Source: Supplied.

It was a thrilling performance from Australian Broc Parkes and his Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART) members at the Bol d’Or 24 hours in France over the weekend, which marked round one of the 2018-2019 Endurance World Championship (EWC).

In the earlier stages, YART newcomer Niccolo Canepa crashed out at dusk, resulting in the team’s YZF-R1 losing its entire oil capacity and leaving Parkes to believe the weekend was over, however the crew were able to quickly make repairs, allowing the squad to re-enter the field in 27th position.

In an inspiring ride, the outfit was able to work its way into winning contention, although its chances of victory were dashed when the final safety car came out, ultimately leaving Parkes wanting more in their narrow 54-second loss to F.C.C. TSR Honda France.

“It’s frustrating that the safety car came out at the end, the leaders had no fuel left, one more lap and we would have had them, but to be fair at 5pm yesterday I thought we were going home,” Parkes explained.

“To come back from where we did to get the finish we did is great. The team worked really well, when we had the problem and came back, it was bigger than expected but they worked super fast and got us back out there, we never gave up and it worked out.”

It’s an extremely positive start for YART, who in the 2017-2018 series scored points at just one round where they wound up triumphant. The Endurance World Championship now heads into an extensive break and will return at Le Mans in France on 20-21 April 2019.