The 2014 FIM Endurance World Championship concludes this weekend with the 37th running of the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans.
And taking the pole for the Saturday/Sunday race was the Kawasaki SRC Team on the #11 ZX-10R Ninja. Out of 55 teams, Kawasaki SRC posted a best lap of 1:37.273 to qualify on pole.
The team, consisting of Grégory Leblanc, Matthieu Lagrive and Fabien Foret, now claims the best qualifying average in the history of the event. The French Kawasaki SRC team also won the last four 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Joining SRC on the front row is British Honda and Austrian Yamaha, respectively. In the points race, Yamaha Racing leads with 91. Team Bolliger Switzerland is second with 70, and Kawasaki SRC with 69.
Following qualifying, SRC Manager Gilles Stafler said “It’s the first time ever for me that I got such a result from my riders. The gap between them it’s only four tenths of a second on either race tires or qualifiers. The team made a really good job as well, and it’s the perfect start for this long race week-end. Now the most difficult part is coming and we have to be 100% focused on the race. Pole position is one thing the race something very different.”
Grégory Leblanc said “It’s a really good thing to start from pole. I had traffic on my first lap time and made a small mistake in the second one but overall I can say I’m happy with this result. But Gilles said the most difficult part of the week-end is coming. Personally I can’t wait for the race!”
Matthieu Lagrive said “For sure I’m really happy to get this pole position for Kawasaki and the team. I was quite worry about so many bikes near me during my first run but I was lucky to get a clear lap in the second qualifying. Gregory, Fabien and I are very close on lap time and with the team and the Ninja Kawasaki ZX-10R we also have a really good package to make a strong race.”
Fabien Foret said “I really enjoyed my qualifying session. I could have been a little bit faster but I made a small mistake and almost crashed. So it’s a good result for the team and a perfect way to prepare the race. We all know that it will be much more different and difficult in the race but, for sure, we are ready for the fight.”
