Erwan Nigon will compete in the 12-hour race of the FIM Endurance World Championship in Estoril on the last weekend of September. Although the IDM Superbike finale is taking place at the same time in Hockenheim, IDM team boss Emil Weber of Kawasaki Weber-Motos-Racing had to make this concession to the reigning world champion as part of his IDM contract. The 36-year-old Nigon had bid farewell to his team—which is supported by Kawasaki Germany—with a fourth-place finish in the IDM Superbike 1000 class at the Lausitzring. The Frenchman was the only Ninja ZX-10RR rider in the top class field.
Since Nigon will be absent from the IDM finale at the Hockenheimring from September 25 to 27, 2020, team boss Emil Weber and Kawasaki manager Carsten Haufe have been looking for a replacement rider and have found one in Valentin Debise. Like Nigon, he is from France, is 28 years old, and already has an impressive track record: he has competed in the 250 cm³ Grand Prix, the Moto2 World Championship, the Supersport and Endurance World Championships, and MotoAmerica. Debise was the first Frenchman to win a sprint race in the American series.
“For Kawasaki, it’s just good form to race in the IDM until the very end,” says Haufe. Many small pieces have fallen into place, helping to make Debise’s participation possible. Testing took place yesterday at Hockenheim. Debise wasn’t familiar with the track, but was already remarkably fast in his second lap. According to Haufe, there’s speculation that he could finish among the top five riders in the races.