Suzuki Spank It At Le Mans!

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.

Photos: David Reygondeau

Related Links
www.suzuki-racing.com

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Suzuki Spank It At Le Mans!

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