The FIM Endurance World Championship returns to the Le Mans circuit for the 47th edition of the 24H Motorcycles. While things started this Wednesday with a procession through the city, the 48 entered in the 24H started the weekend on the track this morning, during Free Practice. Marvin Fritz was fastest with Yart-Yamaha, posting a time of 1:35.348.
Before we begin, here is a table that summarizes the known facts:
|
24H Motorcycles |
2023 |
2024 |
| Free Trials |
1'35.964 – BMW Motorrad World – n°37 |
1:35.348 – Yart-Yamaha – n°1 |
| Qualifying Practices 1 |
1'37'.53 – Yoshimura SERT Motul – n°12 |
|
| Night Free Trials |
1'36.236 – FCC TSR Honda France – n°1 |
|
| Qualifying Practices 2 |
1'37.153 – Yoshimura SERT Motul – n°12 |
|
| Course | FCC TSR Honda – n°1 | |
| Best lap | 1'35.751 – BMW Motorrad World – n°37 | |
* Ranking of each session available at the end of the article.
Divided into four 20-minute rounds, qualifying for the 24 Heures Motos is decided on the average of the two best times of the drivers on each machine, wearing blue, yellow, red or green armbands.
EWC – 24H Motorcycles
The first rider to take to the track for his team during Qualifying Practice 1, Niccolo Canepa set the best time of the session with the No. 1 Yart-Yamaha. While the Italian completed a lap of the Bugatti circuit in 1:34.708, his teammate, Karel Hanika – also first in his group – turned in 1:34.878 during the session reserved for Red drivers. Recording the best average of this Friday's qualifying, the two men propelled the No. 1 into provisional pole position.
Note the fall of Thomas Ward (Honda n°27) at the opening of the first part of the session, while Eemeli Lahti (Yamaha n°86) and Martin Vugrinec (Yamaha n°14) imitated him subsequently, slowing down drivers engaged in a fast lap due to the yellow flags displayed.
We will remember from the second part of the session, the canceled lap – nevertheless without consequences – of Marvin Fritz for non-compliance with track limits, and the fault of Christian Gamarino (Kawasaki n°11) 3 minutes from the end of time distributed.
Randy de Puniet and Karel Hanika during the Red drivers' session, just like Cocoro Atsumi during the Blue tests, made mistakes.
24H Motos 2024 – top-5 in the general classification:
1. Yamaha n°1 YART-Yamaha: 1'34''868
2. Honda n°333 Honda Viltaïs Racing: 1'35''353
3.Honda n°5 FCC TSR Honda France: 1'35''422
4. BMW n°37 BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team: 1’35”456
5. Suzuki n°12 Yoshimura SERT Motul: 1'35''665
Superstock
In Supertsock, Kenny Foray took the lead on his fourth attempt in 1'36.868. Finishing ninth overall, none of his competitors were able to beat his mark, not even in the other groups. Sebastien Suchet, despite being the fastest in all colors this morning in the category, failed to match this time by only 15 thousandths.
Tecman's No. 9 recorded the first and third best times of the afternoon, thus securing provisional pole.
Top-3 in the Superstock category:
1. BMW n°9 Tecmas MRP BMW Racing Team ;:1'37''273
2. Honda n°55 National Motos: 1'37''294
3. Yamaha n°18 Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers CMS Motostore: 1'37''579
Experimental
The drivers of the third category of the No. 45 (Metiss-JBB) each beat the drivers of the No. 3 crew, and thus signed the provisional pole in Experimental.
24H Motos 2024 – Ranking of Qualifying Practice 1 (Blue Drivers):
Classification credit: EWC FIM // Full ranking available here.
24H Motos 2024 – Ranking of Qualifying Practice 1 (Yellow Drivers):
Classification credit: EWC FIM // Full ranking available here.
24H Motos 2024 – Ranking of Qualifying Practice 1 (Red Drivers):
Classification credit: EWC FIM // Full ranking available here.
24H Motos 2024 – Ranking of Qualifying Practice 1 (Green Drivers):
Classification credit: EWC FIM // Full ranking available here.
