18th – 19th April 2009  

THE RACE
Yamaha was back in the winners’ circle four years after its last victory. The YART (Yamaha Austria Racing Team) motorbike ridden by Frenchman, Gwan Giabbani, Australian Steve Martin and Slovak Igor Jerman, dominated for most of what was a very tricky race due to the frequent grip changes that led to numerous falls. Suzuki, Kawasaki and Honda, the other teams in contention for victory, met with diverse fortunes. The SERT trio, Philippe-Veneman-Dietrich, had a very similar race to that of the winners (except that Veneman fell twice), but Suzuki’s latest weapon had problems with its tyres. Honda was never far behind with the National Moto, Michelin Power Research and Honda France teams. The first one retired at half distance and the second in the early hours of the morning. The Michelin Power Research Team was a newcomer to the EWC, and was among the leaders in the early stages of the race before running into a succession of problems that proved fatal. Team Honda France achieved the best result, as the Plater-Charpentier-Lagrive trio saw the flag in second place. They started from pole thanks to Matthieu Lagrive and were in the running for victory, but a fall at the start gave Honda France an insurmountable 6-lap handicap. Kawasaki was also determined to play a leading role with the Team GSR and the Swiss outfit Bollinger. The French squad led for most of the first hour but then things began to go wrong for Costa-Foray-Moreira due to a fall: the same thing happened to the Swiss riders. Lady Luck did not smile on the Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone team of Gimbert-Checa-Nigon who were forced to retire before the end of the first hour due to engine damage caused by a stone! In the Superstock category, the LMS Junior Team gave the Suzuki manufacturer some consolation with a last-minute victory over the Qatar Endurance Racing Team, which led for most of the second half of the race. The great fight back by the Sarthe team during the morning was rewarded half-an-hour from the finish when Cédric Tangre overtook Mashel Al Naimi.

Pole position : Matthieu Lagrive (no.111 Honda), 1’37”304

Fastest lap: Plater-Charpentier-M. Lagrive (no.111 Honda), 1’38”242

PODIUM
1/ Jerman/Martin/Giabbani (Yamaha n° 7), 727 trs, 3 042,49 km, moy. 126,700 km/h ;
2/ Plater/Charpentier/M. Lagrive (Honda n° 111), 722 trs ;
3/ Philippe/Veneman/Dietrich (Suzuki n° 1), 716 trs.

Endurance World Championship: final classification
- EWC : 1- YART (Yamaha Austria Racing Team), Yamaha YZF-R1 Gwen Giabbani (Fra), Igor Jerman (Slo), Steve Martin (Aus).