Suzuki Castrol Win Albacete 8H Yamahas Second and Third The Albacete 8 Horas Nocturnas round of the FIM World Endurance Championship has been won by the Suzuki Castrol GSX-R1000 of Vincent Philippe and Keiichi Kitagawa. Second place went to Spanish team Yamaha Folch Endurance, and third to Yamaha Austria. The first hour saw a battle for honour between championship leaders Suzuki Castrol and local heroes Folch Endurance, as Vincent Philippe and Folch rider Daniel Ribalta swapped the lead repeatedly. Yamaha Austria’s Gwen Giabbani settled into a comfortable third place, while Kawasaki Bolliger and Yamaha Phase One Endurance fought for fourth. The first round of pit stops allowed Suzuki Castrol to break away and build up a lead over the rest of the field, a lead which they extended hour by hour through the race. Folch Endurance and Yamaha Austria continued to trade places for the next four or five hours, with no real advantage emerging. A similar fight was developing further down the field, as Kawasaki Diablo, Shell Endurance Academy, Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se and the Sapeurs Pompiers team chased sixth place. Fagersjo-el succumbed to an electrical fault which led to their retirement after a long push-in for Paul Young. The other continued trading places until the closing minutes of the race, with Sapeurs Pompiers finishing sixth, Shell Endurance Academy seventh and Diablo eighth. Yamaha Phase One seemed set for a sure fourth place until the final hour when suspected engine problems brought them into the pits for a diagnostic check and then in again to cool the bike, allowing Bolliger Kawasaki through to take fourth. Suzuki No Limits & RT Motor Team finished in ninth place, just ahead of fellow Italians Suzuki Fabi Corse. The win for Suzuki Castrol has allowed them to stretch out a 19 point advantage in the championship standings. The next round of the championship is the Suzuka 8 hours on July 31st. Press Conference Quotes: Vincent Philippe Suzuki Castrol 1st Place: “In the first relay it was quite difficult to go past Folch Endurance, and I was thinking of the championship and not just this one race. This is a very good result for us in the championship.” Keiichi Kitagawa Suzuki Castrol 1st Place: “We must do something special for the Suzuka 8 Hour race, because the level of competition there is very high. We hope to get a special engine from the Suzuki factory, and I will be competing in the Suzuka 300km race next month with Vincent Philippe for preparation.” Daniel Ribalta Yamaha Folch 2nd Place “We had competed in the Spanish championship here two weeks ago, so it was easy to get into a fast rythmn at the start fo the race. It was important for us to get a good result here, and not just lead in the first hour.” Thomas Hinterreiter Yamaha Austria 3rd Place: “Right now I feel okay, but in the race it was very difficult. I have an injury in my wrist and in my foot, so it was very hard doing back-to-back relays with Gwen Provisional Top Ten Finishers 1st 2 – Suzuki Castrol Team FRA Suzuki GSX-R1000 Philippe, Kitagawa, 299 laps 2nd 23 Yamaha Folch Endurance SPA Yamaha YZF-R1 Ribalta, Noyes, Cabana, 296 laps 3rd 7 – Yamaha Austria 7 AUT Yamaha YZF-R1 Giabbani, Hinterreiter, 294 laps 4th 8 Kawasaki Bolliger Team SUI Kawasaki ZX10R Kellenberger, Morillon, Mizera, 293 laps 5th 3 Yamaha Phase One Endurance GBR Yamaha YZF-R1 Cudlin, Notman, Nowland, 288 laps 6th 112 Suzuki Sapeurs Pompiers FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 Molinier, Pialoux, Grelaud, 287 laps 7th 6 Yamaha Shell Endurance Academy GBR Yamaha YZF-R1 Rohtlaan, Wylie, Hogan, +0:03.2 8th 666 Kawasaki Diablo 666 GBR Kawasaki ZX10R Mizera, Hutchins, Falcke, + 1:01.6 9th 44 No Limits & RT Motor Team ITA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 Ruozi, De Matteis, Giachino, 284 laps 10th 51 Suzuki Fabi Corse ITA Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Monot, Vieira, Lalavee, 282 laps Fastest Lap: Suzuki Castrol Vincent Philippe 1:33.660, 136.028km/h More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Team Suzuki Castrol has won the Albacete 8 Horas and increased their lead in the five-round world Endurance series to 19 points. GSX-R1000-mounted Vincent Philippe and Keiichi Kitagawa clinched their second win of the year at the night race, which finished at 2am local time in Spain. The SERT team – fastest in practice and qualifying – led from the start and were never seriously challenged during their winning 299 laps, three more than second-placed Yamaha Folch Endurance 23 and six ahead of Yamaha Austria 7 in third place.. Said Philippe: “In the first relay it was quite difficult to get past Folch Endurance and I was thinking of the championship and not just this one race. This is a very good result for us in the championship.” Team mate Kitagawa added: “We must do something special for the next round, Suzuka 8 Hour race, because the level of competition there is very high. We hope to get a special engine from the Suzuki factory and I will be competing in the Suzuka 300km race next month with Vincent Philippe for preparation.” The first hour saw a battle for honour between Suzuki Castrol and local heroes Folch Endurance, as Philippe and Folch rider Daniel Ribalta swapped the lead repeatedly. Yamaha Austria’s Gwen Giabbani settled into a comfortable third place while Kawasaki Bolliger and Yamaha Phase One Endurance fought for fourth position. The first round of pit stops allowed Suzuki Castrol to break away and build up a lead over the rest of the field, a lead which they extended hour by hour through the race. Folch Endurance and Yamaha Austria continued to trade places for the next five hours. A similar fight was developing further down the field, as Kawasaki Diablo, Shell Endurance Academy, Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se and the Sapeurs Pompiers team chased sixth place. Fagersjo-el suffered an electrical fault which led to their retirement after a long push-in for Paul Young. The others continued swapping places until the closing minutes of the race, with Sapeurs Pompiers finishing sixth, Shell Endurance Academy seventh and Diablo eighth. Yamaha Phase One seemed set for a sure fourth place until the final hour when suspected engine problems brought them into the pits for a diagnostic check and then in again to cool the bike down which allowed Bolliger Kawasaki through to take the position. Suzuki No Limits & RT Motor Team finished in ninth place, just ahead of fellow Italians Suzuki Fabi Corse. Results: 1st: Suzuki Castrol Team – FRA – (Suzuki GSX-R1000) – Philippe, Kitagawa, 299 laps. 2nd: Yamaha Folch Endurance 23 – SPA – (Yamaha YZF-R1) – Ribalta, Noyes, Cabana, 296 laps. 3rd: Yamaha Austria 7 – AUT – (Yamaha YZF-R1) – Giabbani, Hinterreiter, 294 laps. 4th: Kawasaki Bolliger Team – SUI – (Kawasaki ZX10R) – Kellenberger, Morillon, Mizera, 293 laps. 5th: Yamaha Phase One Endurance – GBR – (Yamaha YZF-R1) – Cudlin, Notman, Nowland, 288 laps. 6th: Suzuki Sapeurs Pompiers – FRA – (Suzuki GSX-R1000) – Molinier, Pialoux, Grelaud, 287 laps. 7th: Yamaha Shell Endurance Academy – GBR – (Yamaha YZF-R1) – Rohtlaan, Wylie, Hogan, +0:03.2. 8th: Kawasaki Diablo 666 – GBR – (Kawasaki ZX10R) – Mizera, Hutchins, Falcke, + 1:01.6. 9th: No Limits & RT Motor Team – ITA – (Suzuki GSX-R1000) – Ruozi, De Matteis, Giachino, 284 laps. 10th: Suzuki Fabi Corse – ITA – (Suzuki GSX-R1000) – Monot, Vieira, Lalavee, 282 laps. Fastest Lap: Suzuki Castrol – Vincent Philippe – 1:33.660, 136.028km/h. Championship Points (after 2 of 5 rounds): 1 Suzuki Castrol 55, 2 Bolliger Team Switzerland 36, 3 Yamaha Austria Racing Team 30, 4 Diablo 666 Bolliger 26, 5 Yamaha Phase One Endurance 26, 6 Folch Endurance 23 24, 7 Shell Endurance Academy 20, 8 No Limits 44 – Team Marchetti 13, 9 Sapeurs Pompiers 18 12, 10 Team Fagersjo-el.se 10.