking, Rules and documents". fim-live.com. Retrieved 2015-09-03.
  7. "Le Mans "24 Heures Moto" to open EWC". fim-live.com. 2015-04-14. Retrieved 2016-07-18.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.