The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team is ready to restart the 2019-2020 Endurance World Championship this weekend at the Le Mans 24 Hours race in France.
Following several event cancellations and date changes to the series due to the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, current championship leaders SERT will take part in the third round of the series under closed doors and no spectators at the Bugatti Circuit.
This is the first time since the event’s inception in 1978 that the race will take place without the thousands of fans who flock to the venue, but plans have been put in place to increase media coverage by the series promoters Eurosport Events during the continued lockdown and changing conditions in the country.
SERT GSX-R1000 riders Etienne Masson, Gregg Black and Xavier Simeon currently lead the series – recently revised from five to four rounds from the cancellation of the Suzuka 8 Hour Race in Japan – by 15 points.
Recent COVID-19 ruling in this area of France sees the start time of the event revised and the race will now be flagged-off at 12 noon (12:00 hrs local time) instead of the usual time of 3pm (15:00 hrs) on Saturday August 29th.
The stakes in this series are also higher following the cancellation of the Bol d’Or and the Suzuka 8 Hours and the season finale will now take place in Portugal on September 26th at the 12 Heures d’Estoril for both the World Championship EWC title and the Superstock World Cup.
At Le Mans, a maximum of 65 points are available for the win, with bonus points for Pole Position and for being in the lead after 8 hours and 12 hours. At the 12 Heures d’Estoril, which as the championship final will now benefit from the bonus of 150% of the points at the finish line, another 67.5 points will be available in total; the points for the win, for pole position and for the leader eight hours into the race.
A total of 40 teams will be on track tomorrow for the initial set-up and practice sessions, with qualifying sessions taking place on Friday.
