Le Mans First Qualifying: Suzuki Castrol One-Two Yamaha GMT94 Third, Team Kawasaki France Fourth Suzuki Castrol have taken first and second places on the provisional grid after the first round of qualifying for this weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hour round of the FIM World Endurance Championship. At the end of the session for the first riders, Yamaha GMT94’s Sebastien Gimbert and Suzuki Castrol No.2’s William Costes were split by just 3 hundredths of a second. The session for the second riders saw Da Costa for Suzuki Castrol No.2, Checa for GMT94 and Riba for Kawasaki France all improve on their team mates’ times; only Suzuki Castrol No.1, with Vincent Philippe, was faster in the first session than the second. In the third riders’ session, Suzuki Castrol’s Matthieu Lagrive put the No.1 Suzuki Castrol ahead of the No.2 machine for the first time today; it had started to look as though Suzuki Castrol’s biggest challenge might come from their team mates. Yamaha Austria’s Gwen Giabbani improved on the times of both his team mates Igor Jerman and Sebastian Scarnato in the third riders’ session, to secure fifth place. Permanent team Yamaha Endurance Moto38 ended the day in 9th place, ahead of Yamaha Team Power Bike. The fastest Superstock bike today was the No.83 Maccio Kawasaki in seventh place overall, just in front of fellow Superstock team No.72 Suzuki LMS. All the teams will be back out on track tonight for the two compulsory night practice sessions and final qualifying will take place tomorrow morning. Provisional Top Ten Qualifying Positions 1st 1 – Suzuki Castrol Team – FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – M.Lagrive – 1:38.354 2nd 2 – Suzuki Castrol Team – FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – J. Da Costa – 1:38.663 3rd 94 – Yamaha GMT94 – FRA – Yamaha YZF-R1 – D.Checa – 1:38.699 4th 111 Team Kawasaki France – FRA – Kawasaki ZX10R – P.Riba – 1:39.769 5th 7 – Yamaha Austria – AUT – Yamaha YZF-R1 – G.Giabbani – 1:40.047 6th 55 – Honda National Motos – FRA – Honda CBR1000RR – O.Four – 1:40.495 7th 83 – Kawasaki Maccio Racing – FRA – Kawasaki ZX10RR – F.Moisan – 1:40.930 8th 72 – Junior Team Suzuki LMS – FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – T.Metro – 1:40.979 9th 38 – Yamaha Endurance Moto38 – FRA – Yamaha YZF-R1 – D.Bouan – 1:41.216 10th 68 – Yamaha Team Power Bike – FRA – Yamaha YZF-R1 – F.Auger – 1:41.232