Yamaha Austria wins 24 Hours of Le Mans World Endurance in France

April 20, 10:33 AMAtlanta Sport Bike ExaminerBeth Dolgner

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Suzuki RT Racing's Raphael Chevre in the rain. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Gwen Giabbani won the 24 Hours of Le Mans the weekend of April 18-19: no, not the annual sports car race, but the 32nd running of the FIM’s grueling motorcycle endurance race.

Jerman, Martin and Giabbani ran under the Yamaha Austria Racing Team banner on a Yamaha YZF-R1. After 24 hours of racing around the classic French circuit in soggy weather, the team crossed the finish line with a seven-lap margin of victory.

One of the local teams, Honda France, took the second spot on the podium with Sebastien Charpentier, Matthieu Lagrive and Steve Plater. Third-place Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, with Guillaume Dietrich, Vincent Philippe and Barry Veneman, finished another four laps back.

In the Superstock class, Suzuki Junior Team LMS beat Qatar Endurance Racing Team to the line by a narrow 20 seconds: a stunningly close race considering the teams had been battling for a full 24 hours. The Suzuki Junior Team LMS consisted of riders Freddy Foray, Cedric Tangre and Louis Bulle.

Despite the weather, 92,000 fans turned out for the spectacle, which was the first in the  World Endurance Series season. Motorcycle endurance racing is a tough sport, where speed is only one of the important contributors to winning: consistency, fast pit stops, and avoiding mechanical mishaps are also important. Of the more than 40 teams that took the green flag, only 27 actually finished the race, dropping out due to crashes and mechanical failures.