IN
THE
WIND
P70
Canepa Wins Rain-Shortened
Sepang 8 Hours Solo
N
iccolo Canepa of the Yamaha
Austria Racing Team (YART)
claimed victory in the inaugural
Sepang 8 Hours, December 14-
15, after riding solo for the entire
race, becoming the first rider in
endurance history to win without
handing the bike to a teammate.
The 8 Hours of Sepang,
however, was reduced from
eight hours to just three follow-
ing torrential rain, with Canepa
triple stinting and YART decid-
ing against putting either Karel
Abraham or Broc Parkes on the
Yamaha during the two pit stops.
Drama unfolded early in the
race as the FCC Honda Team
France entry, with Mike di Meglio
on board, crashed into the
leading Yamaha Sepang Racing
Team bike, ridden by Michael van
der Mark. Di Meglio got going
again and stretched a consider-
able lead by double stinting, but
crashed once again in the tricky
conditions to finish 13th.
YART Yamaha finished ahead
of Honda Asia Dream Racing
with Showa, who ran a consis-
tent race in the leading pack with
Malaysian rider Zaqhwan Zaidi,
Thai rider Somkiat Chantra and
Indonesian Andi Farid Izdihar.
BMW Motorrad World En-
durance Team claimed third at
Sepang with riders Ilya Mykhal-
chyk and Markus Reiterberger,
following their Bol d'Or podium
finish. Team rider Kenny Foray
sustained an injury in practice
and was unable to compete in the
race. The Belgian factory-backed
team moves up to second place
in the FIM EWC provisional
standings with a 15-point gap to
Suzuki Endurance Racing Team,
who maintain the lead obtained
after their Bol d'Or win.
In the championship, the
Suzuki Endurance Racing Team,
which finished fifth at Sepang,
leads with 79 points over BMW
Motorrad World Endurance with
64 points. The Wójcik Racing
Team is fourth with 48. YART
moves up to fourth with 43 over
3ART-MOTO TEAM 95 now with
33.
The next round of the 2019-
2020 Endurance World Champi-
onship is the 24 Heures Motos at
Le Mans on April 18-19, 2020. CN
