Le Mans 24-hour: YART celebrates triple pole with lap record

YART Yamaha secured a sensational third provisional pole position in succession for the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans on Friday.

With qualifying results based on the average time of the fastest two riders from each team this season, and a crash for Thursday’s fastest man Niccolò Canepa in the red session, Karel Hanika and Marvin Fritz’ stunning efforts claimed the honours for Yamaha’s factory squad. The sole rider to navigate the famous 4.2km Bugatti Circuit under the 1’35 barrier, Hanika’s 1’34.878 lap took a new record in the process.

“I’m really proud of my team because they give me the perfect bike and I could really do the perfect lap so we’re happy to be on the pole again,” 26-year-old Hanika confirmed.

“It’s the result of our hard work during the winter, we were practicing also very well here and our pace is really strong. For me it was a great lap, I had the perfect timing, the perfect bike, the perfect tyres and I’m really thankful to my team for that.

“We always say it’s possible to do better and I am sure one of us next year is going to prove this. But now I’m really happy because my teammates are doing a great job and I’m learning every day with them. It’s amazing to be again on pole, we are ready for tomorrow.”

Last year’s winner and defending EWC world champion’s Yoshimura SERT Motul, qualified second ahead of F.C.C. TSR Honda France, BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team and ERC Endurance-Ducati. Wójcik Racing Team was the top Independent Trophy entrant in sixth followed by Team Moto Ain. Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers CMS Motostore headed the Dunlop Superstock Trophy.

Following Thursday afternoon’s first qualifying, which ended with session bests for Hanika (Blue Rider), Gino Rea (Yellow), Canepa (Red) and Kenny