From a press release issued by FGSport Group:

Suzuki Castrol’s team of Vincent Phillipe, Olivier Four and Matthieu Lagrive have won the Albacete 12 Horas Nocturnas round of the FIM World Endurance Championship.

Suzuki Castrol took the lead on lap 6 of the 448 lap race and held it for the next eleven and three quarter hours. Behind them the battle for second place raged through the night as Yamaha GMT94 and Yamaha Endurance Moto 38 swapped positions repeatedly. Neither team was able to build up a convincing advantage until the final hour and a half of the race, when GMT94 took the lead after a pit stop by Endurance Moto 38. They were able to build on this lead until they passed Moto 38 on the track – an advantage which they held until the end of the race.

Fourth place was equally closely fought, eventually being won by Yamaha Austria after Kawasaki Bolliger had to change brake pads during a routine pit stop. WRT Honda Austria had also been in contention for fourth place until a series of gearchange problems dropped them down the standings.

The race was incident packed for the rest of the field as well. 2003 World Endurance Champions Yamaha Phase One worked their way up to fourth place in the second hour, only to have their gearbox fail, forcing them to retire from the race. Spanish wildcard entry Yamaha Folch Endurance qualified in fifth place and ran with the leaders in the early stages until a minor crash forced them to pit for repairs. Five hours into the race their slipper-clutch failed and they were also forced to retire.

MV Agusta Burger King Lust debuted their new MV 1000F4s this weekend, but suffered a series of minor setbacks which ruled them out of the race results. However, with a Moto Guzzi MGS-01 entered by Classic Co., a Ducati 999R entered by Escuderia Grupo 2002 Autoferro and the full-time World Endurance Championship team X-One running a Benelli Tornado, this weekend’s race saw an unprecedented eight manufacturers taking part, four of whom finished in the top six places.

Provisional World Endurance Results from Albacete:

1. 3 Suzuki-Castrol Team, FRA, Suzuki GSX-R1000 (Vincent Philippe FRA, Olivier Four FRA, Matthieu Lagrive FRA)

2. 94 Yamaha – GMT 94, FRA, Yamaha YZF-R1 (William Costes FRA, Sébastien Gimbert FRA, David Checa SPA)

3. 38 Endurance Moto 38, FRA, Yamaha YZF-R1 Gwen (Giabbani FRA, Frederic Jond FRA, Stephane Duterne FRA)

4. 7 Yamaha Austria Racing Team, AUT, Yamaha YZF-R1 (Horst Saiger AUT, Igor Jerman SLO, Marc Garcia FRA)

5. 8 Bolliger Team Switzerland, SUI, Kawasaki ZX-10R (Marcel Kellenberger SUI, Laurent Brian FRA, David Morillon FRA)

6. 5 WRT-Honda Austria, AUT, Honda CBR1000RR (Erwin Wilding AUT, Karl Truchsess AUT, Phillipe Dobe FRA)

7. 6 Shell Endurance Academy, GBR, Yamaha YZF-R1 (Henry Fincher GBR, Marko Rothlaan EST, Alek Buseki POL)

8. 4 JET Team, SUI, Suzuki GSX-R1000 (Claude-Alain Jaggi SUI, Eric Monot FRA, Sylvain Waldmeier SUI)

9. 15 Team Innodrom Racing, GER, Suzuki GSX-R1000 (Sandor Bitter HUN, Frank Spenner GER, Niggi Schmassmann SUI)

10. 44 No Limits Team, ITA, Suzuki GSX-R1000 (Roberto Ruozi ITA, Andrea Giachino ITA, Moreno Codeluppi ITA)


25. 1 Yamaha Phase One Endurance, GBR, Yamaha YZF-R1 (Sébastien Scarnato FRA, Dean Ellison GBR, Patrick Piot FRA), DNF (1 lap completed)