GSR Kawasaki wins Le Mans World Endurance race

Fans celebrate first Kawasaki endurance victory at Le Mans since 1999

The GSR Kawasaki of Julien da Costa, Olivier Four and Grégory Leblanc won the first round of the 2010 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship, with an eleven lap lead gap over the YAR Team of Gwen Giabbani, Igor Jerman and Steve Martin.

After an heroic effort, the GSR team crossed the line to deliver the historic Kawasaki victory on their Ninja ZX-10R - the first Kawasaki win in World Endurance since 1999.

That said, all the signs in qualification were good and in the third of three Superpole qualification sessions ex Kawasaki British Superbike rider, Julien da Costa, confirmed the Kawasaki GSR team’s domination as he rode all out for a best lap of 1’37.783.

Pushing hard right from the start of the race, the three man team were always in the leading pack or at the very head of the field. After four hours of hard and fast racing, GSR were in their accustomed first place which they endeavored to maintain throughout the night. And, as dawn broke over the historic Le Mans circuit, the number 11 Ninja ZX-10R was still at the head of the pack with an amazing 626 laps under its belt.

With numerous mechanical and riding related issues over the course of the event for all the teams competing, the racing was intense and it was by no means guaranteed that the three man team riding the endurance spec Ninja machine would go on to win with a massive eventual accumulation of 828 laps.

With the Swiss Bolliger Kawasaki team also in sixth place, the Ninja ZX-10R has proved once more what a magnificent and durable race and road bike it is.