Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

GMT94 won the 24-hour Endurance World Championship race at Oschersleben in Germany on a Yamaha YZF-R1.

GMT94’s Sebastian Scarnato, Serafino Foti and David Checa came back from a lap-two, oil-caused pile-up to win the long race with a two-lap margin of victory.

GMT94 caught race leaders Suzuki GB Phase One, which includes American riders Jason Pridmore and Josh Hayes, in the middle of the night, and, according to the official website of the Endurance World Championship, a battle ensued. Suzuki GB Phase One’s riders upped their speed on the track to match GMT94’s quicker pace, while the teams’ pit crews matched each other stop-for-stop. Then Suzuki GB Phase One’s Hayes encountered probems in the early morning hours, which cost the team two laps in the pits for minor repairs, but the damage was done. GMT94 gained a two-lap lead, and Suzuki GB Phase One had to consolidate for second place.

Suzuki GB Phase One now, unofficially, takes the FIM Endurance World Championship point lead 139 to 116 over Zongshen Suzuki 1, which retired early in the 24-hour after a crash. Suzuki GB Phase One should be able to win the World Championship with a 13th or better finish at the final round of the series October 5.

Endurance Moto 38, winners of last year’s Oschersleben 24-hour and another victim of the second-lap crash, came back to score third in front of Zongshen Suzuki 2 and Team Bolliger Kawasaki.


More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group:

Yamaha GMT94 Win Oschersleben 24 Hour

Significant Yamaha Victory and First Italian and Spaniard Win in Recent Years

The Oschersleben 24 Hour round of the FIM World Endurance Championship has been won by the French Yamaha GMT94 YZF-R1 ridden by Frenchman Sebastien Scarnato, Italian Serafino Foti and and Spaniard David Checa.

GMT94 were involved in the second lap incident that claimed several of the top teams, but quick pitwork got them back out on the track and racing again in record time. The three riders then put in one of the best performances of the season to climb back through the field to challenge for second place during the night, eventually passing and pulling clear of second place finishers Suzuki GB Phase One after the British team had a minor crash.

Third place went to another Yamaha, in the hands of last years’ Oschersleben winners, Endurance Moto 38. They were another team who were involved in the second lap crash and then managed to claw back a great result. Fourth placed Suzuki Zongshen No.2 had led the race after the Zongshen No.1 bike crashed out of the race, but brake pad and then clutch problems dropped them down the standings. Fifth place went to the Swiss Kawasaki Bolliger team who put in a classic consistent endurance performance to finish the race in the top five with very little drama.

The 24 Hour race was incident packed from the moment it started, with Zongshen 1, GMT94, Police Nationale, Endurance Moto 38 and Yamaha Austria crashing on oil on lap 2. The pace car was called out for the only time in the race while the track was cleared, and the bikes were able to return to the pits for repairs.

Championship leading Zongshen No.1 were one of the last to rejoin the race, compounding their bad luck with a stop-go penalty and then a crash which injured Igor Jerman and ruled them out of the race. This put the pressure on the remaining teams to make the most of the double points available at a 24 hour race, with Suzuki GB Phase One setting off after Zongshen No.2 while GMT94, Endurance Moto 38, Police Nationale and Yamaha Austria forced their way through the back markers.

GMT94’s David Checa set a blistering pace and it was inevitable that they would catch the leaders. An overnight battle with Phase One was one of the high points of the weekend, the two teams trading lap times and pit stops until Phase One’s Josh Hayes ran off the track and had to pit for repairs. He was able to rejoin the race but GMT94 proved to be un-catchable, forcing Phase One to settle for second place. This is the best result of the year for Yamaha, two bikes on the podium prove that the R1 is now competitive with Suzuki’s GSX-R1000 in World Endurance. Kawasaki also did well with Bolliger’s fifth place. Ducati finished in thirteenth place, Honda in twenty first and Triumph in thirty first place. Just completing this most challenging of all 24 hour races is a real achievement.