YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL BATTLE VALIANTLY TO THE FLAG AT LE MANS

Yoshimura SERT Motul fought back from an early race set back at the 24 Heures Motos in France yesterday. The #12 Suzuki was circulating at the back of the field at the one-hour mark but with a heroic effort from the riders and crew the team finished in seventh position some 23 hours later.

Winners of the two previous editions of the opening round of the Endurance World Championship at Le Mans Yoshimura SERT Motul was in a good position and poised for a repeat performance this year. The team qualified on pole and were in a good place for the start of the 2023 championship.

Fast-starter Gregg Black grabbed the holeshot however his lead was brought to an abrupt halt on turn one when an accident caused both rider and bike to somersault over the gravel. The crash was hard and severely damaged the team’s GSX-R1000R however Black dug deep and managed to get the bike back to the team garage. The hugely experienced Yoshimura SERT Motul technical crew set about quickly repairing the Suzuki in just 17 minutes. Amazingly 29 minutes after the start of the race and 18 laps down Black was back out on the Bugatti racetrack.

It was clear to all that any hope of victory was destroyed but as ever and in keeping with its ethos the team never gave up. With a mission to salvage championship points the three Yoshimura SERT Motul pilots – Gregg Black Sylvain Guintoli and Etienne Masson – embarked on a courageous climb up the standings.

At the halfway point the team had closed the gap and was in 21st place. The three Suzuki riders maintained their fast pace throughout the night despite the particularly cool temperatures. At daybreak their efforts were rewarded with a move up to seventh position.

At the end of a courageous race Yoshimura SERT Motul left the Bugatti Circuit seventh on the day and seventh in the championship with 23 points scored.

The second round of the 2023 FIM Endurance World Championship will take place in Belgium from the 16th to 18th of June at the 24H Spa EWC Motos.

Yohei Kato – Team Director

It was an extremely difficult race and this is not the result we wanted. We really wanted to win here at Le Mans however our challenge for a third consecutive 24 Heures Motos win unfortunately ended on the first corner of the first lap. The crash was caused by contact with another rider but that’s part of racing. Our GSX-R1000R was really badly damaged but our crews showed tremendous teamwork and were able to repair the bike in 17 minutes. The whole team remained highly motivated and we pushed our way up to 7th place. The points for that position together with the five points from pole position in qualifying means we have gained 23 points. The championship has just started and we want to retake the win this year. The whole team is focused on trying to make up the lost points with the Yoshimura-tuned Suzuki GSX-R1000R! I would like to thank to our sponsors riders all my crew members helpers and fans who supported us. We got so many warm messages even during the race which helped us a lot!

Damien Saulnier – Team Manager

Quitting is not part of the team’s mindset. We gave it our all to get to the end and limit the damage to our championship chances as much as possible. The crash was very violent and honestly I think we did well. We were able to bring the bike back to the pits repair it and Gregg was not injured. After that a second race started for us. When you lose a lot of time you have to get back up adopt a more aggressive pace and therefore take risks. The three riders rode really well until the very end. We finished 7th and I think it is the best place we could have hoped for given the conditions. In the end it is of course a disappointment from a sporting point of view but nothing is over because we know that we have the potential to come back.

Gregg Black – Rider Blue

It was a difficult race for us in which the battle for victory from pole position lasted only 300 meters. I started in the lead but unfortunately a crash on turn one set us back. Now you have to take the positive. We were very good throughout the race the bike was reliable the team was very good and we could have been playing for a win or a podium. We will come back stronger. We can still score a lot of points and nothing is decided yet.

Sylvain Guintoli – Rider Yellow

We were unlucky with that crash at the first corner which was not due to Gregg’s mistake. Unfortunately we suffered from it during the whole race. It’s a pity because we were clearly on course for a very good result here as in the two previous editions. Our pole position is also a positive point so there is satisfaction we can take from this weekend. We must also congratulate the technical team who did a great job to repair the bike after this heavy crash. I also had a big crash at the end of the race due to an oil spill. It was a difficult race and in endurance racing when you are not lucky it gets complicated.

Etienne Masson – Rider Red

Of course we are disappointed. After Gregg’s crash we had to regain our motivation quite quickly in order to move up in the standings. The bike needed a few adjustments after it was repaired but then we were able to find our rhythm very quickly. The progress was constant until the next day at noon when bad luck hit us again. We still managed to score some points in the championship. That’s what we have to remember and the fact that we had the pace to fight for victory. Now we have to focus on Spa.

Qualifying

Pos.	Team	Machine	Avg. Lap
1	YOSHIMURA SERT Motul	SUZUKI GSX-R1000R	1:37.153
2	YART – Yamaha Official Team EWC	YAMAHA YZF-R1	1:37.242
3	F.C.C. TSR Honda France	HONDA CBR1000RR-R	1:37.764

Final

Pos.	Team	Machine	Laps
1	F.C.C. TSR Honda France	HONDA CBR1000RR-R	827Lp.
2	YART – Yamaha Official Team EWC	YAMAHA YZF-R1	825Lp.
3	BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM	BMW M1000RR	822Lp.
7	YOSHIMURA SERT Motul	SUZUKI GSX-R1000R	805Lp.

Ranking

Pos.	Team	Point
1	F.C.C. TSR Honda France	63P
2	YART – Yamaha Official Team EWC	54P
3	BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM	39P
4	ERC Endurance Ducati	38P
5	HONDA VILTAIS RACING	36P
6	TATI TEAM BERINGER RACING	33P
7	YOSHIMURA SERT Motul	23P
8	Kawasaki Webike Trickstar	23P
9	Wojcik Racing Team EWC	17P
10	Team Bolliger Switzerland #8	16P