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Le Mans... |
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18th April: Le Mans 24H
Le Mans 24 Hour: Race Review So that was the first race of the season. Fantastic weather, close racing and only 34 finishers out of 56 starters. Championship Points SERT Suzuki No.2 lead the standings at the moment, 7 points ahead of the SERT team which will be contesting the full championship; let's hope the title doesn't come down to less than 7 points at the end of the year. Because the SERT No.1 finished second, they are only 6 points clear of second placed Team Kawasaki France, with Yamaha Austria a further 7 points behind. Junior Team LMS were the first Superstock bike to finish, and the Sapeurs Pompiers were the first Superproduction bike across the line. The BMW, which finished in 16th place overall, was the only Open class bike to finish. The full championship points are available here: www.fimendurance.com/results.php Quotes:
"I guess our story was really about being just outside of par in a few areas compared to the teams that beat us. We had fuelling problems, handlebar issues and a brake drama that cost us 4th spot, but I also really need to ride a bit faster to stand a chance of winning this year and beating Suzuki. "Igor and Seb did great, the YART R1 worked well, and I gave it all I had but it just wasn't good enough this weekend. I hope I can turn it around next week in Spain." Mandy Kainz, team manager, Yamaha Austria, 4th place: "Everyone knows we didn't come here to finish 5th, and after such positive testing it was disappointing not to finish on the podium, but congratulations to Suzuki, Kawasaki and GMT for running a stronger race than us. It looks to me that this championship will be fought between SERT, TKF and ourselves, so at least we have some good points on the board and a platform to build on in Spain next week." Warwick Nowland, Yamaha Phase One, 9th place: "I have to admit I was disappointed along with the rest of the team. The problems we had should not have happened. I think the team were a bit too busy in the lead up to Le Mans preparing bikes for other teams and other events and our weekend suffered the consequences. 
"Personally, I think I did a good job except for choosing the wrong rear tyre in my first session. Other than that, I rode hard and fast and I think I did a better job than the French guy's on the factory bikes. They should learn to go as fast in the race as they do in qualifying". Alex Cudlin, Kawasaki Diablo, 19th place: "Man, what a race. It was the toughest race I've done. When we had all of those dramas at the start of the race, it really hurt our chances. We had to just keep pushing, trying to lap as fast as we could with what he had, and see where it put us. 
"We ended in 19th position, but the points only go down to 15th position so we don't have any points after the first round, which is disappointing for all of us after trying so hard. We now just have to move to the next round and get a good result to get us back into the championship standings" Next Race: Albacete 6 Horas Nocturnas The next round of the QMMF Endurance FIM World Championship is the Albacete 6 Horas Nocturnas on the 5th of May.
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Damian Cudlin, Yamaha Austria, 4th place: "I don't think I need to tell you how tough this race was. There are points in this sport when you question your own sanity. Usually at about 4 in the morning!