Suzuki Sert Win in Qatar After Early Crash
World Endurance Champions SERT came back from a crash early on to win today's final round of the World Endurance Championship in Qatar.Team rider Vincent Philippe fell off his GSX-R1000 with Yamaha Phase One's Steve Plater on the 21st lap of the eight-hour event, putting both team riders in the pits for lengthy repairs. Philippe and team mate Mathieu Lagrive spent the next seven hours climbing through the ranks from 15th position.
At the half-way stage, the French squad had moved into third position, and then into second behind leaders Yamaha Austria as the race entered its final hour, due to the GSX-R's consistently-fast lap times, which were four-seconds quicker than the opposition.Suzuki finally took the lead 40 minutes from the end when Yamaha Austria took their ninth pit stop (SERT took only eight) to take the chequered flag by just under a minute.
Yamaha Austria finished second ahead of Qatar Racing (Kawasaki) and the Suzuki-mounted Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers trio of Stephane Molinier, Guillaume Pialoux and David Briere - who took the least pit stops throughout the race, coming in just seven times.
Provisional results:
1: S.E.R.T. - Philippe, Lagrive - (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 222 laps.
2: Yamaha Austria Racing Team - Martin, Jerman, Cudlin - (Yamaha R1) 222.
3: Q.E.R.T - Silva Alberola, Carrasco, Al Naimi - (Kawasaki ZX 10R) 219.
4: 18 Sapeurs Pompiers - Molinier, Pialoux, Briere - (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 217.
5: Team Amadeus X One - Tessari, Ricci, Gruy - (Yamaha R1) 217.
6: Moto 38 Yamaha - Millet, Brivet, Fernandes - (Yamaha R1) 217.
7: BMW Moto - Hinterreiter, Cooper, Al-Abdulla - (BMW R1200S) 216.
8: Suzuki Sweden - Andersson, Young, Notman - (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 215.
9: Phase One Endurance - Nowland, Richards, Plater - (Yamaha R1) 215.
10: Maco Moto Racing - Piot, Miksovsky, Verboven - (Yamaha R1) 214.
