24 Heures Motos – First tests of the 2010 24H Moto du Mans –

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First tests of the 24H Moto du Mans 2010

24 Heures Motos - First tests of the 24H Moto du Mans 2010 -

The main favorites gathered this week for two days of testing on the Bugatti circuit which will host the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the opening round of the FIM Qtel World Endurance Championship, on April 17 and 18..

The main favorites gathered this week for two days of testing on the Bugatti circuit which will host the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the opening round of the FIM Qtel World Endurance Championship, on April 17 and 18..

YART Vs SERT ?

Yamaha Austria Racing Team calmly continues its development work with Michelin and its three 2009 world champion riders, Igor Jerman, Gwen Giabbani and Steve Martin.

They found on the track the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, nine times world champion including four consecutive years from 2005 to 2008. With Vincent Philippe, Guillaume Dietrich, Freddy Foray and Daisaku Sakai replacing, the SERT is working to arrive at the 24 Hours Moto du Mans 2010 with the best possible match between its new Showa suspension and Dunlop tires.

GMT 94 in Bridgestone

Back in the title race, Christophe Guyot’s Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone team will be equipped this year by the tire manufacturer Bridgestone, which is entering the discipline (read).

GMT 94 has undertaken a lot of development and adaptation work on its 2010 R1 entrusted to David Checa, Gregorio Lavilla and Kenny Foray, noticed last season on the Kawasaki GSR.

BMW in Michelin

In the absence of Matthieu Lagrive on the BMW S 1000 RR n ° 17 of the BMW Michelin team due to a disagreement between the driver and the team (read), BMW Michelin would consider calling on another world champion: Sebastien charpentier !

In the meantime, Erwan Nigon and Sebastien Gimbert "quickly managed to establish a solid work base", indicates the team, although they "could not have had as much driving time as they would have liked. due to near-polar temperatures which made the track impassable until midday ".

"For our first real run, the result is very encouraging, knowing that we still have work to do to refine the cycle part and that we are waiting for new parts. Erwan and Sebastien show exemplary motivation which boosts the whole of the bike. team. It’s a good start ", rejoices Bernard Rigoni, team manager of the BMW S 1000 RR..

Despite a crash by Sebastien Gimbert at over 260 km / h in the Dunlop curve, fortunately without gravity, the two BMW Michelin riders completed in 1’39.47 and 1’39.48 respectively..

Matthieu Lagrive sets the best time

But the best time of these tests was achieved by … Matthieu Lagrive himself, who as we indicated last week did not remain without handlebars for long: he joined Damian Cudlin – defector of the English team Phase One Endurance that will not participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans – riding the Honda BMP Elf 99 (read).

"I had not ridden a motorcycle for nearly five months, so it was good to get back on the track and speed up on the Le Mans circuit," said Matthieu Lagrive. "It took a little while to regain my rhythm, but at the end of the day I was confident enough to push a little harder. The bike really has a lot of potential and although we don’t have all of it yet. the parts for the engine, we were able to run as fast as the other top teams! "

This new permanent team is led by Michael Bartholemy, former Kawasaki MotoGP manager, with the help of EMS 99 who accompanied Team Acropolis to third place on the podium at the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans. Riding this Honda n ° 99, we also announce Karl Muggeridge and Marc Fissette as replacement pilot.

Another newcomer among the permanent teams but already known for its results (7th at the 24 Hours and 4th at the Bol d’Or 2009): the RAC 41-City Bike team was also at Le Mans to test its Suzuki GSX-R announced with 10 more horses than in 2009 and his new trio of drivers, Greg Junod, Greg Black and Olivier Depoorter.

All eyes are now on the next practice session which will take place on the 24 Hours circuit on March 30 and 31. To be continued: stay connected !

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