At the 37th Le Mans 24 Hours Endurance World Championship final this weekend – Michelin’s team, the N°94 Yamaha (GMT 94/Michelin) came second to clinch the 2014 EWC title.

SERT, the only official team not to suffer a fall this weekend, picked up its 11th win at the Le Mans 24 Hours, its first since 2008. The N°1 Suzuki team completed 810 laps to beat the N°94 Yamaha by just two laps.

The N°94 Yamaha was hit by another bike under braking for the first corner of lap one and was forced to pit for repairs before re-joining, practically in last position, three laps adrift. However, the team’s three riders bounced back to produce a polished performance. By midnight on Saturday they were on the podium and they then eased into second place during the early hours of Sunday.

GMT 94 dealt perfectly with the mixed conditions that greeted teams at sunrise, and made some judicious tyre choices for the Michelin-equipped R1 to close the gap to the leader from five to two laps. After that, David Checa, Kenny Foray and Mathieu Gines kept a cool head to collect second overall and make sure of GMT 94’s second world title.

“Our tyres proved competitive in changeable conditions and we succeeded in ensuring that the Yamaha was always on the right rubber at the right moment. Congratulations to everyone at GMT 94 and thanks for helping us to claim our 15th world title in endurance racing. We are delighted to have played a part in the team’s second place this afternoon” said Piero Taramasso, manager of Michelin Motorsport’s two-wheel programmes.