However, Steve Plater has already been named as riding with Yamaha GMT94 at the Le Mans 24H and Bol d'Or 24H, so Olivier Four will ride for YART at those two races.

Four is no stranger to Le Mans, having won there in 2006. He is also a more experienced endurance rider than Plater, having served his apprenticeship with LMS72 and then SERT. Having a French rider on board may also prove a political advantage for the Austrians.

It's On The Internet So It Must be True

The official Le Mans entry list has been published by the FIM.

SERT Suzuki will run two teams, with Philippe, Lagrive and Da Costa backed up by Costes, Dietrich and Neukirchner. As previously mentioned, Cudlin senior joins Pridmore and Stanton at Phase One, while Bolliger stick with Morillon, Muff and Saiger.

Giabbani heads the Kawasaki France team, with only one entry from them this year. The National Motos Honda will be ridden by Bouan, Marchand and Metro.

Warwick Nowland is listed as riding for Maco Moto, with Miksovsky as second rider but no third rider named. Hinterreiter showed the potential of the Maco Moto Yamaha last year, so if the team can find a good third rider (Perhaps Steve Plater is available?) we may see them at the front of the field.

La Fortezza X One have listed Simone Sanna alongside Tessari and Ricci, with Will Gruy as reserve, while the Motors TV MV Agusta could well spring some surprises with the experienced trio of Piot, Scarnato and Monge.

Diablo Kawasaki will field Hutchins, Cudlin junior and Gary Mason, while fellow Brit John Crockford – rumoured to be riding for SERT – will join Thompson and Layt on the Alf's Kawasaki. The only British rider in the SuperStock1000 class will be Phil Giles with Team Endurance 33.

Four teams have entered the Open class, with the two BMW HP2 Sports joined by the funny-front-end Metiss and the DERT Ducati. Both the Ducati 1098 and 999 are homologated for Formula WEC and STK1000 so we're now wondering what DERT have done to theirs to make it an Open class bike...

The full list is here: www.lemans.org/24heuresmoto/live/pages/engages_fr.html