Team SRC Kawasaki France’s victory will go down as the closest-fought and most gripping one in Endurance history to date. Kawasaki carried the day after a memorable duel with Honda Endurance Racing. Suzuki Endurance Racing Team finished third in a thriller of a race.

The 42nd edition will forever be remembered as a 24-hour edge-of-seat duel on the track. Honda Endurance Racing’s Randy de Puniet and Team SRC Kawasaki France’s Jérémy Guarnoni rocketed away from the grid, and the race came to an equally fast-paced finish featuring the same two teams, this time with Yonny Hernandez and Jérémy Guarnoni in the saddle.

The suspense reached an even higher pitch when the safety cars came out to clean the track 15 minutes from the finish.

Team SRC Kawasaki France carried the day thanks to Jérémy Guarnoni, David Checa and Erwan Nigon’s determination to shake off Honda Endurance Racing’s Randy de Puniet, Yonny Hernández and Sébastien Gimbert.

Their amazing duel overshadowed a third-place finish by Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, who got back on the podium for their team manager Dominique Meliand’s last-ever 24 Heures Motos. The Suzuki’s riders Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Gregg Black finished in practically the same lap as the duo in the lead.

Wepol Racing (Yamaha), Bolliger Team Switzerland (Kawasaki), 3ART-Moto Team 95 (Yamaha) and National Motos (Honda) also pulled off praiseworthy performances to finish 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th respectively, more than 10 laps behind the three squads leading the race at a scorching pace.

Thanks to their win, and the fact of staying in command of the race from the 4th hour to the finish, Team SRC Kawasaki France have gone to the top of the provisional standings of the 2018-2019 FIM EWC, ahead of Suzuki Endurance Racing Team.

Reigning champions F.C.C. TSR Honda France, who got to Le Mans as standings leader, have lost a big chunk of points. Two crashes had the Japanese team plunging to the bottom of the rankings. F.C.C. TSR Honda France finished the 24 Heures Motos in 35th place.

Superstock podium winner in Top 10

Motors Events finished 7th to emerge victors in the Superstock class. Their strong comeback and determination to chase the win at Le Mans have earned them the Anthony Delhalle EWC Spirit Trophy. Motors Events also won the EWC Dunlop Independent Trophy.

James Westmoreland, Johan Nigon and Adrien Ganfornina rode the Suzuki #50, finishing ahead of Yamaha Moto Ain (Robin Mulhauser, Roberto Rolfo and Stefan Hill) and Kawasaki-mounted Team 33 Coyote Louit Moto (Enzo Boulom, Chris Leesch and Kevin Manfredi).

This throws the Superstock Endurance World Cup wide open, as none of these teams had scored any points at the Bol d’Or, the championship’s first round.

The fourth Superstock, Junior Team Le Mans Sud Suzuki, were on target for a podium when they were slowed by exhaust problems.

Dashed hopes for starting grid’s front-row threesome

Team ERC-BMW Motorrad Endurance started the race from pole and were among the top three in the early stages, but then had to withdraw shortly after midnight following a crash caused by engine failure.

YART Yamaha, who were 2nd on the grid, waged battle in the leading pack until they too suffered engine failure at around 1.30am.

VRD Igol Pierret Expériences, who started the race from 3rd place, managed to score one point. After three crashes during the race, their Yamaha #333 finished 20th.

GERT56 by GS Yuasa, the top Superstock on the grid, suffered a similar fate, being forced to withdraw after a crash followed by electronics problems.

2019 Le Mans 24-Hour results

1 TEAM SRC KAWASAKI FRANCE Kawasaki 1 EWC 839 24:00:54.139 - - 1:37.463 830 25 20:43.198 40
2 Honda Endurance Racing Honda 2 EWC 839 24:01:54.689 1:00.550 1:00.550 1:36.819 571 24 25:24.912 33
3 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team Suzuki 3 EWC 838 24:01:08.610 1 Lp. 1 Lp. 1:37.653 707 25 20:38.155 28
4 WEPOL Racing Yamaha 4 EWC 828 24:00:56.861 11 Lp. 10 Lp. 1:38.122 250 27 24:50.786 24
5 Bolliger Team Switzerland Kawasaki 5 EWC 827 24:02:19.550 12 Lp. 1 Lp. 1:38.005 399 26 25:03.810 21
6 3ART- MOTO TEAM 95 Yamaha 6 EWC 822 24:02:36.039 17 Lp. 5 Lp. 1:38.656 630 24 25:25.481 19
7 MOTORS EVENTS Suzuki 1 SST DIT 821 24:01:11.430 18 Lp. 1 Lp. 1:38.699 190 27 28:37.875 17
8 National Motos Honda 7 EWC 821 24:02:05.048 18 Lp. 53.618 1:39.288 17 24 24:53.465 15
9 MOTO AIN Yamaha 2 SST DIT 818 24:01:17.039 21 Lp. 3 Lp. 1:39.419 156 25 24:10.726 13
10 Team 33 Coyote Louit Moto Kawasaki 3 SST 816 24:01:15.537 23 Lp. 2 Lp. 1:38.784 614 26 33:05.990 11
11 FANY GASTRO BMW MOTORRAD- by ME… BMW 8 EWC 812 24:01:09.587 27 Lp. 4 Lp. 1:38.609 184 25 33:31.760 10
12 Wójcik Racing Team Yamaha 9 EWC DIT 808 24:01:12.871 31 Lp. 4 Lp. 1:38.256 211 25 36:36.571 9
13 Junior Team LMS Suzuki Suzuki 4 SST 808 24:01:36.144 31 Lp. 23.273 1:38.594 487 26 45:52.857 8
14 OG MOTORSPORT BY SARAZIN Yamaha 5 SST DIT 807 24:02:23.814 32 Lp. 1 Lp. 1:40.129 200 25 29:24.006 7
15 Motobox Kremer Racing #65 Yamaha 10 EWC 806 24:02:23.008 33 Lp. 1 Lp. 1:40.252 667 24 37:14.813 6
16 AM Moto Racing Competition Kawasaki 6 SST DIT 804 24:02:15.823 35 Lp. 2 Lp. 1:39.133 376 27 45:06.587 5
17 BMRT 3D MACCIO RACING Kawasaki 7 SST DIT 802 24:02:12.350 37 Lp. 2 Lp. 1:38.726 150 28 49:27.275 4
18 PITLANE ENDURANCE Yamaha 8 SST DIT 801 24:01:14.322 38 Lp. 1 Lp. 1:40.674 545 26 29:46.844 3
19 VRD IGOL PIERRET EXPERIENCES Yamaha 11 EWC 799 24:02:27.147 40 Lp. 2 Lp. 1:37.768 563 30 1:10:20.105 2
20 Slider Endurance Yamaha 9 SST DIT 792 24:02:38.950 47 Lp. 7 Lp. 1:39.939 176 24 48:07.583 1
21 ITeM 17 Kawasaki 1 EXP 783 24:01:24.305 56 Lp. 9 Lp. 1:39.997 192 25 1:16:36.888 0
22 FGN RACING Yamaha 10 SST DIT 780 24:01:30.634 59 Lp. 3 Lp. 1:40.663 124 29 1:09:33.304 0
23 Falcon Racing Rennes Motos Yamaha 11 SST 778 24:01:04.674 61 Lp. 2 Lp. 1:42.483 12 23 42:28.782 0
24 Dunlop Motors Events Suzuki 12 SST 776 24:01:03.743 63 Lp. 2 Lp. 1:43.309 295 25 36:48.328 0
25 Team LRP Poland BMW 12 EWC 775 24:02:00.586 64 Lp. 1 Lp. 1:39.666 553 28 1:09:56.062 0
26 Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers Kawasaki 13 SST DIT 765 24:01:59.115 74 Lp. 10 Lp. 1:39.412 527 28 2:26:51.476 0
27 WEBIKE TATI TEAM TRICKSTAR Kawasaki 13 EWC 765 24:02:26.846 74 Lp. 27.731 1:39.458 553 31 1:45:27.064 0
28 Glazik Moto - Sport Passion Endurance Suzuki 14 EWC 760 24:01:29.971 79 Lp. 5 Lp. 1:41.758 154 33 1:19:58.527 0
29 SEIGNEUR MOTORSPORT RACING BMW 14 SST DIT 757 24:02:15.687 82 Lp. 3 Lp. 1:41.972 294 30 1:14:12.774 0
30 GIRLS RACING TEAM Yamaha 15 SST DIT 753 24:01:04.113 86 Lp. 4 Lp. 1:42.815 158 21 58:40.892 0
31 Mana-au compétition soutient la Ligue contre … Suzuki 16 SST DIT 747 24:01:07.160 92 Lp. 6 Lp. 1:42.574 627 29 1:23:51.558 0
32 MACO RACING Team Yamaha 15 EWC 745 24:02:34.971 94 Lp. 2 Lp. 1:40.468 110 27 2:09:04.610 0
33 LCR ENDURANCE Yamaha 17 SST DIT 744 24:01:15.281 95 Lp. 1 Lp. 1:43.544 645 26 1:07:58.965 0
34 MOTOSTAND ENDURANCE Kawasaki 18 SST DIT 740 24:01:57.795 99 Lp. 4 Lp. 1:43.518 380 25 1:22:07.846 0
35 F.C.C. TSR Honda France Honda 16 EWC 739 24:02:35.461 100 Lp. 1 Lp. 1:37.373 647 23 2:52:09.902 0
36 TEAM 202 Yamaha 19 SST DIT 720 24:01:58.762 119 Lp. 19 Lp. 1:42.801 177 21 2:37:03.882 0
37 METISS Metiss 2 EXP DIT 666 24:02:03.727 173 Lp. 54 Lp. 1:40.224 542 34 4:04:39.546 0
38 Team Aviobike Yamaha 20 SST 793 23:43:04.320 46 Lp. - 1:39.607 191 27 36:24.897 0
39 GSM RACING Suzuki 17 EWC 624 24:01:57.089 215 Lp. 169 Lp. 1:39.356 570 29 5:48:15.691 0
40 PLAYERS Kawasaki 21 SST DIT 584 24:02:33.136 255 Lp. 40 Lp. 1:42.177 347 22 5:37:14.692 0
41 ACRO RACING TEAM 64 Yamaha 18 EWC 502 24:02:32.816 337 Lp. 82 Lp. 1:43.817 372 26 8:35:52.031 0
42 Cottard Motosport Suzuki 22 SST DIT 397 24:02:16.753 442 Lp. 105 Lp. 1:39.956 180 16 12:20:52.472 0
43 TMC 35 Yamaha 23 SST DIT 310 24:01:50.087 529 Lp. 87 Lp. 1:41.490 274 17 14:12:18.961 0
44 Wójcik Racing Team 2 Yamaha 24 SST DIT 281 24:02:05.768 558 Lp. 29 Lp. 1:40.320 269 12 15:34:38.942 0
45 SC PROJECT PATON REPARTO CORSE Honda 25 SST 496 16:28:15.845 343 Lp. - 1:39.365 157 25 2:02:02.399 0
46 ENERGIE ENDURANCE 91 Kawasaki 26 SST DIT 434 15:53:13.208 405 Lp. 62 Lp. 1:41.292 112 21 2:54:24.045 0
47 Aprilia Le Mans 2 Roues Aprilia 27 SST DIT 423 12:41:41.996 416 Lp. 11 Lp. 1:40.843 131 15 15:52.303 0
48 YART - YAMAHA Yamaha 19 EWC 360 10:29:57.617 479 Lp. 63 Lp. 1:37.230 140 12 10:54.492 0
49 GERT56 by GS YUASA BMW 28 SST 314 09:57:50.163 525 Lp. 46 Lp. 1:38.183 137 9 1:50:53.466 0
50 Team ERC-BMW Motorrad Endurance BMW 20 EWC 299 08:44:28.594 540 Lp. 15 Lp. 1:38.201 184 9 12:21.833 0
51 Space Moto 37 Suzuki 21 EWC DIT 298 09:37:01.425 541 Lp. 1 Lp. 1:40.595 81 14 38:09.297 0
52 TRT27 BAZAR 2 LA BECANE Suzuki 29 SST DIT 284 08:47:31.704 555 Lp. 14 Lp. 1:41.662 163 9 51:47.016 0
53 Rac 41 Honda 30 SST DIT 223 06:50:12.030 616 Lp. 61 Lp. 1:39.140 179 7 9:45.220 0
54 BOSSTEAM ENDURANCE Kawasaki 31 SST 214 07:14:09.238 625 Lp. 9 Lp. 1:41.773 162 7 24:24.130 0
55 MOTOTECH EWC TEAM Yamaha 22 EWC 209 07:14:13.140 630 Lp. 5 Lp. 1:39.530 191 10 1:08:13.018 0
56 No Limits Motor Team Suzuki 32 SST 160 05:28:33.861 679 Lp. 49 Lp. 1:39.446 149 7 37:44.211 0
57 Team R2CL Suzuki 23 EWC DIT 99 03:43:37.278 740 Lp. 61 Lp. 1:39.417 10 5 1:03:14.687 0
58 SPEEDTEAM72 Yamaha 33 SST DIT 60 03:07:12.952 779 Lp. 39 Lp. 1:44.533 24 5 1:11:37.873 0
59 JMA MOTOS ACTION BIKE Suzuki 34 SST DIT 47 04:26:19.840 792 Lp. 13 Lp. 1:39.805 39 4 2:10:46.356 0