Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Castrol Suzuki’s Warwick Nowland, Keiichi Kitagawa and Stephane Chambon won the 27th running of the Le Mans 24-hour at the Bugatti Circuit in France Sunday, April 4.

Castrol Suzuki completed 793 laps of the 2.59-mile, 13-turn circuit, covering 2053.9 miles on their Superproduction-spec, Dunlop-shod GSX-R1000 to win by 11 laps over pole-sitters Yamaha GMT94 (Stephane Gimbert/William Costes/David Checa), which completed 782 laps/2025.4 miles on a new, Pirelli-equipped YZF-R1.

A close race from the start, Castrol Suzuki took the lead from Yamaha GMT94 in the late going when Yamaha GMT94 lost several minutes in the pits making clutch repairs.

Yamaha Endurance Moto38 (Gwen Giabbani/Stephane Duterne/Jean-Michel Louis) finished third on a new, Dunlop-tired YZF-R1 with 769 laps/1991.7 miles.

The race was entered by 59 teams; 37 reached the finish.

The Le Mans 24-hour, together with the Spa 24-hour and the Bol d’Or 24-hour, form the three-race Master of Endurance series and are not part of the FIM-sanctioned, FGSport Group-managed Endurance World Championship.

Le Mans 24-hour Results:

1. Castrol Suzuki (Warwick Nowland/Keiichi Kitagawa/Stephane Chambon), Suz GSX-R1000, 793 laps, 2053.9 miles

2. Yamaha GMT94 (Stephane Gimbert/William Costes/David Checa), Yam YZF-R1, 782 laps, 2025.4 miles

3. Yamaha Endurance Moto38 (Gwen Giabbani/Stephane Duterne/Jean-Michel Louis), Yam YZF-R1, 769 laps, 1991.7 miles

4. Suzuki Junior Team (Guillaume Dietrich/David fouloi/Laurry Fremy), Suz GSX-R1000, 766 laps, 1984.0 miles

5. Bollinger Team Switzerland (Marcel Kellenberger/Roman Stamm/David Morillon), Kaw ZX-10R, 764 laps, 1978.8 miles

6. National Moto Playstation 2 (Philippe Donischal/Bernard Fourcadet/Bruno Bonhuil), Hon CBR1000RR, 761 laps, 1971.0 miles

7. Team 44 Village Moto Nantes (Gerard Jolivet/Michael Amalric/Stephane Neff), Suz GSX-R1000, 755 laps, 1955.4 miles

8. Sarthe Racing Kart (Thomas Metro/Jocelyn Hars/Giovanni Legname), Suz GSX-R1000, 752 laps, 1947.7 miles

9. Team Chalon Motos (Vincent Bocquet/Russell Baker/Phil Giles), Yam YZF-R1, 750 laps, 1942.5 miles

10. Suzuki Castrol Team (Vincent Philippe/Olivier Four/Mathieu Lagrive), Suz GSX-R1000, 750 laps, 1942.5 miles