Motourage

The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team has won the 2011 FIM World Endurance Championship after a close finish at yesterday’s final round in Qatar.

With a depleted two-rider team of Vincent Philippe and Anthony Delhalle following a mid-week injury of third rider Daisaku Sakai – who turned up to support his team – the duo brought the GSX-R1000 home in third place overall in the eight-hour race at Losail to clinch its eleventh title ahead of closest rivals BMW Motorrad France 99, which finished just ahead of Yamaha Racing France in second.

After qualifying in fourth position, SERT’s Philippe grabbed the sprint to the lead on the opening lap ahead of Yamaha Racing France, BMW and Monster Yamaha YART. But the lead changed hands frequently during the opening four hours after which Yamaha made its position a permanent one at the head of the 26-rider field to secure victory with 231 laps completed.

From there on, the Suzuki team made good use of pit stops, and with consistent lap times played a tactical race to ensure it stayed ahead of the BMW team on points. BMW entered the fifth and final race nine points adrift of SERT in the Championship standings.

The only significant position change was at the seven-and-a-half hour mark when SERT pitted, dropping the team back into third position, but with less than 50 seconds separating the three top teams, it was a well-timed maneuver that helped seal Suzuki’s success again at the top-level of World Endurance racing.

Qatar Results: 1 Yamaha France GMT 94 iPhone (Yamaha) 231 laps, 2 BMW Motorrad France 99 (BMW) – 30.134 seconds, 3 SERT (Suzuki GSX-R1000) – 49.023 seconds, 4 Monster Yamaha YART (Yamaha) – 1 lap, 5 Honda TT Legends (Honda) – 4 laps, 6 YMES Folch Endurance (Yamaha), 7 DGS Sport (Yamaha), 8 Motors Events Bodyguard (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 9 Qatar Endurance Racing Team (QERT) (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 10 MCS Racing Ipone (Suzuki GSX-R1000).

Reigning World Champions Suzuki Endurance Racing Team is aiming to lift its 11th world title at this weekend’s final round of the FIM World Endurance Championship at Qatar.

After four rounds, the GSX-R1000 Suzuki-mounted French team holds 90 points and a nine-point lead over closest rivals BMW Motorrad France 99. There are a total of 30 points up for grabs for this weekend’s winner. SRC Kawasaki is third with 63 points, and Yamaha France GMT sits in a distant fourth with 46 points.

The 8 Hours of Doha event sees the return from injury of SERT rider Vincent Philippe – after his mid-season collarbone injury – to partner Anthony Delhalle, but a third rider is yet to be confirmed.

A total of 27 teams are entered for Saturday’s race. Free practice and first qualifying takes place tomorrow (Thursday) between 9:30AM and 8:30PM local time with second Qualifying on Friday beginning at 10AM. The Start of the 8 Hours of Doha is scheduled for 1PM local time on Saturday with an evening finish at 9PM.

Defending World Endurance Champions Suzuki Endurance Racing Team is aiming to extend its lead in the Championship this weekend at the Albacete 8-Hour race in Spain.

The 8 Horas Nocturnas of Albacete is the second round of the 2011 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship and team riders Vincent Philippe, Freddy Foray and Daisaku Sakai and their GSX-R1000 Suzuki start with a seven-point advantage over SRS Kawasaki.

A total of 32 teams are entered; 14 of them being Suzuki mounted.

The first free practices take place today (Friday) with final qualifying tomorrow morning. The 8 Horas Nocturnas of Albacete race starts on Saturday at 6pm local time with a 2am finish on Sunday.

Championship points (after 2 rounds): 1 SERT (GSX-R100 Suzuki) 35 points, 2 SRS Kawasaki (Kawasaki) 28, 3 BMW Motorrad (BMW) 22, 4 Bolliger Switzerland (Kawasaki) 18, 5 Honda TT Legends (Honda) 15.

Suzuki Endurance Racing Team has won the opening round of the 2011 Qtel World Endurance Championship – the 24-hour 75th-Anniversary Bol d’Or at Magny Cours in France.

The GSX-R1000-mounted reigning world champions crossed the line at the 3pm finish with 814 laps completed; six laps clear of race-long rivals SRS Kawasaki (808 laps), BMW Motorrad France 99 (803) and Bolliger Team Switzerland (802).

SERT riders Vincent Philippe, Freddy Foray and Anthony Delhalle dominated from the start – even though the first rider off at 3pm on Saturday – Philippe – was still feeling the after-effects of a heavy fall in the morning warm-up that meant the team had to use its number-two machine for the race.

At the five-hour mark, SERT had clocked-up 173 laps; one more than SRS Kawasaki and BMW. Through the night, the Suzuki trio opened the gap to three laps over SRS, with the Bolliger Team Switzerland Kawasaki climbing into the top three places when BMW broke a chain.

From sunrise on Sunday, SERT used its experience to gradually increase its lead – to seven laps at one stage – plus time its pit stops precisely to bring the GSX-R1000 home to an emphatic home victory for the Le Mans-based squad.

It was the team’s fourth-consecutive victory at the Bol d’Or and Philippe’s seventh, which equals the record number of rider wins.

Bol d-Or Results: 1 SERT – Vincent Philippe, Freddy Foray, Anthony Delhalle (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 814 laps, 2 Team SRS Kawasaki – Julien Da Costa, Gregor Leblan, Olivier Four (Kawasaki) 808 laps, 3 BMW Motorrad France – Sebastien Gimbert, Damian Cudlin, Erwan Nigon (BMW) 803 laps, 4 Bolliger Team Switzerland – Horst Saiger, Roman Stamm, Jerome Tangre (Kawasaki) 802 laps, 5 Honda TT Legends – Steve Plater, John McGuiness, Keith Amor (Honda) 796 laps, 6 National Motors – Eme Jonchiere, Luc De Carolis, Etienne Masson (Honda) 794 laps, 7 YMES Folch Endurance – Bisch Ribalta, F Vallcaneras, Jose M Luis Rita (Yamaha) 789 laps, 8 Yamaha France GMT 94 – David Checa, Kenny Foray, Matthieu Largrive (Yamaha) 785 laps, 9 Metiss JLC Moto – Christoph Michel, Marc Fissette, Emman Cheron (Metiss) 781 laps, 10 T Motors Events Bo – Mathieu Gines, Vincent Bocquet, Emilien Humeau (Suzuki) 779 laps.

World Endurance Championship Points

Suzuki Endurance Racing Team will start tomorrow’s opening round of the 2011 Qtel World Endurance Championship at Magny Cours in France from Pole Position after team rider Vincent Philippe set the only sub-1:40 lap on the team’s GSX-R1000 in today’s final qualifying.

Reigning world champion SERT, which is aiming for its 11th WEC title this year, dominated from the start of qualifying, and Philippe’s lap of 1:39.740 put the team at the front with an average time of 1:40.589.

Four riders are entered for SERT. Alongside Philippe is Freddy Foray, Daisaku Sakai and newcomer Anthony Delhalle, but Team Manager Dominique Meliand will make his final three-rider choice before tomorrow’s 75th running of the Bol d’Or, which gets underway at 3pm local time.

Also in contention for honors in the Superstock class is the Junior Team Suzuki LMS who finished 10th overall and top in class with a time of 1:42.973.

Qualifying results (Best individual rider lap times): 1 SERT (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 1:39.74, 2 Team SRC Kawasaki (Kawasaki ZX10R) 1:40.048, 3 BMW Motorrad France 99 (BMW S1000RR) 1:40.436, 4 Monster Yamaha YART (Yamaha R1) 1:41.636, 5 Yamaha France GMT 94 IPONE (Yamaha R1) 1:41.743, 6 National Motos (Honda CBR1000R) 1:42.592, 7 Honda TT Legends (Honda Fireblade) 1:41.680, 8 Maco Racing Team (Yamaha R1) 1:43.414, 9 Team Sapeurs Pompiers (BMW S1000RR) 1:41.879, 10 Junior Team Suzuki LMS) 1:42.973.

World Endurance Champions Suzuki Endurance Racing Team will defend its title in 2011 with a permanent team in the six-round FIM World Endurance Championship that gets underway next month at Magny Cours in France.

The French squad, who won the 2010 title despite not competing in all rounds, will comprise long-standing member Vincent Philippe, Freddy Foray, Japanese regular Daisaku Sakai and newcomer Anthony Delhalle on the new Suzuki GSX-R1000.

For Team Manager Dominique Meliand, this will be his 31st season in WEC and a passionate career that has seen him and SERT collect 10 World Endurance titles.

The Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship opener takes place on April 16-17th with the 24-hour Bol d’Or at Magny Cours; the normal 24 Hours of Le Mans season-opener is now moved to September 24-25th.

A total of 53 teams are entered for the opening round – the 75th running of the Bol d’Or – and SERT’s main rivals will be the 2009 World Champions, the Monster Yamaha (YART) team of Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Gwen Giabbani, plus 2004 Champions Yamaha Racing France riders David Checa, Kenny Foray and former SERT rider Matthew Lagrive.

Suzuki will also be in contention for Superstock glory as the Qatar Endurance Racing Team – FIM World Cup winners for the past three years – aim to put their GSX-R1000 on the top of the podium.

2011 WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR:
April 16- 17: Magny Cours (24 Hours) – Bol d’Or, France.
May 21 (Saturday): Albacete (8 Hours) – Albacete, Spain.
July 31: (only Formula EWC) Suzuka (8 Hours) – Japan.
August 21: Donington (8 Hours) – Great Britain.
September 24- 25: Le Mans (24 Hours) – France.
November 12 (Saturday): Losail (8 Hours) – Qatar.

SERT HISTORY:
2010: World Endurance Champions
2008: World Endurance Champions
2007: World Endurance Champions
2006: World Endurance Champions
2005: World Endurance Champions
1999: World Endurance Champions
1997: World Endurance Champions
1988: World Endurance Champions
1987: World Endurance Champions
1983: World Endurance Champions