SRC Kawasaki headed the 24 Hours of Le Mans podium for the fourth successive year.

SRC Kawasaki has scored its fourth consecutive Le Mans 24 Hours win after outlasting factory opponents in a race of attrition at the challenging French circuit.

Gregory Le Blanc, Fabien Foret and Nicholas Salchaud piloted their ZX-10R to a considerable seven-lap win from the Team R2CL Suzuki of Guy Martin, Dylan Buisson and Gwen Giabbini, with the Yamaha France GMT 94 machine of David Checa, Kenny Foray and Matthieu Lagrive taking third, a further lap down.

SRC Kawasaki bounced back from an early crash for Foret just a few hours into the race to reposition itself in the top three, advancing forward as a spate of mechanical problems hit rival teams.

Yamaha France GMT 94 were also early crashers, with Checa coming unstuck twice over the course of three laps during the first hours of the race.

BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent, featuring Aussie Josh Waters, ran in the lead of the race for over nine hours and had established a multi-lap buffer before its charge was ended by a broken gearbox.

Monster Energy Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART) was also in strong contention before their race came to an end during the night due to mechanical issues.

The Honda TT Legends team had been running in podium contention before it and three other teams were wiped out in a major crash.

And while SRC Kawasaki took the race spoils, the overall win of the 2013 FIM World Endurance Championship went the way of the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) who recovered from a crash, cooling issues and a subsequent hour-long engine rebuild to salvage five points and the necessary margin to lock down the title.

Vincent Philippe, Julien Da Costa and Aussie Alex Cudlin guided their GSX-R home patiently, managing the margin they needed to lock down the crown.

“We are disappointed because I wanted it all,” said SERT team manager Dominique Meliand. “I wanted to win the title and the race!

“I started out in Endurance in 1969 and I have learned that you must never give up. The crew were just great.

“When I said we would have to take the engine out to fix a cylinder head seal, no one said a thing even though we weren’t sure it would work. But it held for over 20 hours!”

Defending champions SERT won the 2013 WEC title from Yamaha France GMT 94 by five points, with SRC Kawasaki just eight points in arrears despite only finishing two of the four events.

Team R2CL wrapped up fourth place while YART dropped to fifth after their Le Mans DNF.

BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent finished just one event to round out the title race in 12th.

Team Motors Events April Moto was the leading Superstock outfit home and finished fifth overall for the race. The team also locked down the Superstock class title with a 14-point advantage over Junior Team LMS Suzuki, with Penz13.com Franks Autowelt running thord.

2013 World Endurance Championship
Round four – 24 Hours of Le Mans

Race result:
1. TEAM SRC KAWASAKI
2. TEAM R2CL
3. YAMAHA France – GMT 94 – MICHELIN YAMALUBE
4. TEAM 18 SAPEURS-POMPIERS
5. MACO RACING TEAM
6. NATIONAL MOTOS
7. SYNERGYFORCE TRICKSTAR
8. TEAM BOLLIGER SWITZERLAND
9. TEAM DUNLOP MOTORS EVENTS
10. TEAM SPACE MOTO 37
11. MOTOBOX KREMER RACING BY SHELL ADVANCE
12. SUZUKI ENDURANCE RACING TEAM (SERT)
13. RAFAEL RACING
Retired
BMW MOTORRAD France TEAM THEVENT
FMA ASSURANCES
MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA – YART
SLIDER ENDURANCE TEAM
COGNAGE SP RACING
HONDA TT LEGENDS
TEAM ACCELERATION
TEAM FLEMBBO – LEADER TEAM

Final championship standings (after four of four rounds):
1. SUZUKI ENDURANCE RACING TEAM (SERT) 93
2. YAMAHA France – GMT 94 – MICHELIN YAMALUBE 88
3. SRC KAWASAKI 80
4. TEAM R2CL 77
5. MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA AUSTRIA TEAM – YART 71
6. TEAM BOLLIGER SWITZERLAND 59
7. MACO RACING TEAM 51
8. NATIONAL MOTOS 38
9. MUSASHI RT HARC PRO 35
10. TEAM 18 SAPEURS POMPIERS 35

Click here for detailed results