The Yoshimura SERT Suzuki team won the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race for an unprecedented 10th time over the weekend.
The team had an early scare when one of their riders, Greg Black, was chucked over the handlebars and crashed at the exit of Les Esse Blue. It was later learned that the bike had traction control issues. Black managed to nurse the bike back to the pits for repairs and they rejoined the race far behind the field.
Black’s crash meant that the YART Yamaha racing team took over the lead, and built it up to being in front by several laps. However, Karel Hanika also crashed at the same corner as Black on early Sunday morning. Luckily, the corner was just next to the pit lane, so Hanika brought the bike back to the pits for repairs. Unfortunately, they were already laps behind when they rejoined.
Yamaha’s misfortune handed the lead to the MRP BMW team but they suffered a slow pit stop, which saw Suzuki back into the lead.
YART Yamaha riders Marvin Fritz and Niccolo Canepa made their way up the field and back on the podium in third, behind the BMW team.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (24 Heures Motos) was the first race in the 2024 FIM Endurance World Championship. There are only 4 races this year, and unfortunately, they will not visit the Sepang International Circuit.
