Suzuki’s new GSX-R1000K7 dominated the opening round of the World Endurance Championship at Le Mans in France with both Suzuki Endurance Racing Team entries finishing first and second at the end of the gruelling 24-hour race. SERT’s number two team of William Costes, Guillaume Dietrich and Max Neukirchner crossed the finish line at 15.00hrs local time with total of 818 laps completed, just 1:19.938 minutes ahead of reigning World Champions SERT number one, comprising Vincent Philippe, Matthieu Lagrive and Julien Da Costa. Kawasaki Motor France finished in third position on 817 laps with Yamaha GMT 94 fourth on 811 laps. SERT No. 1 led from the start but after the first hour they came under attack from Yamaha GMT 97 with just six seconds separating the pair. SERT No. 2 held third ahead of Kawasaki France. They increased their lead to one lap as the teams moved into Sunday morning and held it until a small problem with an oil pipe forced them to make an unscheduled pit stop. This allowed Suzuki’s second GSX-R1000 through into the lead, which they held for three hours until the repaired Suzuki of SERT 1 charged by to the front once again. But their team mates weren’t giving up and they retook the lead with just under two hours to go, which they held until the flag. Provisional Results: 1 SERT2 – Costes/ Dietrich/ Neukirchner (Suzuki GSX-R1000K7) 818 laps, 2 SERT 1 – Philippe/ Da Costa/ Lagrive (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 818, 3 Kawasaki Motor France – Plater/ Mazuecos/ Giabbani (Kawasaki) 817, 4 Yamaha GMT 94 – Gimbert/ Checa/ Four (Yamaha) 811, 5 Yamaha Austria Racing – Jerman/ Scarnato/ Cudlin (Yamaha) 810. More, from a press release issued by FIM Endurance Press Office: Le Mans 24 Hours Double Suzuki Victory Ahead of Kawasaki 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 Sébastien 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 More, from a press release issued by Steve Plater’s publicist: STEVE PLATER TAKES THIRD AT LE MANS Lincolnshire Superbike racer Steve Plater rode to a fantastic third place for Team Kawasaki France in the 30th Annual 24 hour race at Le Mans in France on Sunday which incorporated the first round of the FIM World Endurance series. Along with fellow teammates, Gwen Giabbani (France) and Julian Mazuecos (Spain) Steve, from Woodhall Spa qualified the bike in fifth place for the start of the gruelling 24-hour race, which began with the traditional Le Mans start whereby the riders run across the pit lane to pick up the bikes and get underway. From the start the French Kawasaki team slotted into third place but after the first two hours of racing dropped back to fourth. The team pitted every hour to refuel and change riders each of the three spending at least an hour on the bike. During the hours of darkness the team moved back into third place setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 613 with a time of 1m 39.86s. As they closed in on the final few hours team Kawasaki France frequently exchanged second place with the #1 Suzuki team but were unable to maintain their position to the chequered flag and Steve rode the bike across the finish line to secure third place at the end of the 817th lap after a long and demanding 24-hours. “We had a few problems early on,” said Steve. “But we knuckled down and gave the chase and tried to put the pressure on Suzuki but could quite make it. I have really enjoyed it, the weather has been fantastic but really I would have like to have been on the top step of the podium!” The next round of the World Endurance championship is at Albacete in Spain on May 5, this time over six hours but prior to that Steve will return to British Superbike action with Team AIM Yamaha to contest round three of the 2007 Bennetts British Superbike championship set for Silverstone at the weekend, (April 29). The weekend kicks off with two 50-minute test sessions on Friday followed by a third on Saturday prior to qualifying on Saturday afternoon. The two 20-lap British Superbike races are scheduled for 12.40pm and 3.20pm on Sunday. More, from a press release issued by Kel Edge Photography: BMW BACK WITH A FLOURISH! BMW returned to world championship motorcycle racing with a flourish at the gruelling Le Mans 24 hour race, ending with a win in their class and a highly impressive 16th overall on their Sportsboxer bike. Despite being down on horsepower compared to their rivals, riders Thomas Hinterreiter, Rico Penzkofer and Marcus Barth and hustled the twin round the 4.180 kilometre Bugatti circuit, entertaining the sun-soaked spectators with their late-braking manoeuvres and speed through the turns. Throughout the twenty-four hours and 776 laps, the bike’s twin-cylinder engine never missed a beat. Considering that the bike has only had one shakedown test, and that most of the top teams did not suffer any grave misfortunes or DNFs, to finish sixteenth overall was a tremendous result and one that will give the whole team a huge boost for the season ahead. Marcus Barth It is an amazing result and it’s down to the way that the whole team has worked so well together. The three of us riders put in very close and consistent lap times – probably we were closer to each other then any other threesome – and that made us very competitive. I am very, very happy with this result because, before the race I thought that we’d do well to finish between 20th and 25th place. So to get 16th is super. I want to thank all the mechanics and everybody involved because they all played an important part. Considering we were down on horsepower, I think we’ve done really well. We were good on the brakes and in the turns, but on the exits our horsepower disadvantage showed. I’d pass riders on the brakes and then could only sit and watch them go past me on the straights time and time again. I had no problems at all during the race – apart from a bit of a sore neck – and now I want to celebrate a little with the rest of the team. Thomas Hinterreiter This is a perfect start to this new challenge and I’m so happy because I never would’ve believed that we’d finish as high up as we did. Le Mans is a very tough race and most, if not all, of our rivals had much faster bikes, so to do what we did is great. We knew we’d be at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the field, but this is part of the challenge. I didn’t have any problems during the race and I actually felt that the bike was getting better the longer the race wore on! We’ve not had much time with is bike before coming to Le Mans, so this result makes me very, very happy. Rico Penzkofer I’m very happy with this fantastic performance and result in this tough race. I was thinking about a top twenty-five place before this weekend, so we did very well to finish sixteenth. Not many good teams crashed out or retired, so our sixteenth was through our own hard work and effort. Our bike is very good on the brakes and quick in the corners; we just lose out on top speed and acceleration out of the turns, but that’s to be expected considering that we’re quite a bit down on horsepower and our bike is heavier than our rivals. The team have done absolutely perfect work and the team spirit has been super. This is a great start to the season and it gives us confidence for the next race. Berti Hauser (Director of BMW Motorrad Motorsport) After five years of the Boxer Cup, we wanted a new challenge and we also wanted to give something back to the fans. We wanted to do a big race and knew we couldn’t do Superbike with this bike (because of the regulations) so we chose probably the toughest discipline of all – Endurance! Le Mans is probably the most famous and also the toughest race, with many strong teams, so we knew this wasn’t going to be easy. I never expected we’d finish in the top sixteen and I am both happy and delighted with this performance. The team’s motivation and spirit has been super throughout and this result is a great reward for everybody’s hard work and efforts. From this race we’ve got a lot of ideas to work on and we know we can improve this bike for the next challenge