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ONE TWO FOR SUZUKI AT LE MANS |
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Sunday, 22 April 2007 |
ONE TWO FOR SUZUKI 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.
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