Although not yet covering the World Endurance Championship, we like to look at the performances of Grand Prix drivers, and that is why we have informed you of the participation of Miguel Oliveira in the 12 hours of Portimao, second event of the Endurance World Championship.
Alas, if the performance of the Portuguese driver was remarkable, the latter showing himself the fastest in qualifying despite a big fall during free practice, Endurance is undoubtedly the discipline which requires the most experience from its competitors and, consequently, almost never gives beginners a chance, however talented they may be.
And that’s what happened for #44 at home, with first of all out of gas in the first relay, then a fall of Miguel Oliveira two hours from the checkered flag. The dream is over but the experience will undoubtedly have been enriching for the owner of the Leopard Racing team in Moto2.
And this disappointment that we felt was more than largely compensated by a incredible finish between the Yamaha R1 of GMT94 and the Suzuki GSX-R of SERT...
What a race! But what a race!
What a last half hour during which the Yamaha made up tenths by tenths of the 3 seconds behind it had at the end of its last refueling, to finally win by 8 hundredths of a second ahead of the Suzuki! 8 hundredths of a second after 12 hours of racing!
A duel which lasted from the first hour and during which the R1 only gave up the lead thanks to refueling.
A very big congratulations to David Checa, Niccolo Canepa and Lucas Mahias, but also to Etienne Masson, Vincent Philippe and Anthony Delhalle.
For 8 hundredths of a second, these are tears of joy for the first, perhaps those of frustration for the second, but without a doubt, the mutual admiration of the men of each camp towards the other; thank you for the show, gentlemen!
We will let you explore the question further on the specialized sites, in the meantime the 8 hours of Suzuka, which we will cover in full, with the presence of Pol Espargaro, Nicky Hayden, Dominique Aegerter and undoubtedly… Johann Zarco, of course!
Photo credit: Eurosport (stream Eurosport Player)
Ranking of the 12 Hours of Portimao 2016
- 94 GMT94 YAMAHA EWC
- 1 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team EWC
- 111 Honda Endurance Racing EWC
- 7 YART Yamaha Official EWC Team EWC
- 50 Team April Moto Motors Events EWC
- 4 Tati Team Beaujolais Racing SST
- 48 Voelpker NRT48 by Schubert-Motors SST
- 72 Junior Team LMS Suzuki SST
- 36 TEAM 3ART YAM'AVENUE SST
- 52 Lukoil BMW Motorrad CSEU EWC
- 33 TEAM LOUIT MOTO 33 SST TRACKER
- 5 FCC TSR Honda EWC
- 3 AM Moto Racing Competition SST
- 8 Team Bolliger Switzerland EWC
- 88 TECMAS RACING TEAM – BMW EWC
- 56 GERT 56 HMT by rs speedbikes SST
- 119 Slider Endurance SST
- 26 Zuff Racing Team SST
- 114 ACTIVE SPORT MOTORCYCLES 14 SST
- 90 Team LRP Poland EWC
Unclassified
44 Parkalgar Racing Team EWC
14 MACO RACING Team EWC
46 Flembbo Leader Team EWC
11 SRC Kawasaki EWC
67 Starteam PAM-Racing SST
2 Team R2CL EWC
69 Ecurie Chrono Sport SST
29 ACTIVE MOTOR SPORT TEAM / MOTOPARC 72 SST
333 Yamaha Viltaïs Experience SST
18 Team 18 SST Firefighters
