Photo : Pascal BLEJEAN (ACO)

 

Ten years after its first crown in the FIM World Endurance Championship the Yamaha Racing GMT 94 Michelin team arrives at Le Mans as the hot favourite to win the title. Christophe Guyot’s squad has had a pretty good season so far after clinching a couple of second places in the Bol d’Or and the Oschersleben 8 Hours.

However, the works Yamaha squad will have to fight off the Bolliger Team Switzerland that is among the most experienced in the field, and is currently lying second overall 21 points behind with its no. 8 Kawasaki.

However, its highest-profile rival is the works ‘green’ make’s team, SRC Kawasaki. It has scored four consecutive victories in the 24 Heures Moto (2010 to 2013), and is in third place only 22 points behind the leaders. The winner of the 24 Heures Moto will score 35 points plus a 10-point bonus for the leaders of the intermediary classifications after eight and 16 hours racing.

These intermediary points give two major contenders hope for the title: Honda Racing and the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team.

Honda Racing, 37 points behind the leaders, has made its comeback this year with a works team and clinched its first victory at Oschersleben at the end of August. The reigning world champion and winner of 13 world titles, the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, has had a difficult season so far. Dominique Méliand’s squad is 47 points behind the Yamaha outfit but at Le Mans he will do his utmost to retain the title. Respectively sixth and seventh in the overall classification 47 points in arrears two private outfits, Team Motors Events April Moto (Suzuki) and National Motos (Honda), are also in with a chance, albeit a slim one.

In the Superstock category the situation is just as indecisive. The LMS Suzuki LMS Junior team leads with nine points in hand over the heroes of the Oschersleben 8 Hours: the Penz13.com-Franks Autowelt Racing Team which marked the history of endurance by putting its BMW Superstock on pole for the German round on the calendar and went on to finish fourth.

The title battle in the FIM Superstock World Cup is even more open than in the top category as nine teams can still win it. After the Suzuki Junior team and Penz13.com come AM Moto Racing Compétition (Suzuki), Yamaha Viltaïs Experiences (Yamaha), Völpker NRT 48 by Schubert Motors (BMW), Qatar Endurance Racing Team (Kawasaki), BMRT 3D Endurance (Kawasaki), No Limits Motor Team (Suzuki) and the Tati Team Beaujolais Racing (Kawasaki).

The outcome of the fight for the riders’ titles reintroduced this year is also uncertain. In the world championship Checa, Foray and Gines (Yamaha) have a 20-point lead over Lagrive (Kawasaki) and 21 over Saigher, Sutter and Stamm (Kawasaki). In the World Cup for Superstock riders Guittet, Masson and Black (Suzuki) lead Mackels, Vallcaneras and Pridmore (BMW) by nine points.