Falcon Racing’s new FIM Endurance World Championship rider, Dylan Buisson, won’t be short of fitness when the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans opens the 2023 season next month (13-16 April). Check out how the team are feeling ahead of the 2023 season…
Like all EWC riders, Buisson places a huge focus on physical fitness although having tackled a 78-kilometre through-the-night running race between Saint-Étienne and Lyon means he’ll be even fitter than most, as he continues to prepare for the three-round FIM Endurance World Cup for Superstock-specification bikes running on Dunlop tyres.
As well as a rider at the top of his physical powers, Falcon Racing can also count on a rider with podium pedigree in the EWC. In 2013, Buisson was part of the Team R2CL entry that finished second overall in the 24 Heures Motos. Riding for TATI Team Beaujolais in 2017, Buisson claimed Superstock category honours at Le Mans.
The 34-year-old will have nine starts in the 24 Heures Motos to his name when he joins forces with new Falcon Racing team-mates and fellow Frenchmen David Chevalier and Loïc Millet for the start of their 2023 EWC campaign.
“He has a lot of endurance experience and that’s what we were looking for,” said Falcon Racing Team Manager Mickaël Le Dévéhat. “We want him to be a new engine for the team. He works on his physical condition throughout the season. This means that our relays will be more regular.”
Buisson said: “It’s with great pleasure that I announce my participation in the 2023 Endurance World Championship with Falcon Racing on the #121 Yamaha R1. Thanks to the team manager and team for trusting me. I can’t wait to start the adventure on this beautiful machine.”
With five and two starts in the EWC-counting 24 Heures Motos respectively, Chevalier, 30, and Millet, 20, won’t be short of experience of the 4.185-kilometre Bugatti Circuit and the traditional EWC season opener either.
“For 2023 we want to be in the top five and achieve regular podiums, that would be a good reward,” said Le Dévéhat, whose team receives support from Yamaha France. “Certainly, we are progressing, but so is the level. We face teams that have been around longer than us. We mustn’t forget that.”
Falcon Racing was heading to seventh place in the EWC Superstock category at Le Mans last season when engine failure struck in the final quarter of an hour. With the #121 Yamaha unable to cross the finishing line, Falcon Racing was therefore not classified in the final results.
“It was our first big mechanical problem, because we had always reached the finish since 2016,” Le Dévéhat said. “It was a blow to morale but the whole team has reacted well because everyone has re-motivated themselves so that it does not happen again. This winter, we implemented a new working method which should bear fruit.”
