YOHEI KATO YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL Q&A

2021-12-31 11:43
Yoshimura SERT Motul Team Director Yohei Kato provides an insight into the team’s incredible EWC World Championship-winning season 2021 season.

The 2021 World Endurance Championship was the first year for the new team collaboration between Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) and Yoshimura Japan. The partnership proved to be a winning formula.

Yoshimura was asked by SMC to deliver a project that would continue Suzuki’s dominance of the Endurance World Championship. Yoshimura then chose the 16-time EWC champion SERT as its team management partner. Motul also decided to support the project.

The focus was to build the strongest team in the history of the FIM Endurance World Championship, and there was just one objective … to win!

Team Suzuki Racing (TSR): What did it mean to Yoshimura, at the very beginning, to be such an integral part of the Suzuki Factory team?

Yohei Kato (YK): The relationship between Suzuki and Yoshimura is almost 46 years (since 1976) and it is a big honour that Suzuki has such trust in our racing activities. This year has been the first opportunity for Yoshimura to race in the World Championship series, and we are proud of the fact that we were able to participate as a Suzuki Factory Team.

TSR: How did you and Damien (Saulnier) set about working together?

YK: Damien organised the racing team and the set-up of each race. This included the team member composition and machine maintenance. He always creates a good atmosphere and makes us all feel positive. It’s like being with a family. Everyone has a comfortable feeling and it’s good to spend time together. This was essential for our teamwork.

From our Japanese side, we concentrated on technical matters such as machine development, strategy and settings. I was able to focus on the development because of Damien’s responsibility at his end.

Source: Team Suzuki Press Office

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