IN
THE
WIND
P32
SRC Kawasaki
Takes 2019
Le Mans Win
T
eam SRC Kawasaki won the 24
Hours of Le Mans 2019, follow-
ing a tense race-long battle with the
Honda Endurance Racing Team.
The Kawasaki squad of Jérémy
Guarnoni, David Checa and Erwan
Nigon completed 839 laps of the
Bugatti Circuit, as did the Honda
squad of Randy de Puniet, Yonny
Hernández and Sébastien Gimbert,
although they were 60 seconds off
the win in what was the closest-ever
finish at Le Mans.
Third for the 2019 endurance clas-
sic went to the Suzuki Endurance
Racing Team with riders Vincent
Philippe, Etienne Masson and Gregg
Black. The French squad finished
one lap down in what was legendary
Suzuki team manager Dominique
Meliand's last-ever 24-hour event.
Wepol Racing (Yamaha), Bolliger
Team Switzerland (Kawasaki), 3ART-Moto Team 95
(Yamaha) and National Motos (Honda) also pulled
off solid performances to finish fourth, fifth, sixth
and eighth, respectively, more than 10 laps behind
the three squads leading the race. National Mo-
tors also took the victory in the
Superstock class.
It was a shocking Le Mans
24 Hours for defending champi-
ons F.C.C. TSR Honda France,
with two crashes dropping
the team out of the points at 35th at the flag.
Likewise, pole sitters Team ERC-BMW
Motorrad Endurance suffered a crash due to a
mechanical problem and retired. The Yamaha
Austria Racing Team, who qualified second on
the grid, retired at 1:30 am with engine failure.
America Melissa Paris and the Girls Rac-
ing Team came home 30th overall and 15th in
Superstock. CN
Team SRC Kawasaki (11)
won the 24 Hours of Le
Mans 2019. PHOTO: EWC
The Honda
Endurance Racing
Team put up a good
fight making for a
record-close finish.
PHOTO: HONDA RACING
