The KAWASAKI Ninja ZX-10 RR WEBIKE / TRICKSTAR SRC KAWASAKI France N°1 and the trio composed of Jérémy GUARNONI, Erwan NIGON and David CHECA achieved a great performance by taking a well deserved second place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
The SRC team, which is accustomed to top places, once again held its own, discovering MICHELIN and TRICKSTAR products in the race: both tires and exhaust systems delivered flawless performance and reliability throughout the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The start was given at noon in an unusual atmosphere, given the absence of the 70,000 spectators on average who each year fill the stands and the ground all around the circuit.
Not enough to demotivate the teams and riders of which Erwan NIGON who was designated on the KAWASAKI Ninja ZX-10RR N°1 to take the start... A judicious choice since the rider, from the first laps, gained two places then carried out a first careful relay before passing the handlebar to David CHECA who went up on the leading men.
15H00: Expected, the rain came leading to many falls and not sparing some favorites to the victory. The experienced Erwan NIGON, David CHECA and Jérémy GUARNONI will stay on their wheels and will do their best to compete with the best on a wet track. Reassured by the grip and overall performance of the MICHELIN tires, they will move up to the lead to take a promising second provisional place.
At the end of the afternoon, there was nothing to report on the bike and as the supplies arrived, the N°1 KAWASAKI oscillated between second and third position, with the technical team producing a flawless performance as usual.
Halfway through the race, the SRC team's Bernard LECOUR (alias Bernie) commented:
We're still learning about the MICHELIN tires and getting to know them better, like tire pressures for example, where we have a better grasp of the subject. We're sticking to our roadmap, even though we had a little alert due to a rear wheel change. The calipers, on the other hand, were scheduled to be changed, and the brake pads had to be changed too.
The small incident caused KAWASAKI to lose second place but once again David CHECA, Erwan NIGON and Jérémy GUARNONI didn't give up thanks to their exceptional qualities as fast, regular and enduring drivers.
At 10:15 am, the pugnacity of the three companions was superbly rewarded, the team recovering its second place not to let go and thus close the weekend by this magnificent second place with a lap ahead of the third. At the lowering of the chequered flag, Jérémy GUARNONI, who was riding then, savours this moment:
We weren't the strongest in our minds but we managed to reverse the trend. I take this result as a good surprise and honestly we couldn't have won on a regular basis.
We clearly lacked some driving experience, because even though the MICHELIN tires are very efficient, we had to start from scratch in terms of set-up. A good part has been done but we need to fine-set it up to get back on the road to victory.
We didn't win this time as we did last year, but for the whole team, I consider it a victory. Now the team is well ranked in the world championship and that's the main thing. I warmly thank my team-mates Erwan and David, we are fast on the bike because we enjoy riding together. I'm really looking forward to Estoril in Portugal next month!
