What a fight! The 24 Hours of Le Mans was a thrilling confrontation of four machines, and for the victors Kawasaki, it only emerged on Sunday morning. The frantic pace of this event in front of 82,200 spectators allowed the winners to beat the record distance of the event, dating back to 2005 with 834 laps (490.29 km 3), four more than six years ago.
In addition, Julien Da Costa, Gregory Leblanc and Olivier Four go into the history books of the Le Mans 24 Hours as the first crew to win two consecutive editions of this legendary race on the same bike and with the same number.
After an eventful night, the battle between Suzuki #1 (Delhalle / Sakai / Guittet) and the #11 Kawasaki continued during most of the morning. The two teams exchanged the top spot at each pit stop, and both ran the same strategy. Indeed, the two fastest drivers from each of the two teams took turns to try to obtain an advance sufficient to retain the lead after a stop. But at 10:40 Daisaku Sakai (Suzuki) returned prematurely to the pits with a mechanical problem. Although rectified quickly, the delay was enough to give Kawasaki an unassailable lead. Behind was the Yamaha YART #7 (Jerman / Martin / Baz) who secured the third place. The Austrian team had enough of a gap to slightly ease their pace towards the finish.
The Kawasaki Racing Team's Bolliger (Saiger / Stamm / Tangre) finished fourth. Big disappointment for BMW. Team BMW Motorrad 99 France leads the world championship of endurance but could not do better than seventh after a multitude of small technical problems set them back. It will not be until the 8 Hours of Doha (Qatar) on the 12th of November when the world champion team in 2011 will be determined.
After many changes of fortune between the three leadng teams in Superstock, finally the Events Team Motors, Suzuki is driven by Bocquet, Gines and Grarre prevailed despite a major technical problem. The Suzuki #50 had to pit because of a problem with a wheel but was able to make up lost time, relegating the #83 of Maccio Racing (Kawasaki Maurin, Richier, Moreira) to second. The #72 Junior Team Suzuki LMS lost time in the pits and finished third in Superstock with Tangre, Enjolras and Napoleone. These three bikes also complete the overall top 10.
Winners of the Open category was the Metiss JLC Moto #45 (Michael, Cheron and Huvier) that finished in twelfth position overall.
This 34th edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours Moto has delivered both a sporting and festive with 82 200 spectators gathered around a new date for this race.
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