2017 Le Mans 24 Hour Results
Rennie Scaysbrook | April 16, 2017
GMT94 Yamaha Take Record Breaking Le Mans 24 Hour Win
Team GMT94 Yamaha with riders David Checa, Niccolò Canepa and Mike Di Meglio have taken a dramatic victory in the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hour over fellow factory outfit, Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART—Broc Parkes, Marvin Fritz and Kohta Nozane).
The winning margin was the closest in the history of the great race, with GMT94 crossing the line 19.819 seconds clear of YART after a frenzied 24 hours of racing. The 2017 race also saw the most number of laps in the race’s history completed, with GMT94 and YART completing a mammoth 860 laps of the legendary 2.6 mile venue.
Third place went to the pole winning SRC Kawasaki team with riders Randy de Puniet, Fabien Foret and Mathieu Gines, some 12 laps down on the dominating Yamaha duo after early crashes halted their charge.
YART were the ones who looked on course for the victory in France after taking an early lead and holding it for the majority of the race, until GMT94 came storming into lead in controversial circumstances in hour 21 after knocking off the EVA RT Webike Trick Star team at turn four late in the race. Former MotoGP rider Mike Di Meglio then held on to take the flag in France, his maiden triumph in the 24 Hour.
Fourth place went to the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT—Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Alex Cudlin). The current World Champions suffered with a crash during the race, but still managed to claw to within 45 seconds of the podium behind SRC Kawasaki.
Fifth went to the F.C.C. TSR Honda squad of riders Gregg Black, Damian Cudlin and Arturo Tizon.
Tati Team Beaujolais Racing Kawasaki (Julien Enjolras, Dylan Buisson and Kevin Denis) took sixth place and the top Superstock honors.
In the championship, SERT still stands atop the standings on 95 points thanks to their victory in the first round of the 2016/2017 season at the Bol d’Or, held last September at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. SRC Kawasaki sits second on 92 with GMT94 Yamaha third on 71 points.
2017 Le Mans 24 Hour Final Classification