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/812433
IN THE WIND P44 GMT94 YAMAHA TAKES RECORD-BREAKING LE MANS WIN T eam GMT94 Yamaha with riders David Checa, Niccolò Canepa and Mike Di Meglio took a dramatic victory in the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hour over fellow factory outfit Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART—Broc Parkes, Marvin Fritz and Kohta No- zane), April 15-16. The winning margin was the closest in the his- tory of the race, with GMT crossing the line 19.819 seconds clear of YART after a frenzied 24 hours of racing. The 2017 race also saw the most number of laps in the race's history completed, with GMT94 and YART completing a mammoth 860 laps of the legendary 2.6-mile venue. Third place went to the pole-winning SRC Kawa- saki team with riders Randy de Puniet, Fabien Foret and Mathieu Gines, some 12 laps down on the dominating Yamaha duo after early crashes halted their charge. YART were the ones who looked on course for the victory in France after taking an early lead and holding it for the majority of the race, until GMT94 came storming into the lead in controversial cir- cumstances in hour 21, after knocking off the EVA RT Webike Trick Star at turn four late in the race. Former MotoGP rider Mike Di Meglio then held on to take the flag, his maiden triumph in the 24 Hour. Fourth place went to the Suzuki Endurance Rac- ing Team (SERT—Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Alex Cudlin). The current World Champions suffered with a crash during the race, but still man- aged to claw to within 45 seconds of the podium behind SRC Kawasaki. Fifth went to the F.C.C. TSR Honda squad of rid- ers Gregg Black, Damian Cudlin and Arturo Tizon. Tati Team Beaujolais Racing Kawasaki (Julien Enjolras, Dylan Buisson and Kevin Denis) took sixth place and the top Superstock honors. In the championship, SERT still stands atop the standings at 95 points thanks to their victory in the first round of the 2016/2017 season at the Bol d'Or, held last September at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. SRC Kawasaki sits second at 92 with GMT94 Yamaha third with 71 points. CN NORTON'S CASH INJECTION N orton Motorcycles has received a cash invest- ment of $3.77 million from European bank Santander Corporate & Commercial, a deal that will see production ramped up from 40 motorcycles per month to over 130. Norton currently claims to produce about 450 motorcycles per year, with the new money set to increase that level to 1500. The new money will also see 40 new jobs coming to the Norton factory, currently located at the Donington Park racetrack. CN Norton's cashed up, and is planning on making it count.