Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127941
ROAD RACE WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP By Johan Vandekerckhove Photos by Mark Wernham LE MANS, FRANCE, APR. 18-19 s Ducati, Yamaha and Honda continue theiT conquest of the World Superbike Championship, Suzuki and Kawasaki remain the teams to beat in World Endurance racing. After the domination of Suzuki with Doug Polen and Peter Goddard in 1997, this season might be the year of the Kawasaki. At least that appears to be the case if we base judgment on the Kawasaki-dominated 24 Hours of Le Mans. But it was not the logical fa vorites who crossed the finish line first. Despite the presence of five other factory bikes with far more experienced riders, it was the French-Slovenian team of Bertrand Sebileau, Thierry Paillot and Igor Jerman that took victory in the 21st edition of the grueling French endurance race. The result seems to confirm that endurance racing is the only road race discipline where outsiders still stand a chance against the "real" stars. On the other hand, there were fewer big than usual for the start of the classic French race, with more than half of the sea ts on the six factory bikes taken by local riders. . Whatever the star content on the track, the 24 Heures du Mans remains one of the big events of motorcycling in guns Europe, with some 65,000 specta tors joining in despite the terrible weather that had been forecast for the third weekend of April. And the rain carne pouring down during the qualifying, resulting in a somewhat unexpected lineup. Pole position went to the private Honda RC45 ridden by Frenchmen Sebastien Charpentier, Bertrand Stey .and Nicolas Dussauge. During the final qualifying session for the lead riders, Charpentier stayed ahead of Piergiorgio Bontempi on a wet track. Behind the backs of the French privateers, the six works teams followed closely, with Eric Gomez/Terry Rymer / Brian Morrison, Piergiorgio Bontempi/Christian Lavilla /Jehan d'Orgeix, Stephane CoutelJe/Dobe/ Arnaud Vandenbossche, Jean-Marc Deletang/Christer Lindholm/Jean-Philippe Jeandat, Christian Lavieille/Doug Polen/Riba, and Sebileau/PaiUot/Jerman filling up slots two through seven on the starting grid. Right from the start, it was a Kawasaki day. Piergiorgio Bontempi took over command after some two miles, fol'lowed by the number-one Suzuki of Terry Rymer. The tall Brit would hold on to the runner-up position for just a few laps until the second Kawasaki, ridden by Sebileau, quickly pushed him one place down. Behind, and after a soinewhat difficult start, came the works Honda ridden by Polen. The Texan was making up ground fast, leading the fastest qualifiers, Daffix Honda, around Le Mans. After the first 30 minutes, the leading men seemed to have settled in their positions, with Bontempi leading Sebileau and the two Suzukis of Rymer (Top) The start that made It famous riders race to their bikes In the Le Mans-style start for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. (Above) Surprisingly, It was the team Bertrand·$eblleau, Thierry Palllot and Igor Jerman that took victory in the 21 st edition of the French classic. (Left) Doug Polen made his Honda RC45 endurance debut, helping nis team finish fourth. and Coutelle. After two hours, things started to go wrong for the blue bikes. At that point, Rymer was reported to have stopped somewhere on the circuit. The Brit pushed the bike back to the pit lane, where the front brake system was replaced - an operation that cost the team some eight laps. After about six hours, the pace cars came on to the track for the first tirne' (they came aut four' times in all) after a crash involving Andre Lussiana and Christian Haquin. After a quarter of an hour of neutralization, things got under way again, with the works Honda again trying to make up ground after same problems with the rear wheel. As night fell over Le Mans, ,rain was still nowhere to be seen, and the teams started their nightly adventure in almost perfect conditions - a dry track and mild temperatures. At around 10 p.m., the pace cars went out again - this time due to 'a crash on an oil trail involving four tearns (and marking the end of almost every o~ of the 10 Belgian riders who had started the race). Some 25 minutes later, the lights were again turned to green. At around the midway stage, the top three changed for the first time. At. that