EWC Project Plan_TeamÉtoile_V1.10_EN

2024-2033 FIM Endurance World Championship （EWC) Project Plan Team Étoile December 2023 Contact SNS / Web / Mail

Team Introduction and Goals

Overview ■ Foundation Date – January 2023 ■ Team Locations – France: Le Man (Home for races in Europe) – Japan: Tokyo (Home for races in Asia including Suzuka 8h) ■ Team Principal (as well as the main sponsor) – Takashi Ichikawa (44 years old) – Co-founder of a startup in 2012 (Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market number: 3994) – Leading Team Étoile full time from 2024 ■ Teamʼs Strength – Clear purpose and team culture – Young members to take the initiative with the support from experienced members. – Not limited to any particular manufacture in terms of a contract. Broader freedom of choice. – Fully independent from Japan starting from scratch. – Have a long term goal for about 10 years.

Team ■ Takashi Ichikawa ■ Kentaro Sone ■ Taiki Sato

Objectives and Goals 1. Create an opportunity for riders, mechanics, and teams from Japan to make a step abroad • Support and produce young riders and mechanics (in their 20ʼs ~ 30ʼs) who can work overseas. • Take the initiative to race in EWC series as the first Japanese team to inspire other Japanese teams. 2. Inspire more people to the motorcycle racing industry • Have people interested in our activity and inspire them to join motorcycle racing industry in the future. • Let more people know the excitement of the motorcycle 24h endurance race. 3. Enjoy the race, share the passion, and win. • Do everything we can for every race and share the joy and achievement with the entire team. • Prove that our full commitment and enjoying its every moment could lead us to a great result.

Team Environment and Structure ■ Base in France – Teloche, near Le Man – Renting a part of the workshop owned by Japan Racing Management (Team ■ ■ ■ Sugawara) – Japan Racing Management is a Japanese company. Communication can be done with ease. – Located only 15 min away from Bugatti Circuit. People around the base are often involved in racing in one way or another, which makes it easier for beginner team like us to kickoff. Base in Japan – Rental garage in Edogawa Tokyo Environment – Garage workshop and living areas are available in both bases in France and Tokyo. – Our focus is on making communication easy between the teammates Team Structure – Led by experienced engineers from Japan national road race championship and Suzuka 8h. Age 20’s 30’s 40’s 50’s Number of members 13 6 3 2 – Planning to contract engineer(s) from Alpha Racing (official partner of BMW – MOTORRAD MOTORSPORT) Team to be structured around only Japanese riders and stuff for the first years, but planning to add members from Europe in the future.

Workshop/Garage in Tokyo and France Base in Le Man Teloche (Team Sugawaraʼs garage) Base in Edogawa Tokyo

Roadmap to the Goals ■ Target race result and team goal – 2024-2025 ■ Finish 24h with steadiness. – 2026-2028 ■ Podium in SST class. – 2029-2033 ■ Dual team environment. Make a step to EWC class while possibly running another team in SST class. ■ Individual goal for the team member (riders, mechanics, and staffs) – Gain experience and skill to a point where one can join other European teams and contribute. – Team (Etoile) to support our members to move to Europe (cultural difference, VISA applications, languages, etc.). – Team to support our riders to be independent. ■ Criteria for Reaching Goals – Team Étoile to be recognized as a path from Japan to the world class racing in the next 10 years ■ Riders to join our team – Likely the riders in their 20ʼs who are racing in Japan national championship.

Series, Class, Manufactures

About FIM EWC series ■ EWC (Endurance World Championship) is a FIM approved motorcycle endurance race. ■ As opposed to other FIM approved series such as MotoGP and WSBK where riders compete to finish a race the fastest, EWC is all about how many laps they can complete within the given amount of time. ■ Among all the races in the series, shortest duration is 8h (Suzuka 8h, for example) and the longest is 24h. Each team has 3 riders to compete such long duration. Tire change and refueling are done as necessary. ■ As opposed to MotoGP where the motorcycles are all prototype, EWC is a competition for production motorcycles just like WSBK. – Manufactures involved: Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, BMW, Ducati, and Aprilia. ■ Class – EWC Class ■ Modifications are allowed in broad areas including one that allows a quick tire change. Many teams here in EWC class are often supported by the manufacture. – Superstock Class ■ Majority of the team are not supported by the manufactures therefore independent. Not a lot of modifications are allowed, thus it is crucial to pick a motorcycle that performs well as is.

Live Broadcast and Media Exposure ■ In 2023, FIM world series was aired live in 75 countries by 10 broadcasters. Race news and highlights were aired in another 121 countries, resulting in the exposure in 196 countries. ■ In 2023, there was a total of 77,200 attendance in Leman 24h. Source: https://twitter.com/FIM_EWC

Major teams in the series F.C.C. TSR HONDA FRANCE Japan EWC Honda CBR1000RR-R YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL France EWC Suzuki GSX-R1000 YART YAMAHA OFFICIAL TEAM EWC Austria EWC Yamaha YZF-R1 ERC ENDURANCE DUCATI Germany EWC Ducati Panigale V4 R KAWASAKI WEBIKE TRICKSTAR France EWC Kawasaki ZX-10R BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM Belgium EWC BMW M1000RR Source: https://www.fimewc.com/ja/teams

Entry list in EWC ■ Bol d’Or September 2023. 47 entries in total (28 entries in SST class)

Series, Class, Manufactures Why FIM EWC World Series / SST Class? • Relatively easier for an independent team to join due to its strict and fair regulation. It also provides each team and rider a fair field to show their skill and talent. • Relatively easier to complete the whole season as the total number of races is 4~5 throughout the season (3 races in Europe, Suzuka 8h in JPN • Suzuka 8h is already popular in Japan. Our activity in EWC could extend the fanʼs interest into watching other EWC races or even encourage Japanese racing teams to race in EWC. Why BMW M1000RR? • M1000RR is the winner of Le Man SST class in 2023. Although M1000RR isnʼt widely used in EWC yet, its potential is already proven. • Alpha Racing provides a race kit for M1000RR, which makes it easier both technically and financially for an independent team like us to prepare for the season. • Alpha Racing is located in Germany and is near from our garage in Teloche in France, which is a strong advantage for us in terms of parts supplies or technical support.

Our Culture Open mind Knowhow from our experience in EWC shall be shared as much as necessary if it helps popularize EWC or motorcycle racing in general. • Social networking service to be used wisely to gain interest from those who are thinking of working in motorsports industry. • Flexble for change • • We will stay eager to change and not be conservative if itʼs for the better. We will analyze the root causes of every fail to improve. Challenge & Growth Each one and every team member to understand each other and support each otherʼs goals. • Not only the young riders but also experienced riders can be the key members for our team. • Enjoy endurance racing Motorcycle racing is what we love. We race and enjoy as hard as we can. Results comes next. • Each team member is the most crucial asset of the team. We take our culture and purpose seriously. •

Riders for 2024 season ■ 1st rider︓Hikari Okubo (however cannot be double-booked with sprint race week) ■ 2nd rider︓Yudai Kamei: planning to attend all EWC races. ■ 3rd rider︓Under negotiation.

Use of IT ■ Race Strategy and Mid-race Decision – Use real-time race data (provided by EWC) and take AIʼs prediction into account. ■ Unexpected pit-in – Have AI re-predict the race result and re-consider the race strategy. ■ When safety car engages – Have AI suggest whether or not to let the rider enter the pit. – Have AI predict the gain/loss by the pit-in and show ■ ■ advantages/disadvantages. Gap from the opponent – AI to consider the data of other teams (laps, time, etc.) to see where we are as opposed to them, and potentially update the initial race strategy as needed. AI to be more widely used as we progress. We start slow with the use of AI and are to update its use when it makes sense. ■ Team Activity through Media – Social networking service, YouTube, etc. – Our activity is to be shared widely throughout the platforms to attract more people and to encourage Suzuka 8h participants to join overseas EWC races.

Team Name and Logo ■ Étoile – Étoile means star in France – Our team owner Ichikawa spent his youth at 19 ~ 20 years of age in Lyon France as a trainee at a Michelin starred restaurant with a goal of becoming a chef and have his own restaurant with a name ʻÉtoileʼ. ■ Logo – A mixture of Japanese and France national flag – Depicting the goal of connecting the dots between Japan and France – Designed by WADY-DESIGN

Schedule and Milestone ■ December 15 2023 – Kickoff event、appearance on EWC news page and other media. ■ January 2024 – All three riders line up to be finalized ■ February ~ March 2024 – Go to France and prepare the bike for the Le Man 24h ■ April 2024 ~ – Le Man 24h in April. Planning approx. 1 month stay in Europe per race for the rest of the season. ■ Season Calendar for 2024 – 1st round April 20th (Sat) ~ 21st (Sun) Le Man 24h (Circuit Bugatti) – 2nd round June 8th (Sat) SPA 8h (Spa-Francorchamps) – – 3rd round July 21st (Sun) Suzuka 8h (Suzuka Circuit) 4th round September 14th (Sat) ~ 15th (Sn) Boldor 24h (Circuit Paul Ricard)

Contact SNS / Web / Mail 2024-2033 FIM EWC World Championship Project Plan Team Étoile