Race results Le Mans 24 Hours Le Mans France April 22 – 23, 2006. National Motos Honda victorious at Le Mans 24 Hours. 1. National Motos Honda CBR1000RR F.Protat FRA, O.Four FRA, D.Ribalta ESP 2. Suzuki Castrol Team/Suzuki GSX-R1000 V.Philippe FRA, K.Kitagawa JAP, M.Lagrive FRA 3. GMT 94 Yamaha YZF-R1 D.Checa SPA, S.Gimbert FRA, G.McCoy AUS, C.Guyot FRA 4. Bolliger Team Switzerland Kawasaki ZX10R D.Morillon FRA, P.Muff, SUI, H.Saiger AUT, M.Kellenberger SUI. 5. Infini Team Yohann Moto Sport Suzuki GSX-R1000 Ch.Michel FRA, J.Tangre FRA, V.Bocquet FRA. 6. No Limits & RT Moto Virus Suzuki GSX-R1000. R.Ruozi ITA, E.Monot FRA, F.Jond FRA, M.Codeluppi ITA. 7. Maccio Racing Kawasaki ZX10R S.De Rosa FRA, L.Fremy FRA, R.Moisan FRA. 8. Team Fagersjo-el Suzuki GSX-R1000 J.Hanson SWE, T.Andersson SWE, P.Johansson SWE, N.Carlberg SWE. 9. Team Endurance Moto 45 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Th.Perreau FRA, N.Duprez FRA, D.Briere FRA. 10. RMT 21 Racing Honda CBR1000RR S.Mizera GER, R.Chevre SUI, H.Steuer GER, T.Roth GER. 11. Team 18 Sapeurs-Pompiers Suzuki GSX-R1000 St.Molinier FRA, G.Grelaud FRA, G.Pialoux FRA. 12. Aprilia Motociclismo Test Team Aprilia RSV1000 F.Aliverti ITA, F.Pellizzon ITA, D.Veghini ITA. 13. Team LTG Yamaha YZF-R1 C.Huvier FRA, A.Moreno FRA, J.Cauchard FRA, L.A.Achon FRA. 14. Team Raffin Motos Kawasaki ZX10R D.Chene FRA, W.Veille FRA, St.Kokes FRA. 15. Team X-One Yamaha YZF-R1 P.Tessari ITA, G.De Matteis ITA, S.Sanna ITA, R.Repeti ITA. More, from a press release issued by Suzuki Racing: Apr 23, 2006 Reigning World Endurance Champions Suzuki Castrol clawed back from a heavy crash in the first hour to finish runners-up at the Le Mans 24-hour second round in France that finished this afternoon. The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) of Keiichi Kitagawa, Mathieu Lagrive and Vincent Philippe were only two laps behind winners, National Motors Honda, after 817 laps of racing. Kitagawa put the GSX-R1000 to the front early on, closely pursued by Suzuki Castrol’s second team, but shortly after his first fuel stop he fell heavily, causing the safety car to be brought out which allowed the Suzuki 2 squad to take the lead. Suzuki No.1 then began their long climb back through the field from 49th position as the front-running Yamaha Austria team fell behind and then retired from the race with cylinder head problems. The order remained the same for much of Saturday with Suzuki No.2, Yamaha GMT94 and National Motos Honda filling the top three places until late into the night when GMT94 pitted with an electrical problem. This let the Honda through to second and Suzuki No.1 who had now climbed to third ahead of GMT94 and Kawasaki Bolliger. The order of the race leaders remained static through the night, but dramas continued behind them: Kawasaki Diablo retired with a broken gearbox, Yamaha Phase One with a blown cylinder head gasket, and Suzuki Innodrom with a broken gearbox. But with just four hours to go, any thoughts of a comfortable run to victory were dashed for Suzuki No.2; they pitted after a crash and eventually retired with machine damage. While Suzuki No.2 were in the pits trying to diagnose the problem, Gary McCoy crashed the GMT94 Yamaha heavily: He managed to limp the bike back to the pits but National Motos Honda took the lead and Suzuki Castrol No.1 moved to second place before GMT94 could rejoin the race. Said Lagrive: “For me the race was not very easy. With my injured hand I could manage 20 laps ok, but 30 laps was very difficult. This morning I had no sensation in the left hand; it’s not possible to ride the bike well with just one hand, but I stayed fast.” SERT Team Manager Dominique Meliand, added: “I didn’t worry that the No.1 bike would have the same problem as the other Suzukis; on the No.72 it was a head gasket and for No.72 the problem was changing the forks. For the No.1 bike it was necessary to score the maximum points rather than just having outright speed and going for the win. For No.2 it was different, it was win or nothing.” More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group: Honda Win Le Mans 24 Hour Suzuki 2nd – Yamaha 3rd – Kawasaki 4th The National Motos Honda CBR1000RR of Protat, Four and Ribalta has won the Le Mans 24 Hour round of the FIM World Endurance Championship. Second place went to the No.2 Suzuki Castrol GSX-R1000 of Philippe, Kitagawa and Lagrive, third place went to the Yamaha GMT94 YZF-R1 of Gimbert, Checa and McCoy, and fourth to the Bolliger Kawasaki ZX10R of Morillion, Muff and Saiger. The No.1 Suzuki Castrol bike led the first hour, pursued by the No.2 Suzuki Castrol and with the two Yamahas of GMT94 and Yamaha Austria close behind. Shortly after the first fuelling stop, Keiichi Kitagawa crashed the No.2 Suzuki heavily, bringing the pace out car for the first of many times during an incident packed race. Suzuki No.2 took the lead while the No.1 bike was repaired, ahead of National Motos Honda, Yamaha GMT94, Team Kawasaki France and Yamaha Austria. Suzuki No.1 then began their long climb back through the field. Yamaha Austria fell behind and then retired from the race with cylinder head problems shortly afterwards, and Team Kawasaki France were also forced to retire after a heavy crash. The order remained Suzuki No.2, Yamaha GMT94, National Motos Honda until late on Saturday night when GMT94 pitted with an electrical problem. This let the Honda through to second and Suzuki No.1 had now climbed to third while Kawasaki Bolliger had made their way to fifth place behind GMT94 after a steady and consistent performance. The order of the race leaders remained static through the night, but dramas continued behind them. Kawasaki Diablo retired with a broken gearbox, Yamaha Phase One with a blown cylinder head gasket, and Suzuki Innodrom also with a broken gearbox. With four hours to go, any thoughts of a comfortable run to victory were dashed for Suzuki No.2; they pitted after a crash and eventually retired. While Suzuki No.2 were in the pits trying to diagnose the problem, Gary McCoy crashed the GMT94 Yamaha heavily. He managed to limp the bike back to the pits but National Motos Honda had taken the lead and Suzuki Castrol No.1 second place before GMT94 could rejoin the race. Kawasaki Bolliger, meanwhile, had been running a classic endurance race; making up time on track through consistency and in pit lane through rapid and well polished fuel and tyre stops. Italian Suzuki squad No Limits & RT Racing Team ran a similar smooth race, as did Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se, Endurance Moto45 and RMT Racing Honda. The Le Mans 24 Hour is one of the toughest races on the calendar, with only 33 of the 56 starters making it to the end. The next stop for the World Endurance Championship is the Albacete 8 Horas Nocturnas on May 20th. Press Conference Quotes Frederic Protat, National Motos Honda, 1st place: “What a great race. It’s my first time at the Le Mans 24 hours, and it’s unbelievable. I’d like to thank my team mates Olivier and Daniel and the rest of the team.” Dominique Meliand, Suzuki Castrol team manager, 2nd place: “I didn’t worry that the No.1 bike would have the same problem as the other Suzukis; on the No.72 it was a head gasket and for No.72 the problem was changing the forks. For the No.1 bike it was necessary to score the maximum points rather than just having outright speed and going for the win. For No.2 it was different, it was win or nothing.” Mattheiu Lagrive, Suzuki Casrol, second place: “For me the race was not very easy. With my injured hand I could manage 20 laps but 30 laps was difficult. This morning I had no sensation in the left hand; it’s not possible to ride the bike well with just one hand, but I stayed fast.” Gary McCoy, Yamaha GMT94, 3rd place: “It’s great to be on the podium but I couldn’t do my last two rides so I left Sebastien and David with more work to do. Will I be at the Bol d’Or with GMT94? The team work well, I like the riders and it’s a great package. If we can do some more testing”¦ it’s a possibility.” Horst Saiger, Kawasaki Bolliger, 4th place: “For us this was a great success. To finish in the top four is perfect. We didn’t have the speed of the people in front, but we had enough and we could keep it going the whole race. It was not an easy race until the last few hours. A hard fight right from the start of the race.” Provisional Top Ten Finishing Positions 1st 55 National Motos Honda – FRA – Honda CBR1000RR – Protat, Four, Ribalta – 817 laps 2nd 2 – Suzuki Castrol – FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Philippe, Kitagawa, Lagirve – 815 laps 3rd 94 Yamaha GMT94 – FRA – Yamaha YZF-R1 – Gimbert, Checa, McCoy – 804 laps 4th 8 – Kawasaki Bolliger – SUI – Kawasaki ZX10R – Muff, Saiger, Morillon – 799 laps 5th 10 – Infini Team Suzuki – FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Michel, Tangre, Bocquiet – 793 laps (1st SPR) 6th 44 – Suzuki No Limits & RT – ITA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Ruozi, Monot, Jond – 789 laps 7th 83 – Kawasaki Maccio Racing – FRA – De Rosa, Fremy, Moisin – 788 laps (1st STK) 8th 12 – Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se – SWE – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Hanson, Andersson, Carlberg – 787 laps 9th 100 – Suzuki Endurance Moto45 – FRA – Perrerau, Duprez, Briere – 786 laps 10th 21 – RMT21 Racing Honda – GER – Honda CBR1000RR – Mizera, Chevre, Steuer +1.21.018