First place for the GSX-R no. 2 of the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team in Le Mans 24hr

SERT rider, William Costes was the only rider to come in under the 1'39 bar

© ACO. The GSX-R no. 2 of the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team has taken first place in the first qualifying round of Le Mans 24hr, which took place on this afternoon. SERT rider, William Costes was the only rider to come in under the 1'39 bar, achieving the fastest time on the Bugatti circuit, 1'38.733. The Suzuki no 2 takes pole position in the provisional qualifying. with good times achieved by his team-mates, Max Neukirchner (1'39.361) and Guillaume Dietrich (1'39.969). This season, positions on the starting grid will be determined by the average of the best times of the top three riders, at the end of the second round of qualifying, which takes place at Le Mans on Friday afternoon.

The fight for first place is looking to be a close one, with Yamaha GMT 94 currently fastest behind Suzuki n°2, as a result of Sebastian Gimbert's time of 1' 39.154 and David Checa's time of 1' 39.713. A fall prevented Olivier Four from improving on his time. Suzuki n°1 completes the provisional podium following the first round of qualifying.

Fought out under a blazing sun, the first round of tests for the Le Mans 24hrs have been interrupted by a series of falls. Team Kawasaki France has paid the biggest price with Steve Plater having fallen twice and Julien Mazuecos once. They retired their ZX-10R having been in poll position spot and by this evening Kawasaki France sit in last place.

© ACO. In the top ten at these tests, among the favourites sit three permanent teams - Yamaha Austria Racing Team (4th), Bolliger Team (8th) and Yamaha Phase 1 Endurance (9th). Many challengers are also hovering in the top ten. In particular, they will have one eye on the Yamaha Power 113 (5th) of Patrick Tiot, the veteran Kawasaki rider, and also on National Motos (6th) who's Honda was victorious at Le Mans in 2006.

These first set of tests also provided the first glimpse of this year's rider changes and new teams. Acropolis Moto Expert has recruited the Czech Jakub Smrz, GP125 World Superbike Rider, to round off its team line-up. The Kawasaki of Qatar Endurance Racing Team has made the most of its first appearance in Endurance thanks to Ivan Silva who finished in fifth spot following his lap of 1'40.258 and José Luis Cardoso who recorded 1'41.440. No such luck for BMW Motorrad who did not register a place in the top 30 in this first session.

The second session of tests takes place on Friday from 11.00am until 13.30 at Le Mans.