24 Heures Motos – 11h00 – General combat commotion! –

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11:00 am – General battle commotion !

24 Heures Motos - 11h00 - General combat commotion! -

Abandonment of Suzuki n ° 2, heavy fall of Yamaha n ° 94, abandonment of Suzuki n ° 72 and Honda n ° 55 at the head of the race: the 29th edition of the 24 Heures Moto has just been violently relaunched at less than 4 hours from the end ! CTU, Jack Bauer ?

CTU, Jack Bauer? The upheavals are multiplying at a rate worthy of 24 Hours Chrono on the Bugatti circuit…

While almost nothing changed in the standings before 10:00 a.m., neither in the overall lead nor in the other categories, all certainties collapse and a Honda could win this 29th edition of the 24 Hours. !

Flash back on the morale of the Grolandais knight: "that does not please me ! I’m bored, we’re going in circles !", deplores the ignoble character, disgusted …"I will go do the Rallye du Dourdou rather than go to Barcelona !"he adds in a worrying tone as to his degree of joke – apparently rather weak – and it is with a morose air that he takes over from Phil Giles in the first light of this sunless Sunday morning….

At the end of his stint, the Grolandais Chevalier passes the Yamaha n ° 33 to Bernard Cuzin. Raised to 25th place in the general classification, the team is gradually gaining ground and is only six laps away from 20th place…

Thanks to their times worthy of the best places in the category at 5:40 am from the finish, their recovery could certainly have continued (1’44 "247 for Bernard Cuzin ahead of 1’44" 775 for Renaud Moisan, rider of the Kawasaki n ° 83 or 1’45 "134 for the third Superstock, Suzuki # 100 of Team Endurance Moto 45) but fate decided otherwise…

The Yamaha n ° 33 is in 24th position at half past five from the finish, the 23rd is two laps behind … and the Suzuki n ° 20 of the SRK team which occupied the 20th position has just fallen! But Phil Giles on the handlebars of n ° 33 fell in his turn in the bend of the Chapel! The rider is fortunately unharmed, but the condition of the motorcycle forces him to retire…

Asked by Moto-Net about the superb race of the Honda n ° 55 of National Motos, the team manager Christian Lavieille explains that "the chart has been respected! It is true that so far we have been lucky not to encounter any pitfalls, but we have to cross our fingers to make it last: there are still six hours of racing, the temperature may rise and it can put the mechanics. to the test … We are not immune to a small fall or other annoyance because as I have said for twenty years, it is long 24 hours !"

While the Aprilia n ° 79 of the Italian team Aprilia Motociclismo continues its very good race in 13th place overall, 5th Superstock three laps behind the n ° 100 Suzuki, the n ° 1 Suzuki returns to the pit for a fixing problem. exhaust. Everything is repaired less than 3 minutes later, which does not change the classification but allows the Yamaha n ° 94 to come back two laps from third place…

The Suzuki n ° 72 of the Junior Team also returned abruptly to the pits at 10:18 am, pushed by Thomas Metro. Careful examination for long, long minutes results in a cruel verdict at 10:30 am: valve problem! "we should take the time to get rid of it and I am not convinced that this is wise four hours from the finish", regrets the team manager Damien Saulnier before seeking advice from Dominique Meliand…

The crestfallen face of the young students of the Le Mans Sud school is really painful, as is the abandonment of the Yamaha n ° 33 which will not see the checkered flag…

Another crucial rebound that will radically change the profile of the race: the Suzuki n ° 2 still in the lead, abruptly returned to the pits for the first time in its 658th lap and came out almost immediately after a simple brake change, suddenly returns there shortly before 11 hours !

Entirely boned, it remains immobilized on the stand while Garry Mc Coy, riding the Yamaha n ° 94, falls heavily in the Dunlop curve! Very seriously stunned, the Australian rider remained on his knees for a few moments in the middle of the trajectory, before being accompanied by the medical team who finally authorized him to bring the bike back to the pit….

New neutralization of the race, during which the Honda n ° 55 judiciously took the opportunity to refuel.

Sebastien Gimbert set off again on the handlebars of the Yamaha n ° 94 at 11:11 am, after 7 minutes of stopping in the pits, in third position since the Suzuki n ° 2 "just died", according to the expression of Dominique Meliand, and gives up at 11:15 am…

Honda n ° 55 is therefore in the lead, three laps ahead of Suzuki n ° 1 and 7 laps ahead of Yamaha n ° 94 !

Also abandonment of Suzuki n ° 20 following its fall in the Museum bend: "we have to, there is sand in the engine ", regrets the team manager."Eric Thomas came home exhausted from the Museum pushing his machine and passed out when he got to the stand…

Still abandonment of Suzuki n ° 15 of the Innodrom team at 08:40, then fall of Suzuki n ° 27 of Coquart TRT at the bend of La Chapelle. Frederic Bernon manages to set off again and returns to the pits by completing his lap.

Eric MICHEL and Marcus HIMSELF

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