24 Heures Motos – 24H Moto du Mans: classifications and reactions –

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24H Moto du Mans: classifications and reactions

24 Heures Motos - 24H Moto du Mans: classifications and reactions -

The 36th edition of the 24H Moto du Mans, which many of you have experienced all weekend live on MNC, has therefore seen the Kawasaki SRC n ° 11 win for the fourth time in a row: after 820 laps on the circuit , Gregory Leblanc, Fabien Foret (the fastest man of this 2013 edition with a time of 1’37.722 …

The 36th edition of the 24H Moto du Mans, which many of you have experienced all weekend, therefore saw the win for the fourth time in a row: after 820 laps on the circuit, Gregory Leblanc, Fabien Foret (the fastest man of this 2013 edition with a time of 1’37.722 in his 50th lap) and Nicolas Salchaud won with 7 laps ahead of the Suzuki # 2 of Team R2CL (Guy Martin, Dylan Buisson and Gwen Giabbani ) And eight on the Yamaha Motor France n ° 94 of the GMT94 (David Checa, Kenny Foray and Matthieu Lagrive).

"We managed to put the pressure on the Suzuki which was at fault, but Fabien Foret got caught by another competitor and we lost four laps", summarizes Gregory Leblanc. "But we only do the Bol d’Or and Le Mans and we always come to win. We gave everything!"

"I’m on the Moon, it was giant!"

The crew of the Suzuki n ° 2 also had a good regular race which enabled them to finish second at Le Mans and fourth in the world championship. "We got a big boost from Suzuki which allowed us to recruit Guy Martin who was able to integrate immediately into the team", rejoices team manager Raphael Chausse. "It was a bet to come back with R2CL after being an official team driver, but they were able to convince me with their project and the bet is successful", summarizes Gwen Giabbani.

"I’m on the Moon, it was giant!", Ignites for his part the legend of the Tourist Trophy Guy Martin, special guest on Suzuki n ° 2: "it is not linked to me but to the team, I was just a passenger. It’s thanks to all these guys, they are legends! ", continues the editorial darling who qualified in 1’40.800 alongside Dylan Buisson (1’40.318) , Gwen Giabbani (1.38.205!) And Jimmy Storrar (1’39.800).

"When I said I had to remove the engine, nobody flinched"

For its part, the Suzuki n ° 1 of SERT pocketed its 13th title of world endurance champion – the 4th in a row – despite great difficulties: after a crash at the start of the race, the Sarthoise team had to spend more than an hour completely redoing the cylinder head gasket, but she did not give up and finished 26th scratch place at the finish.

"We are disappointed because I am greedy"

"We are disappointed because I am greedy, I wanted to win the title and the race", loose Dominique Meliand, team manager of SERT: "I started endurance in 1969 and I learned that you should never give up . The team was great! When I said you had to remove the engine to make a cylinder head gasket, no one flinched, even though we weren’t sure it would work. But it held up longer 20 hours ".

Vincent Philippe confirms that "you had to believe it, even if it’s difficult to ride without the fight in front. I made a mistake when braking but this small fall had big consequences: a cracked crankcase, a radiator, an overheated engine and a cylinder head gasket … The mechanics burned their fingers for over an hour! "

"Maybe one day I’ll win!"

2013 vice-world champion, the GMT94 could take advantage of SERT’s difficulties to win the title, but it had to win the event. However, "I have never had so many problems during a race", explains Mathieu Lagrive who "has already done 3rd and five times 2nd at the 24 Hours of Le Mans … Maybe one day, I’ll win!"

As for David Checa, who fell twice in a row at the start of the race, he still does not understand what happened: "This is the first time that I have fallen twice in three laps! I do not understand what happened. It happened. The crashes only made us lose three laps but the consequences were much more embarrassing "(start again in 52nd position, then replace a damaged crown holder and clutch with a defective shifter following the first fall, Editor’s note).

But Christophe Guyot, team manager of GMT94, relativizes: "since 2005 (year of the, editor’s note), we had not returned to the podium at Le Mans. We are delighted with this result which crowns the work of an entire team, from the drivers to the mechanics. We are happy, sincerely happy. When everything collapsed at the start of the race, everyone gave their all without asking questions, without ever giving up ".

List of 21 withdrawals Official reason Hour
Yamaha n ° 41 Yam’Avenue Fall 5:21 p.m.
Metiss n ° 45 JLC Moto Fall 8:01 p.m.
Honda # 77 TT Legends Fall 9:24 p.m.
Suzuki n ° 3 AM Moto Racing Engine failure 9:30 p.m.
Kawasaki n ° 82 Team Acceleration Fall 9:32 p.m.
Kawasaki n ° 24 3D Endurance Fall 9:33 p.m.
Kawasaki n ° 46 Team Flembbo Engine failure 9:01 p.m.
Suzuki n ° 411 MCS Racing Fall 10:30 p.m.
BMW n ° 13 Penz13 Gearbox 23:04
Kawasaki n ° 66 Racing Team Sarazin Cracked wand 11:40 p.m.
Suzuki 76 Cottard Motosport Engine failure 23:49
Honda # 111 Team Banging Connecting rod 00:35
Suzuki n ° 67 Starteam Engine 01:42
Kawasaki n ° 15 Hallmoto Gearbox 02h54
Kawasaki n ° 69 Ecurie Chrono Sport Engine failure 03:16
Yamaha n ° 7 YART Engine failure 03:36
Aprilia n ° 6 Le Mans 2 Wheels Fall 03:40
Yamaha n ° 119 Slider Endurance Fall 03:35
Honda n ° 20 FMA Assurances HS clutch 04:30
BMW n ° 99 Motorrad France Thevent Technical problem 05:06
Kawasaki n ° 49 3A RPM Brokerage Broken engine crankcase 09:09

The Kawasaki n ° 18 of the Sapeurs pompiers (Stephane Molinier, Cedric Tangre and David Brière) placed fourth ahead of the Suzuki n ° 50 of Motors Events (Gregory Fastre, Michael Savary and Claude Lucas), which at the same time signed its second title of Superstock world champion.

Still in Superstock, the Suzuki n ° 72 of the Junior Team LMS (Baptiste Guittet, Etienne Masson and Guillaume Dietrich) finished 2nd in the 2013 24H Moto in front of the Kawasaki n ° 33 of Louit Moto (Florian Marino, Lorenzo Savadori and Ermeric Jonchière), 3rd.

Disappointment, however, for the BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent, victim of a gearbox problem having led the race for more than 300 laps (from 136th to 435th).

"Endurance is a sport full of twists and turns …"

"Endurance is a sport full of twists and turns, where joy and sadness, surprises and disappointments mingle," said the team in the early hours of Sunday, before hoping "to be able to come back next year and make amends!"

This is only part of the postponement for the # 77 Honda of Team TT Legends, forced to retire after being involved in one of four motorcycles. Simon Andrews, while riding, was severely injured and suffers from several injuries: two broken legs, a broken forearm and shoulder, several broken ribs that punctured a lung and three broken vertebrae in the lower part of the body. back…

"My guys could have won today"

As for the Yamaha n ° 7 of the YART, victim of one in the 13th hour of the race, it loses a great opportunity to pocket one. But "we had nothing to be ashamed of," said team manager Mandy Kainz: "this time unfortunately we were defeated by technology. My guys could have won today, they took the path, but it is that is world endurance ".

Note also the great race of the olypical pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie, who for a first time held his rank within Team AZ Motos alongside Stephane Mezard (manager of the concession in Aubière) and David Dumain (editor) in chief of Moto Journal): Suzuki n ° 63 finished 25th overall, after starting from 53rd position on the grid.

"And now, rest!"

"It was an unexpected result, a perfect race, an unforgettable experience!", Summarizes the pole vaulter: "I managed throughout the race to be consistent around my best times for my first, by setting my best time in the night during my stint at 1am (1’50.777, NDLR). Thank you to the whole AZ Motos team n ° 63 and to Michelin, thank you to Steph and David for this race and thank you to Philippe Monneret (3rd rider during the qualifying in 1’47.234 against 1’52.457 for Lavillenie, 1’44.153 for Mezard and 1’41.868 for Dumain, editor’s note) for allowing us to qualify the bike. And now, rest! "

Finally in the Open, only two motorcycles finished the event following the abandonment of the Metiss n ° 45 of Vincent Houssin, Camille Hedelin and Emmanuel Cheron: the BMW S1000RR n ° 56 of RS Speedbikes Racing (Lars Albrecht, Filip Altendorfer and Rico Lowe), 18th scratch, wins in front of the Ducati 1199 Panigale de Scuderia 2 Roues (Philippe Teissier, Lionel Ancelin and Herve Royer), 33rd scratch.

See you next year for the 2014 world endurance championship which could have 5 or even 6 events: stay tuned !

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