Le Mans 24 Hours - race result

Posted by StickyAdmin, Sunday, April 22nd 2007

Two years since it last won the Le Mans 24 Hours race, the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team today stole a masterful victory at the Bugatti circuit, placing both of its machines on the top two podium positions. The Suzuki no. 2 of SERT ridden by William Costes, Guillaume Dietrich and Max Neukirchner finished ahead of the Suzuki no. 1, the World Championship-winning team from 2006 of Vincent Philippe, Matthieu Lagrive and Julien Da Costa, who completed the race on the same lap.

On its return attempt to take the World Endurance championship title, Team Kawasaki France took third place with Steve Plater, Gwen Giabbani and the impressive Spaniard Julian Mazuecos, setter of the best lap record of 1’39.860.

The dramatic end of the race saw many changes amongst the lead trio. During last night’s track action, the Suzuki no. 2 of SERT maintained its lead but the SERT no.1 and the ZX-10R of Team Kawasaki France battled for second place right through to the afternoon.

The biggest disappointment of the weekend was for the Yamaha GMT 94 team. Just one hour before the end of the race, the Yamaha of Sebastien Gimbert, David Checa and Damian Cudlin managed to move into fourth place despite being held up by Yamaha Austria which was suffering braking problems. It was however a disappointing result for Christophe Guyot’s team which during the night had held the lead ahead of the Suzuki teams after Sebastian Gimbert’s crash.

After a difficult race start at the back of the pack due to an oil leakage, the Yamaha Phase One team finished in ninth place. Delayed by an overheated engine, the Yamaha Endurance Moto 38 team could not finish better than 18th.

In Superstock, the Suzuki Junior Team dominated during the 24 hours and finished sixth overall. The Yamaha LTG 57 was successful amongst the group of permanent teams, finishing 12th in the Superstock and eighth overall.

In Superproduction, victory went to Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers who finished ahead of Jadoul Motorsport and Yamaha Zone Rouge. This Yamaha lost victory in the category due to the crash of Olivier Deporter.

The R 1200 S of BMW Motorrad finished in a surprising 16th place in the general classification.

There were many falls and incidents during the course of the race ; Suzuki Sweden had to retire after a crash having hung on to twelth place. Shortly before 22 :00 hours yesterday, the Kawasaki Qatar Endurance Racing Team’s engine broke, as did those in the machines of Kawasaki Bolliger, the Genous Team, the Suzuki No Limits and also the Yamaha Amadeus X-One and the Kawasaki Raffin Motos.

At 16 :30 hours yesterday, the Suzuki EWC Team Eurosport Benelux encountered extreme braking problems. And finally, the unfortunate Honda RMT 21 crashed just two laps into the race.

The next QMMF Endurance World Championship round will be the Albacete 6-hr Night-time Endurance race on Saturday 5 May

Le Mans top 5 finishing teams
1. SERT2 - Costes/ Dietrich/ Neukirchner (Suzuki GSX-R1000K7) 818 laps
2. SERT 1 - Philippe/ Da Costa/ Lagrive (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 818 laps
3. Kawasaki Motor France - Plater/ Mazuecos/ Giabbani (Kawasaki) 817 laps
4. Yamaha GMT 94 - Gimbert/ Checa/ Four (Yamaha) 811 laps
5. Yamaha Austria Racing - Jerman/ Scarnato/ Cudlin (Yamaha) 810 laps

Points results - TOTAL 2007
1. Suzuki Endurance Racing Team Suzuki 63
2. Kawasaki Motor France Kawasaki 22
3. Yamaha GMT 94 Yamaha 18
4. Yamaha Austria Racing Team Yamaha 15
5. Junior Team Suzuki LMS Suzuki 14
6. Acropolis Moto Expert Yamaha 13
7. Team LTG 57 Yamaha 11
8. Phase One Endurance Yamaha 10
9. Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers Suzuki 8
10. Jadoul Motorsport Kawasaki 7
11. Select Machines Honda 6
12. Team Zone Rouge Yamaha 4
13. 3D Endurance Moto Center Kawasaki 3
14. Village Motos Honka Suzuki 1


Calendar / Calendrier 2007

April 21/22 - France - Le Mans (24h.)
May 5 - Spain/Espagne - Albacete (6h.)
July 29 - Japan/ Japon - Suzuka (8h.)
August 11/12 - Germany/Allemagne - Oschersleben (24h.)
September 15/16 - France - Magny Cours (Bol d’Or)
November 10 - Qatar - Doha (6hr.)