The Gilles Stafler Team has come a long way.
 
With a race strategy determined by team principle Gilles Stafler, the riders Gregory Leblanc, Matthieu Lagrive and Fabien Foret brought the number 11 ZX-10R to pole for this 38th running of the race. At 3pm Saturday, Greg Leblanc grabbed the holeshot and led the 16 first laps before getting into a battle with the SERT team.

The Kawasaki SRC remained favourite for eventual victory but Fabien Foret’s dramatic crash just before 17.00 came like a thunderbolt. With a solid second position, the Kawasaki SRC team lost all benefit of their qualifying efforts and good race start. Eventually the repaired Kawasaki SRC Ninja ZX-10R rejoined the track nine laps astray from the leader.

The official Kawasaki Endurance Team then embarked on a long ride to regain, lap after lap, lost places. On the track as in the pit, good performances allowed the team to reach the top twenty at 20:30. Never giving up during the night, finally Kawasaki SRC rose to a top three position at 05.00. Eventually the team took second place on the podium.

Gilles Stafler, SRC Kawasaki Team Manager:
« It’s the first season that we’re engaged in all the FIM EWC championship races for Kawasaki. We made a mistake at the beginning of the race. Then our target was to reclaim places and to score as many points as possible ».

Gregory Leblanc, SRC Kawasaki Team rider:
« I’m not satisfied because I’m a fighter and I just want to win! We raced in the same time laps as the SERT riders and I wish I could have fought with them for victory ».

Matthieu Lagrive, SRC Kawasaki Team rider:
« We had to fight all race long and avoid any mistake. We rode to score the maximum points possible ».

Fabien Foret, SRC Kawasaki Team rider:
« I’m disappointed because I made a mistake early, in my second lap. I apologised to all the team before going back on track and gain as many positions as possible. Congratulations to the SERT team but I would have loved to fight with them for the victory ».

Next round of the FIM EWC Championship is in Japan at the Suzuka 8 Hours on July 26.