Back in the series for the first time in 20 years, Di Meglio – who will attempt to defend the EWC Teams’ title for F.C.C. TSR Honda France this season – headed Formula EWC category rivals Corentin Perolari and team-mate Alan Techer in Race 1 before edging out Techer in Race 2 with Perolari taking third.

“A massive thanks to all my team and Honda,” Di Meglio wrote on Facebook afterwards. “So proud to bring the CBR 1000 RR-R to the victory.

Meanwhile, Perolari, part of Team Moto Ain’s EWC entry, topped the SBK Challenger class in both races.

Mathieu Gines, one of Wójcik Racing Team’s Formula EWC riders for 2023, was fourth in Race 1 ahead of Chris Leesch, who will chase FIM Endurance World Cup honours for Chromeburner-RAC41-Honda from next month’s 24 Heures Motos, which also takes place at Le Mans.

TATI Team Beringer Racing’s Formula EWC rider Grégory Leblanc was fifth in Race 2.

The FIM Asia Road Racing Championship got underway in Thailand with the Chang International Circuit in Buriram hosting the action. BMW-powered Markus Reiterberger finished fourth and sixth in the two Asia Superbike 1000 races. Anthony West completed the top 10 in Race 1 on a Yamaha but was a non-finisher in Race 2.

“I was fighting for a place on the podium until the end of the second race, but the tyre degraded a lot in the last laps,” Reiterberger said afterwards. “P6 is not what we were hoping for. We have to work harder for the next events.”

Photo: Facebook.com/mikedimegliofanclub / Facebook.com/GoodShootFR