The Kawasaki N.11, with the Spanish David Checa as one of the members of the trio of riders, took advantage of his prudence to avoid mishaps and provisionally dominate the 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycles after the first eight hours.
In addition to David Checa, the French Jeremy Guardoni and Erwan Nigon are part of the team at the wheel of that Kawasaki.
After eight hours of racing on the circuit, the lead of the Kawasaki N.11 was just 45 seconds, despite leading from the fourth hour of this legendary test, which began at 3:00 p.m. local time (1:00 p.m. GMT).
The Honda N.111, with the former French MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet and the Colombian Yonny Hernández, would be in the lead and not in second place provisionally if it were not for a headlight problem, which had him blocked in the ‘pits’ for four lengths minutes.
The same frustration was experienced by the Suzuki N.2, third at 11:00 p.m. local time (9:00 p.m. GMT), 4:00 p.m. to go, which was penalized by an error by Frenchman Vincent Philippe at the start of the test.
– Provisional classification of the 24 Hours of Le Mans of motorcycling after the first eight hours:
1. Jérémy Guarnoni (FRA) – David Checa (ESP) – Erwan Nigon (FRA) – Team SRC Kawasaki (N.11 / EWC) 277 laps
2. Sébastien Gimbert (FRA) – Yonny Hernández (COL) – Randy de Puniet (FRA) – Honda Endurance Racing (N.111 / EWC) at 45,464
3. Vincent Philippe (FRA) – Etienne Masson (FRA) – Gregg Black (FRA) – Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (N.2 / EWC) at 1: 00.888
4. Broc Parkes (AUS) – Marvin Fritz (GER) – Niccolo Canepa (ITA) – YART Yamaha (N.7 / EWC) 1 lap
5. Sheridan Morais (RSA) – Danny Webb (GBR) – Michael Laverty (GBR) – Wepol Racing (Yamaha No. 13 / EWC) at 2 laps
6. Kenny Foray (FRA) – Julien Da Costa (FRA) – Mathieu Gines (FRA) – ERC-BMW Endurance (N.6 / EWC) at 4 laps
7. Roman Stamm (SUI) – Sébastien Suchet (SUI) – Nigel Walraven (NED) – Bolliger Team Switzerland (N.8 / EWC) 5 laps
8. James Westmoreland (GBR) – Johan Nigon (FRA) – Adrien Ganfornina (FRA) – Motors Events (Suzuki N.50 / 1st Superstock) 5 laps
9. Emeric Jonchière (FRA) – Stéphane Egéa (FRA) – Baptiste Guittet (FRA) – National Motos (Honda N.55 / EWC) at 6 laps
10. Roberto Rolfo (ITA) – Robin Mulhauser (SUI) – Stefan Hill (GBR) – Moto Ain (Yamaha N.96 / 2nd Superstock) at 6 laps. AFP