“One of our main advantages is going to be our fuelling...”

In a press release dated today, 1st April 2008, it has been confirmed that Italian manufacturer Moto Morini will make a return to international racing at the Le Mans 24 Hour race later this month.

The team will be backed by the Race24.com website, to mark their tenth year covering the world Endurance Championship, and will see three endurance paddock regulars take on the world's best on board a specially prepared Moto Morini “Three and a Half” motorcycle.

Competing in the Open class and going head to head with BMW Motorrad Motorsport's HP2 Sport, the DERT Ducati 1098 and the BIHR Metiss, the Race24 Moto Morini will feature a number of exciting technical innovations which will give a genuine advantage in long-distance endurance racing.

The Morini's 344cc, two valve, 72 degree V-twin engine and sophisticated electronic ignition act as form of launch and traction control, with the benefit of preventing unwanted wheelies. Under testing it was found almost impossible to spin up the rear wheel while exiting fast corners. The bike is also fitted with a slipper-clutch and state of the art “oil damped” suspension.

The bike's impressively low fuel consumption will also be play a part in longer races, and the team are confident that they will need to make significantly fewer fuel stops than their rivals. Tyres are also expected to last much longer on the Morini, which features a QD rear wheel as standard.

Riders Andrew Wegg, Bob Pickett and Martin Gelder are no strangers to the World Endurance Championship, having been covering the series for ten years. We caught up with them during a strenuous work-out session this earlier this morning.

The first question has to be why did you choose Moto Morini?

Pickett: “Morini might seem like an odd choice to some. But when operating in a smaller team, you need to have a bike that is (relatively) simple to work on and preferably one that will work for all three riders. When you find a bike that is as surprisingly comfortable to ride, even on compromise settings, as the Morini, this is a real bonus.”

Wegg: “We’ve been working hard to develop the bike and we’re confident that we’ve reached a position of good reliability – neither of the test bikes has had any mechanical failures over the winter testing and who else could say that? One of our main advantages is going to be our fuelling as we’re getting much lower consumption figures than anyone else in the paddock will be able to achieve.

"Combining that with low tyre and brake wear, we estimate we’ll be in the pits for a good deal less than anyone else and most of the stops will be simply fuel and rider changes so we hope that we will be able to achieve a good result.

“Our top speed may not be the fastest, but with the handling of this bike, we’ll not be slowing up much for the corners either. If we can keep up a good average speed we’ll do OK. Morini has a glorious history and it’s great to be associated with such an illustrious name as it returns to the international stage.”

Gelder: “Morini was the obvious choice for us, because both Andy and I have got one. My BMW would be too slow, Andy's Triumph still isn't back on the road, and Bob didn't want to use his Kawasaki because he needs it to get to work on Monday. And running the Morini has a number of advantages. Tyre life won't be a problem, for instance, although if we go ahead and do the full season we might have to change the rear after Oschersleben. And don't forget, the bike we're racing is the full power Sport model; it's basically like entering one of the limited edition Ducati 1098Rs or an HRC Honda SP-W.”

How about pre-season preparations?

Wegg: “I’ve been concentrating on doing a fair bit of wet weather riding over the last few weeks - the only thing predictable about Le Mans is the unpredictability of the weather so let’s hope that will give me an edge over the fair weather riders!”

Pickett: “During the pre-season, I have been looking to extend my riding time, adding in some much longer runs to my normal weekly mileage. This is all geared to improving my endurance (no pun intended) levels for the race. Of course, the variable weather hasn’t helped, though it has given me a good chance to do some shake-down testing on the wet weather kit – always a good idea for Le Mans!”

Gelder: “I've probably had the most track time on a Morini, so I'm very confident. My last session at Cadwell Park ended prematurely when the oil pressure switch failed, and the one before that was cut short by a puncture, but we'll be fine for Le Mans. We're taking spare inner-tubes and the bike comes with a pretty good toolkit.”

Won't you be facing some pretty tough competition at Le Mans?

Wegg: “No-one in the team is under any illusions as to the nature of the competition we face – we may well be the tortoise amongst a field of hares, but let’s see what happens. Endurance is about more than top speed so let’s not judge the book by the cover.”

Pickett: “Obviously, the competition is tough – when you consider there are teams out there putting in consistent laps that are within touching distance of WSB times, this could be a daunting task. But the challenge is to do our best and hopefully surprise a few people.”

Gelder: “I've worked out that with a good average speed we'll only need to make nine or ten fuel stops; that'll save us the equivalent of a lap or two every hour over the so-called fast boys from SERT, and some of the Yamaha teams will be stopping every 45 minutes! We're aiming to complete about 530 laps in the race; this is a bit down on the winners' 818 laps in 2007, but it'll be good enough for fourth in class. Provided everything goes well.

“The biggest challenge will be qualifying within 115% of the front runners, but we've got a secret plan for that. I can't say too much at the moment, but if you see us walking a dog with a transponder on its collar up and down pitlane every one minute 45 seconds, best just leave us to it.”

What can you tell us about your team mates?

Wegg: “We’re all bringing different strengths to this team – both Martin and I have been riding Morinis for quite a while now so we know what to expect and while Bob is new to the bike this year it’s an indication of how we hope to get on to say that the first time he was on the bike he was immediately comfortable with it!”

Pickett: “As this is my first Le Mans, I am just hoping that I will be able to give strong enough support to my team mates. It is great to be involved with team-mates with such a long and respected standing in the World Endurance paddock and I am looking forward to getting out there and giving them my whole-hearted support.”

Gelder: “I couldn't hope to ride with two more rounded characters. In fact it'd be fair to say all three of us are a bit more rounded than most racers, but that's not to say we haven't prepared for the challenge. I know for a fact that Andy has considered joining a gym, while Bob almost had to run for the bus last week and I sat down and watched the boat race from beginning to end on Saturday. Now that's commitment!”

Finally, how is the team funded?

Pickett: “At this stage, personal sponsorship is still coming together. But I am very hopeful of arranging packages with Ginsters and Richmond.”

Wegg: “I’m grateful to my sponsors for making this opportunity a real possibility. We’ve had a lot of help from these guys who said if we don’t win, then they’ll want to know why.”

Gelder: “None of this would be possible without support from Deep Heat or Nurofen; I don't know where we'd be without them.”

Race24 Morini – Reserve Rider Needed

The last piece of the jigsaw to fall into place is the signing of the reserve rider, although a number of people have already been approached.

Michael Schumacher would not be drawn on a possible official debut in international motorcycle racing on the Race24 Morini, while Steve Plater said that he might be available for Le Mans but that he would have to check his diary.

Former Morini owner Russell Benney missed the point of the Race24 team's phone call and offered all three of them a ride on the Phase One bike for Le Mans.

Finally, Dani Pedrosa commented: “Is this a joke? I don't get it...”

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