Summary of qualification for 24 Heures Moto 2011

 

The 99 BMW Motorrad France confirmed its dominance in qualifying by taking pole position for the 34th edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours Moto.

Despite sessions disrupted by numerous incidents, some, resulting in red flags, the top teams ranked at the top of the final timesheets.

The three riders of the BMW 99, Sébastien Gimbert, Erwan Nigon and Damian Cudlin will start from pole position on Saturday at 3pm with a cumulative time of 1'37 "545. All the riders were fast but Erwan Nigon is the one who most impressed with a historic time of 1'36 "950. The fastest on the Bugatti circuit in the history of the 24 Hours Moto.

But he is not the only one who attracted attentionl. The young Loris Baz, replacing Gwen Giabbani on  #7 of Yamaha Monster YART, also set a very fast time of 1'37 "514 in his first time at this event. He is the only one to have challenged the supremacy of BMW in his heat. With his team mates Igor Jerman and Steve Martin, they will lstart second on the grid with a an average time of 1'37 "924.

Just behind was the #11 SRC Kawasaki (Julien Da Costa, Olivier Four and Gregory Leblanc) winners last year, were disrupted by a fall of Gregory Leblanc in the Dunlop chicane and injection problems, but rank to a very nice third place with a time of 1'38 "310.

The very nasty fall of David Checa in the Dunlop chicane also undermined the qualifying of  Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone. The driver is OK, but the bike was badly damaged and they were forced to use the race machine and, therefore, take fewer risks to claim pole position. Their total time of 1'38 "310 confirms that it will still be in the race for victory.

Finally, the fifth position (1'39 "167) of #1 Suzuki SERT is a very pleasant surprise. Vincent Philippe, who was injured during the first free practice, and Freddy Foray. Dominique Méliand will not regret the choice of young rider Baptiste Guittet who improved his lap times throughout the sessions.

In Superstock, despite falling at the end of last qualifying session is the #13 BMW Team Van Zon Boenig Motorsportschool set the fastest time in 1'39 "587, followed by the #72 Suzuki of Junior Team LMS 1'40 "409 and the #50 Suzuki of Motor Events Team Bodyguard AMT Assurances 1'40" 519 which also fell during the sessions.

Frank Donzelli

Photo: Mans, Sarthe (FRANCE), September 23, 2011. The #99 BMW took pole position for the 34th edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours Moto with a total time of 1'37 "545. It is ahead of #7 Yamaha, Kawasaki #11,  and #94 Yamaha and the Suzuki #1.