- The second-year students of Motorcycle Racing Mechanics at Monlau Motul Technical School took their last exam before jumping into the professional world in a four-hour relay endurance race.
- A total of 8 teams and 16 riders competed at the Circuit de Calafat on the handlebars of two Honda CBR600RR F24s that they themselves had prepared in the workshops in the previous months.
- The focus of the extremely close test was on the pit lane , where the mechanics demonstrated all the skills they had learned in their formative years.
- “This race is the end of a cycle for the students; the time to put everything they have learned in class to the test. They have worked on the set-up for many weeks and the results could be seen both in the pits and on the track. It is the culmination of a training in which they give their all,” says Jaime Serrano, CEO of Monlau Motul Technical School.
The Monlau Motul Endurance Race was once again a successful event at all levels. The second-year students of Motorcycle Racing Mechanics at Monlau Motul Technical School carried out a four-hour endurance relay race at the Circuit de Calafat, which was their final year project.
The sixth edition, which brought together more than one hundred people on 27 and 28 June, put to the test the skills and knowledge acquired in the centre’s workshops, where in the previous months the students prepared the eight Honda CBR600RR F24 that they used in the event. Although there was plenty of excitement on the track, the main focus was on the pit lane , where the future mechanics carried out an impeccable job in terms of technical assistance, setup , logistics, refuelling and pit stop strategy. In addition, they were assisted by students from the Monlau Motul Master’s Degree in Motorsport Engineering. On the other hand, first-year students in motorcycle racing mechanics worked as sports commissioners and technical inspectors.
A total of eight teams, with two riders per bike, took part in the race under the FIM Endurance regulations. There were several tense moments during the race, with the six mandatory pit stops that the participants had to make. In this sense, the Apex Vision team (number 78), with Francisco Caballero as team leader, broke a record by completing the fastest pit stop of all the editions held to date, with a time of 3 minutes and 14 seconds. On the other hand, the members of the FRT Famous Racing Team (number 69), with Marc Bernabé as team leader, were the winners of the Monlau Method award, which highlights the work done prior to the race, such as the assembly of the motorcycle, and technical, image and discipline aspects of the project.
In the competitive arena, the race was extremely even. The Tarragona circuit vibrated with an exciting finale, in which everything was decided on the last lap. The MJRO Racing Team (number 99), which had Daijiro Sako and Toni Cerpa as riders, overtook Team Tabalta (number 22) with Miguel Parra and Pere Llorens at the handlebars of the Honda in the final lap. The third step of the podium went to The Engineers Team (number 73), with Alex Rubio and Albert Barranco. The three teams completed 132 laps of the track in the four hours, which shows that the competition was very close.
Jaime Serrano , CEO of Monlau Motul Technical School, highlighted the great effort of all the teams: “This race is the end of a cycle for the students; the moment to put to the test everything they have learned in class. In their first year, they already attended the Endurance Race as stewards and they know how important this challenge is. They have worked on the set-up for many weeks and the results could be seen both in the pits and on the track. It is the culmination of a training in which the students give their all, and it is magnificent to see how they develop in this unique project in the world.”
Rubén Cortés , Marketing Manager of the Barcelona school, pointed out the extreme equality of the race: “I think we had the most exciting race of all those we have done. It was very close and the strategies were perfect, as well as the operation in the pit, the logistics, the assembly, the race direction and the controls. In short, it was an edition that was a resounding success.”
One of the event’s protagonists, Marc Martín , Team Manager of the winning team, MJRO Racing Team, highlighted the importance of this final exam: “Winning means a lot to us, as we have been working for months and this is the best way to finish our studies at Monlau Motul. The key to achieving victory was in the mandatory pit stops, in doing them quickly and precisely without losing time. The Endurance Race is an unbeatable experience, a very good learning experience that culminates our years of training.”
In this way, Monlau Motul Technical School closes another edition of its endurance race, which is a reference at international level, and continues with its commitment to offer training with real practices in competition.
