The BMW Motorrad France 99 is once again the fastest machine on the track, and had the best time from the free practice. Sébastien Gimbert, Erwan Nigon and Damian Cudlin are by now the fastest on the track with a 1’38.455 best lap. But this first session has been quite dramatic with many crashes that even affected some of the favourites. David Checa crashed towards the end of the session on the Yamaha Racing France GMT 94 Ipone, who managed still to claim the second best lap time. Third on the time sheet is the SRC Kawasaki; and that despite a crash from which the bike caught fire! Gregory Leblanc could not avoid some oil spill caused by an exploded engine on the BMW of Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers. The incident also sent three other machines on the ground, and caused the free practice session to be interrupted for quite a long time. The Monster Yamaha YART signed the fourth best time and tried to make Loris Baz comfortable on the Austrian Yamaha. The French rider replaces Gwen Giabbani, still recovering from the injury he collected from a crash during a testing session last August. The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team is by now at a very unusual fifth place. In the SERT box, Vincent Philippe, who broke a collarbone after a crash during some private testing last Tuesday, is here to support his colleagues. The SERT borrowed Baptiste Guittet from the Junior Team Suzuki LMS to ride the Suzuki #1. Great performance for the Yamaha Maco Racing Team, who took the sixth place behind the SERT and ahead of the Honda National Motos, who is already in ambush behind the favourites. In the Superstock class, the Suzuki AM Moto Racing Compétition is showing their ambition for victory ahead of the BMW of Van Zon Boenig Motorsportschool Penz13 RT and the Suzuki of Team Motor Events Bodyguard AMT, current Superstock leader. To follow the race live, log on www.fim-tv.com and on Motors TV, from Saturday 2:30 pm. You can find the whole practice and live results on www.fim-live.com More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Defending World Champions Suzuki Endurance Racing Team has drafted in 22-year-old Baptiste Guittet for this weekend’s fourth round of the World Endurance Championship at Le Mans in France after both regular riders Freddy Foray and Vincent Philippe were deemed unfit to race at the last minute. French Junior Supersport Champion Guittet, who was born and lives in Le Mans, has joined team regulars Anthony Delhalle and Daisaku Sakai for the penultimate round of the series at SERT’s home circuit. Foray, who suffered a head injury at a French Championship race at Magny Cours in July, was told by Doctors on Monday that he was unfit to race at this level; and Philippe crashed and broke his collarbone in testing and practicing for the race on Tuesday. This left the 10-times World Champions just days to find a replacement third-rider to keep the team’s 2011 World Championship hopes alive – a series it currently holds second place, six points down on leaders BMW Motorrad 99. The team spent the following days trying to find a suitable replacement, and according to SERT’s Remi Vulliet: “We called riders from World Superbike, AMA, BSB and Japanese Superbikes, but nobody could get here on time or was free to race. We asked Baptiste Guittet to join us and today is his first time on the official GSX-R1000 machine in practice and qualifying. It is not easy for him as it is his first time in EWC category.” Today’s first free practice session saw BMW Motorrad France 99 riders Sebastien Gimbert, Erwan Nigon and Damian Cudlin take the fastest time with a 1’38.455 lap. In a dramatic session that witnessed several crashes, including second-placed Yamaha Racing France GMT 94 iPhone’s David Checa and third-placed SRC Kawasaki on a bike that subsequently caught fire, SERT finished fifth on the timesheets with 1:39.239. BAPTISTE GUITTET INFORMATION: Name: Baptiste Guittet Nickname: Bat Date of Birth: 26/03/1989 Home Town: Le Mans Height: 1.73m Weight: 67kg Occupation: House Painter Favourite food: Lasagne Favourite track: Magny-Cours Favourite rider: Troy Bayliss Hobbies: Motorsports, mountains, competition First bike: Honda QR 50 Personal vehicle: KTM 125 Goals: To become World Champion Website: www.baptisteguittet.com