Race Results from the 24 Hours of Le Mans

After 24 hours of racing around a tiny historic track in France, the 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle endurance race, and final round of the 2013 FIM Endurance World Championship has finally come to an end. A race of attrition, SRC Kawasaki claimed the top podium step, followed by Suzuki France’s Team R2CL (which was blessed with the addition of Guy Martin for the event), with Yamaha France – GMT 94 – Michelin Yamalube rounding out the final position.

The conclusion of the 24 Hours of Le Mans also means that the 2013 FIM Endurance World Championship rankings have been settled, with the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) clinching the Championship, yet again, despite the team’s disappointing 26th place finish overall in Le Mans. Second in the Championship is the Yamaha France – GMT 94 – Michelin Yamalube squad, with SRC Kawasaki closing out the top three spot, for the four-round championship.

With anything possible in the 24-hour event, Le Mans saw many fan-favorites fall by the wayside as the hours ticked by on the countdown clock. Most prominently was the Honda TT Legends squad, which saw Simon Andrews get into a massive four-bike crash while racing in third position.

Scuttling the team’s chances for a positive result in Le Mans, Andrews is currently recovering from surgery for his two broken legs, a broken forearm, broken shoulder, broken ribs, which caused a punctured lung, and three broken vertebrae in his lower back. Latest news from the team is that Simon is doing well post-op.

However noticeably absent from the Honda TT Legends squad, John McGuinness was unable to qualify for the race team, and did not race with the Honda TT Legends team, which was comprised of Andrews, Michael Rutter, and Michael Dunlop. The famous TT racer took to twitter to say he was “gutted” by not making the team.

Josh Hayes’ EWC bid with the Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART) was cut-short, as the Austrian team had to retire mid-race, which also scuttled the team’s hopes for winning the 2013 Endurance World Championship. YART is unlikely to race the full 2014 championship, and is only confirmed for the Suzuka 8-Hour for next year’s season.

Other disappointments included the retirement of two very strong BMW squads: BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent and Penz13.com BMW squad (for which American Jason Pridmore was racing for).

Team Thevent retired 14hrs into the race, with a terminal gearbox problem on their BMW S1000RR race bike, while Penz13.com BMW suffered a mechanical retirement as well, bowing out of the Superstock class after completing 192 laps on the course.

While the BMW boys languished at Le Mans, the Suzuki contingents thrived. Guy Martin’s endurance racing debut ended well, with the team’s podium finish in the race and fourth in the championship.

Meanwhile, SERT salvaged a minor crash and that damaged the team’s coolant system, which lead to a complete rebuild of the engine to the team’s Suzuki GSX-R1000 race bike (as well as a drop to 54th in the standings), to finish in the points and clinch the World Championship.

The unsung heroes were again the SRC Kawasaki team, which raced a very strong race at Le Mans, and have been a formidable opponent all season in the EWC series. The team’s result in France clinched SRC Kawasaki third in the Championship, narrowly beating out the Suzuki R2CL team.

Pos.	Team	Riders	Bike	Class
1	SRC Kawasaki	LEBLANC G. / FORET F. / SALCHAUD N.	Kawasaki	EWC
2	TEAM R2CL	GIABBANI G. / MARTIN G. / BUISSON D.	Suzuki	EWC
3	YAMAHA France GMT 94	CHECA D. / FORAY K. / LAGRIVE M.	Yamaha	EWC
4	TEAM 18 SAPEURS-POMPIERS	MOLINIER S. / BRIERE D. / TANGRE C.	Kawasaki	EWC
5	TEAM MOTORS EVENTS	FASTRE G. / LUCAS C. / SAVARY M.	Suzuki	SSTK
6	JUNOR TEAM LMS Suzuki	GUITTET B. / MASSON E. / DIETRICH G.	Suzuki	SSTK
7	MACO RACING TEAM	BALDONI A. / LUIS RITA J. / ROCCOLI M.	Yamaha	EWC
8	NATIONAL-MOTOS	FOUR O. / JUNOD G. / TIZON IBANEZ A.	Honda¨	EWC
9	SYNERGIE FORCE TRICKSTAR	DEGUCHI O. / IZUTSU H. / SERIZAWA T.	Kawasaki	EWC
10	TEAM LOUIT MOTO 33	MARINO F. / SAVADORI L. / JONCHIERE E.	Kawasaki	SSTK
11	ATOMIC MOTOSPORT	YANNICK P. / CHOLVIN N. / JOND F.	Suzuki	SSTK
12	NO LIMITS MOTOR TEAM	BUSSEI G. / BOSCOSCURO A. / CASAS V.	Suzuki	SSTK
13	YAMAHA VILTAIS EXPERIENCES	BARDET L. / CARILLO C. / BERTHOME D.	Yamaha	SSTK
14	BOLLIGER TEAM SWITZERLAND	SAIGER H. / MORILLON D. / ENJOLRAS J.	Kawasaki	EWC
15	RESEAUHonda	BERCOT P. / DUPOND S. / GERARD S.	Honda	SSTK
16	VOLPKER SCHUBERT-MOTORS	GANTNER H. / HAYATO T. / STUPPI B.	BMW	SSTK
17	TEAM DUNLOP MOTORS EVENTS	PUTIN J. / PEPIN E. / DEHAYE G.	Suzuki	EWC
18	RS SPEEDBIKESRACING	ALBRECHT L. / ALTENDORFER F. / LOWE R.	BMW	OPEN
19	PROBIKE TEAM GP MOTO	BOIZART S. / LANZIANI F. / LE ROYER A.	Kawasaki	SSTK
20	DGSPORT HEROCK	VAN KEYMEULEN D. / McFADDEN D. / MAHIAS L.	Yamaha	SSTK
21	TEAM SPACE MOTO 37	GALLERAND J. / NOUVELLON Y. / ROCHE C.	Suzuki	EWC
22	EQUIPMOTO50 TRT27	CHEVRIER C. / CICQUEL / A. CICQUEL A.	Kawasaki	SSTK
23	MOTOBOX KREMER RACING	GAZIELLO F. / PAAVILAINEN T. / SCHERRER M.	Suzuki	SSTK
24	TEAM RACING 85	GAUFRETEAU S. / LANDREAU R. / PERRIN F.	Kawasaki	SSTK
25	AZ MOTOS	MEZARD S. / DUMAIN D. / LAVILLENIE R.	Suzuki	SSTK
26	SERT	PHILIPPE V. / DA COSTA / J. CUDLIN A.	Suzuki	EWC
27	MOTOS ACTIVES SPORT 14	PIGEON F. / PIGEON F. / ROSA P.	Kawasaki	SSTK
28	ZX MOTO LE MANS	BOUE M. / DELEGUE B. / MACCIO J.	Kawasaki	SSTK
29	RACING TEAM 87	HAMARD G. / GUYOT T. / VIAUD N.	Yamaha	SSTK
30	RAFAEL RACING	BONNET A. / COVENA T. / SINKE R.	Kawasaki	EWC
31	TMC 35	AYNIE A. / BELLIGA J. / DIARD M.	Kawasaki	SSTK
32	TEAM RACING+ _ OUI FM	BRILLANTE J. / DEBROISE K. / VIGNEAU R.	Kawasaki	SSTK
33	TEAM SCUDERIA DEUX ROUES	TEISSIER P. / ANCELIN L. / ROYER H.	Ducati	OPEN
34	TEAM ESPERANZA	PASCAL V. / SERRAFIN J. / TORCHAUSS V.	BMW	SSTK