Le Mans 24hrs SERT dominate final qualifying ahead of Yamaha GMT 94 Two Suzuki Endurance Racing Team machines will begin this weekend’s Le Mans 24hrs as favourites. On the GSX-R 2, William Costes, Guillaume Dietrich and Max Neukirchner improved upon their fastest lap-times during today’s second round of qualifying. The Suzuki Team sits at the top of the qualifying board with an average riders’ time of 1’39.229. The GSXR-R 1 ridden by Vincent Philippe, Julien Da Costa and Matthieu Lagrive also improved during the second round of qualifying, taking second place just in front of the Yamaha GMT 94. This second round of qualifying has been difficult for the GMT 94. Without qualifying tyres during this second round, Sebastien Gimbert, David Checa and Olivier Four could not beat their times achieved yesterday. In the attempt to beat his previous time by a hundredth of a second, Olivier Four fell at the Dunlop corner, leaving Yamaha GMT 94’s bike damaged but the rider unhurt. The Yamaha GMT 94 team retained third place in front of the Yamaha Austria Racing Team. On the R1, Austrian Igor Jerman, Sébastien Scarnato and Damian Cudlin managed to improve on yesterday’s qualifying time. Team Kawasaki France have a reason to smile, clinching fifth place after the second qualifying round was disputed by Steve Plater, Scott Smart and Julian Mazuecos. Spaniard Mazuecos achieved the fastest time of 1’39.149. Gwen Giabbani, recovering after a fall in the French Championship, has been named as reserve but could possibly regain his place at the expense of Scott Smart. The final decision will be made by Team Kawasaki France this evening. The Yamaha Power 113 team of Patrick Piot, Cyril Huvier and Fabrice Auger confirmed its position as a serious challenge, taking an impressive sixth place in front of Yamaha Phase One ridden by Warwick Nowland, Glen Richards and Didier Van Keymeulen. There was disappointment for the Bolliger Team who managed only eleventh place. Winners of the 2006 Le Mans 24hrs, the Honda National Motos team was also disappointed, managing only ninth place. This evening the pitlane and its stands will be open for the public to celebrate the 30th year of Le Mans 24hrs. Teams will make their last minute adjustments during tomorrow’s warm-up which begins at 10.30am. The racing begins at 15.00. 2007 FIM Endurance World Championship Le Mans, France April 20, 2007 Final Qualifying Results: 1. 2, SBK, SUZUKI (COSTES 1:38.733/DIETRICH 1:39.969/NEUKIRCHNER 1:39.361), 1:39.354 2. 94, SBK, YAMAHA (GIMBERT 1:39.184/CHECA 1:39.713/FOUR 1:39.781), 1:39.559 3. 1, SBK, SUZUKI (PHILIPPE 1:39.457/DA COSTA 1:39.803/LAGRIVE 1:39.729), 1:39.663 4. 7, SBK, YAMAHA (JERMAN 1:40.021/SCARNATO 1:39.900/CUDLIN 1:40.926), 1:40.282 5. 113, SBK, YAMAHA (PIOT 1:40.086/HUVIER 1:41.020/AUGER 1:41.773), 1:40.960 6. 55, SBK, HONDA (PROTAT 1:41.148/RIBALTA 1:40.476/BOUAN 1:41.379), 1:41.001 7. 72, SST, SUZUKI (FORAY 1:41.379/JONCHIERE 1:40.757/DELHALLE 1:41.061), 1:41.066 8. 8, SBK, KAWASAKI (MORILLON 1:40.931/MUFF 1:40.485/SAIGER 1:42.359), 1:41.258 9. 3, SBK, YAMAHA (NOWLAND 1:42.285/RICHARDS 1:42.002/van KEYMEULEN 1:40.903), 1:41.730 10. 91, SBK, HONDA (DE CAROLIS 1:42.361/TANGRE 1:41.268/BARRIER 1:41.754), 1:41.794 37. 9, SPP, YAMAHA (TESSARI 1:44.282/GRUY 1:45.873/RICCI 1:45.999), 1:45.385 More, from a press release issued by Kel Edge Photography: BMW’s return to world championship racing after 50 years FIRST AIM ACHIEVED BMW Motorrad Motorsport achieved their first goal of the season by qualifying for the Le Mans 24 hour race. Their 37th place on the grid is better then many of the regular competitors, despite a considerable weight and power disadvantage, and now the whole team are excited about the prospects ahead in what is arguably one of the most gruelling races in the calendar. The team’s three riders, Rico Penzkofer, Thomas Hinterreiter and Marcus Barth (together with reserve Nate Kern) all did a superb job during practice and qualifying sessions and made sure that BMW’s return to top level racing would start in the best possible way. Suzuki factory teams dominated qualifying with the number 2 bike of Costes, Dietrich and Neukirchner taking pole position ahead of their team mates Philippe, Da Costa and Lagrive. Third quickest is Gimbert, Checa and Four (Yamaha) with Jerman, Scarnato and Cudlin (Yamaha) fourth. Marcus Barth (1:45.250) I’m happy and I think the whole team are happy that we’ve qualified for the race. The team have done a lot of superb work in a short time and the bike is now in a pretty good condition. We’ve got a good base set-up and everything is working much better then when we we started in first practice. For me, finishing the race is more important then the actually placing. Thomas Hinterreiter (1:44.299) I believed we’d qualify for this race, because I really believe in this bike – especially after all the hard work the team have put in. And I must say I’m having fun riding it as well! So far, I’ve had no ‘moment’s or dramas and everything has gone very well since first practice. This is a completely new project for us all and we’ve all done a lot of work in a small time. We’ve spent the time so far getting a good set-up and playing around with the mapping and now I think we’re pretty satisfied with what we’ve achieved so far. Now our objective is to run at a good pace, have no crashes or big problems and finish the race. Rico Penzkofer (1:45.023) I’m happy that we’ve qualified because we’ve worked so hard over the past few days and found a good base for the bike. We’ve done a lot of work on the chassis and suspension and we’ve made quite big step forward since we started. I’m particularly happy with how we’ve all worked together so well, so quickly and now I hope we can finish this tough race. Nate Kern (reserve rider) I’m very happy for the team and myself and now the project has started in a positive way, because we are in the race. I only had about 25 laps in total on the bike in practice and qualifying, so to be be less then one and a half seconds slower then the rest of our guys is pretty good I think. I really loved the night qualifying – even though I couldn’t always see where I was going! I had a good time in dark and did some really good, consistent fast laps.I’m surprised and happy how the project has come together so quickly and that’s a testament to all the hard work that has been done. When you look at the field, you’ll see that we’ve beaten over a third and that’s pretty good. My job, as reserve rider, is to take over from a rider if there is a problem or injury. Hopefully that will not happen, but whatever does happen, I’m hoping that we’re going to finish the race, because that is our objective. Bertie Hauser (Director of BMW Motorrad Motorsport) I am so delighted and happy that we’ve qualified, even though I know that we weren’t pushing so hard. it would have been stupid to try and force the pace, when all we wanted to do is make sure we would qualify. We’re in the race and that was our first target, so we’re happy because we’ve achieved this first objective. I can’t believe how hard and well all of our guys have worked, but they’ve been incredibly motivated right from the start – and that motivation has paid off. Our riders have a lot of experience between them and our next objective is to bring the bike back home aftyer twenty-four hours and finish the race.