Yamaha N.1 in the lead from the start, BMW 2nd

The N.1, in the hands of the Czech Karel Hanika, was ahead of the BMW N.37 driven by the Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli and Kawasaki, the N.11 of the Webike Trickstar team with the Italian Christian Gamarino on the handle.

Kicking off at 3:00pm (1:00pm GMT) in front of a full stand, the start saw YART Yamaha, well positioned and which won the EWC world endurance championship last year, immediately take the lead ahead of Suzuki N .12 from SERT.

But the last fell on lap 104 with Frenchman Gregg Black on the handle. He was able to restart his bike and return it to its stand where it was quickly repaired. Around 11:00 pm, he had already moved up to 4th place, four laps behind the leading machine.

The Honda N.5 of the TCC TSR Honda France crashed twice, the first on the 6th lap and the second time on the 39th in the 12th. Returning to the pits, it was repaired before resuming the race and starting a comeback that brought around 11:00 pm in the 35th place. But he lost any chance of the final victory.

Another Honda, N.333 of Viltaïs Racing, retired after about 200 laps.

The 48 riders who started at 3:00pm did it the “old fashioned way”, running with helmets from one side of the track to the other where their motorcycles were lined up in a herringbone pattern.

Leaving for the 24-hour circuit at the Bugatti circuit at Le Mans, they benefited from dry but also windy and cold conditions that hamper tire temperature rise and can contribute to many crashes.

The Le Mans round is the first of four in the 2024 EWC World Endurance Championship.

Competitors are divided between 18 motorcycles in the first EWC category and 30 in Superstock where the machines closest to the series line up.

BMW ambush

It was the Honda N.55 of the National Motos team that led the Superstock division after eight hours of racing with 7th place overall, battling with another Honda, the Chromeburner team N.41, and the BMW No.9 from the TECMAS Team .

There are three riders per bike in the EWC category and four for those who want to in Superstock.

Fifth at the start and only in 7th place in the first laps, the BMW N.37 then gained several places, taking advantage mainly of Suzuki’s SERT disaster and Honda’s FCC TSR but also of a strategy favoring the use of speed.

The Bavarian company aims to become the first European brand to add its name to the 24 Heures Motos prize list after already winning the 24 Hours of Business (Belgium) in 2022.

N.37 can cover one to two more cycles than its main competitors between two fuel stations. “It’s one of the machines that uses the least amount even if we don’t have top speed,” emphasized its driver Sylvain Guintoli, a two-time winner of the 24 Heures Motos in 2021 and 2022 while racing for Suzuki.