2021 24 Heures Motos Results

Cycle News Staff | June 16, 2021

Yoshimura SERT Motul team won the FIM Endurance World Championship opener at Le Mans in France.

Photos by David Reygondeau @ Good-Shoot, FIM EWC, and suzuki-racing.com

The new team, a partnership between Suzuki Motor Corporation, Yoshimura Japan and 16-time World Endurance Champions SERT crossed the line after leading 819 of the 855 laps of the Bugatti Circuit.

The factory Suzuki ridden by Gregg Black, Xavier Simeon and Sylvain Guintoli finished 8 laps ahead of Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar’s Jérémy Guarnoni, Erwan Nigon and David Checa.

BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team had more of a struggle but finished in third place, 13 laps from the leader. After a crash at the beginning of the race, Markus Reiterberger, Ilya Mikhalchik and Javier Forés had to ride flat out to return to the podium.

Bolliger Team Switzerland, the privateer team on Kawasaki, started from 19th on the grid with an all-new rider lineup. Jan Bühn, Jesper Pellijeff and Ondřej Ježek and ran a flawless 24-hour race to finish in fourth, but then were declassified due to a non-confirming fuel-tank capacity.

**Following technical checks after the finish of the 24 Heures Motos, Bolliger Team Switzerland has been declassified due to a non-confirming fuel tank capacity.**

The 44th edition of the 24 Heures Motos–the first race of the 2021 FIM EWC–lived up to its promise to be an exciting, action-packed race. The drama started almost immediately on the Dunlop turn with a crash involving three teams, Wójcik Racing Team, Team 18 Sapeurs-Pompiers CMS Motostore and RAC41 ChromeBurner.

The action taken by Hugo Clère, a rider of the Yamaha 18, to help Sylvain Barrier, stuck underneath the Wojcik bike which had caught fire, won him the Anthony Delhalle EWC Spirit Trophy.

Wójcik Racing Team continued the race with two riders, Balint Kovacs and Artur Wielebski, and finished 30th.

After that crash and a battle for the lead between Yoshimura SERT Motul and Tati Team Beringer Racing, an amazing duel took place all the way until early in the night between Yoshimura SERT Motul and YART–Yamaha Official EWC Team. The face-off ended when a valve broke on the Yamaha.

Three challengers expected to be among the front runners–Tati Team Beringer Racing, Moto Ain and 3ART Best of Bike–all featured in the top five, but were forced to withdraw. Tati Team Beringer Racing deserve credit for their fight in the lead early in the race before several crashes forced them to withdraw. Alan Techer of Tati Team Beringer Racing was the race’s fastest rider with a 1:36.743 lap.

The first Honda and Superstock winner National Motos finished in fifth place with riders Stéphane Egéa, Guillaume Antiga and Kevin Trueb.

The National Motos warded off attacks by BMRT 3D Maxxess Nevers (Anthony Loiseau, Jonathan Hardt and Julien Pilot) and No Limits Motor Team (Luca Scassa, Alexis Masbou and Kevin Calia). Team 33 Louit April Moto, who were still in the leading trio 2 hours from the finish, lost out on a Superstock podium because of overheating due to a damaged radiator. They finished 21st overall and the 12th Superstock.

**National Motos Honda team clinched the win in Superstock and the EWC Dunlop Independent Trophy.**

In eighth place at the finish after a problematic start to the race, VRD Igol Experiences (Florian Alt, Florian Marino and Nico Terol) managed to rack up some important points. After being slowed down by a faulty oil hose joint, the 333—the first Yamaha in the classification—also suffered a crash and some problems with the shifter.

Despite a crash, ERC Endurance-Ducati gave no quarter. Mathieu Gines, Louis Rossi and Etienne Masson took the Panigale to ninth place, ahead of F.C.C. TSR Honda France. Josh Hook, Yuki Takahashi and Mike di Meglio were in second place overall but an electrical problem followed by a crash in the small hours pushed them back to 10th at the finish.

The 12 teams that threw in the towel include LRP Poland with a clutch problem and, among the Superstock challengers, Team 18 Sapeurs-Pompiers CMS Motostore, RAC41 ChromeBurner, Aviobike and Slider Endurance.