Surprising BMW switch: Kenny Foray has to adapt

An interesting driver change is taking place within the BMW camp ahead of the season finale of the Endurance World Championship (EWC). Kenny Foray will not be competing for ERC Endurance at the Bol d’Or, but will instead be joining the Japanese AutoRace Ube Racing Team. The experienced Frenchman will share the BMW M1000RR with Naomichi Uramoto and Sylvain Guintoli.

This is due to Hannes Soomer’s health. The Estonian sustained an injury during the race week of the Suzuka 8 Hours and has not yet fully recovered. Soomer had originally intended to assess during Tuesday’s test whether he would be fit to compete for the full 24 hours. However, together with the team, he ultimately decided against it.

Soomer remains registered as the fourth rider with AutoRace Ube, but as a reserve rider he is not permitted to take part in the race. In the Formula EWC class, although four drivers are permitted for a 24-hour race, only the three drivers registered as Blue, Yellow and Red are allowed to start. These positions are taken by Uramoto, Guintoli and Foray.

“Hannes’ recovery from his injury sustained during the Suzuka race weekend has taken longer than we had expected,” explained team manager Tsunetaka Igami. “As he is not yet back to 100 per cent, we have decided to change our driver line-up.”

BMW made a recommendation

The choice fell on Foray, even though the Frenchman had never previously driven for the Japanese team. BMW facilitated the contact. “We’d never met Kenny Foray before, but he was expressly recommended to us by BMW headquarters,” revealed Igami. “Given his successes and his wealth of experience, we decided to bring him into the team.”

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Foray brings a wealth of EWC experience to the table. In 2014, the Frenchman became world champion in the Formula EWC class; two years earlier, he finished third on the podium at the Suzuka 8 Hours. He is also very familiar with the BMW M1000RR. Between 2022 and 2025, he secured four consecutive titles in the French Superbike Championship with BMW.

Kenny Foray

Foto: BMW

Foray also contested the first three rounds of the current EWC season on an M1000RR. However, he was racing for ERC Endurance at the time. At the Bol d’Or, the bike setup will therefore be familiar to him, but the 42-year-old will have to adapt in one key respect.

ERC Endurance uses Dunlop tyres, whilst AutoRace Ube competes on Bridgestones. This weekend marks Foray’s first time riding on the Japanese tyres in combination with the team’s BMW. According to Igami, he had little difficulty settling in. “Although Kenny was riding our motorbike and our tyres for the first time, he adapted very quickly and posted strong and consistent lap times.”

Communication within the newly formed rider pairing is also going well. “As Kenny and Sylvain are both French, they understand each other perfectly,” reported the team manager.

At the Bol d’Or, Foray will be up against his former team

Meanwhile, ERC Endurance has filled Foray’s place at the Bol d’Or with Loris Baz. This means that Foray and his former team will even be direct rivals at the season finale. Ahead of the decisive race, AutoRace Ube sits in 5th place in the World Championship standings with 60 points, whilst ERC Endurance follows in 6th place with 53 points.

For Igami, however, this starting position does not play a decisive role in how they approach the 24-hour race. “We won’t be focusing on the World Championship standings at the final. Our sole aim is to achieve the best possible result.”

Following the last-minute line-up change, the Japanese driver believes his team is well prepared: “We believe we’ve done everything we could to prepare for this race. Now we’ll give it our all.”