The Suzuki Endurance Racing team won its 16th World Endurance Championship title at the fourth and final round in Estoril, Portugal.
Étienne Masson, Gregg Black and Xavier Siméon completed 416 laps of the Estoril circuit on their GSX-R1000 to finish the 12 Hours of Estoril in fourth position and claim the world title with an 18-point lead over the YART runners-up.
SERT started the race in fourth position on the starting grid on Saturday morning. Gregg Black did the first stint and, as usual, he put in a good performance from the start of the race by making the holeshot.
Lap after lap, SERT imposed its pace by staying close to the leaders, but without taking any risks. The first part of the event took place according to the battle plan of Damien Saulnier, the team director. Thus, at the eighth hour, the Suzuki n°2 was fourth in the provisional classification and obtained a bonus of seven points.
Masson, Black and Siméon then carried out very fast stints in order to maintain the pressure on their main rivals. But the magic of endurance also lies in its twists and turns, and during this final under pressure, the SERT was not spared: Two mechanical warnings (motor support and gear selector) during the eighth and tenth hours of racing did not pose a major problem for the very efficient technical staff of SERT who managed to repair quickly without wasting much time.
Damien Saulnier, Team Director: “I have a thought for the old SERT team, without whom we would not be here today. I also think of Vincent Philippe who was with us for the victory at the Bol d'Or. But I am also very proud of my new team. SERT has always been a great human story and it is important for me to continue in this direction. I would also like to thank our partners, Dunlop, Motul, Yoshimura and of course all the others who helped us a lot and with whom we will continue the adventure. »
Greg Black : “Last year we missed the title. But we got it in 2020 with a new team. It's been a complicated year and this last race wasn't easy either because we had to manage our championship advantage. But we remained focused on our goal until the end. SERT is a great team. I am very happy to be part of it and I hope to experience many more great moments within this family. »
Etienne Masson : “This title makes me extremely happy! I've been pursuing it since 2016, since Anthony's accident. What happened next was very complicated. We had to get up and fight every day. Then we had to deal with the new SERT and start almost from scratch. Finally, we had to manage the departure of Vincent and the arrival of a new driver. There was a lot to manage, but everything worked out really well from the start. The competition is getting tougher and tougher, but SERT never gives up. »
Xavier Simeon : “It’s not easy to adapt to endurance racing when you come from MotoGP. My teammates had some doubts, and I had doubts too. Nevertheless, I was warmly welcomed and, to thank them, I gave 100% during the races. I feel something special for this team. My father was part of the family 20 years ago, as he was a Suzuki dealer. As for me, I was also European champion with Suzuki. I hope that in the future I can also celebrate a full title with SERT! »
