News 30 Aug 2016

Technical issue denies Parkes world title opportunity

YART Yamaha Official EWC Team exits Oschersleben final.

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

A mechanical fault for YART Yamaha Official EWC Team in the Oschersleben 8 Hours has cost Australian Broc Parkes a chance of becoming the 2016 Endurance World Champion.

Six hours into the race YART was on par to clinch the title with Parkes and Marvin Fritz, however the technical issue that developed quickly ruled them out of the race on lap 192.

“It was really disappointing because we showed from qualifying that we had the pace to win and we did a great job until the sixth hour when we led the race,” Parkes said. “We chose to do it with two riders, Marvin and I, and we had a good pace.

“We knew that to win the championship we only needed to finish second to GMT94, so we just wanted to make consistent lap times and try to keep the lead. If GMT94 would have passed us, it wouldn’t have been a big problem.

“But unfortunately we had a technical issue which was a major bummer because we were two hours from home. It’s sad for the team and for us, because we were so close to being world champion, but sometimes that happens.”

As a result of the non-finish at the final round of four, YART Yamaha Official EWC Team eventually was credited sixth in the closely-fought title race.

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