Le Mans (AFP)

Postponed to the last moment in mid-April, then postponed by three months, and scheduled behind closed doors as in 2020 due to the health crisis, the 44th edition of the 24 hours motorcycles will indeed set off on Saturday on the asphalt of the Bugatti circuit. from the Mans.

Another similarity with 2020, the Yamaha N.7 of the Austrian team YART was the fastest in qualifying on Friday.

It will start from pole position on Saturday at 12 p.m. (10 a.m. GMT), ahead of the Suzuki N.1 of Yoshimura-SERT, 2020 EWC world champion, and the BMW N.37.

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The Sarthoise high mass was initially to take place on April 17 and 18, 2021, but a few days before the start, the organizers had to resolve to postpone the competition sine die because of the health context, which generated "strong hospital tension" in the region .

Since Thursday, on the dates initially reserved for the 24 Hours of Le Mans autos, postponed to August 21 and 22, the bikers are back, and impatience is palpable in the paddock and on the track.

"The public will be missed", concedes Randy De Puniet, the former MotoGP rider, flagship rookie of Moto Ain (Yamaha N.96).

However, the pilots do not seem unhappy with the postponement that affected the competition from April to June.

Some were able to take advantage of the postponement to perfect their physical preparation, the weather should be better than in April and the night driving time is reduced at this time of year.

- 47 motorcycles at the start -

As for the organizers, there is a measured impact of the postponement of the main motorcycle endurance event.

"Two teams have indeed given up, bringing the total (of participants) to 50 teams, before travel restrictions, with the United Kingdom in particular, bring the number of motorcycles to 47 in recent days (against 39 in 2020)" , they explain.

If the crews of the official teams have generally remained the same as last year, there are two exceptions: the arrivals of Japanese Yuki Takahashi alongside Mike Di Meglio and Josh Hook on the Honda that won the 24H in 2020, and Sylvain Guintoli, the French 2014 Superbike world champion, Suzuki official test rider in MotoGP, regularly invited to the Grand Prix, who is taking part in the Le Mans race for the first time.

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“This year the planets were aligned so I could be there,” he says.

The Drômois will unveil the new SERT formula, closely associated for the first year with the Japanese brand Yoshimura, which also runs the Frenchman at the 8 hours of Suzuka in Japan.

The Suzuki GSXR 1000 are now red - exit the blue and white typical of the motorcycles of the team founded by Dominique Méliand in 1980 and which won 16 Bol d'Or, 10 victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 16 world championship titles. endurance, including that of 2020 - but the SERT has not won the 24H motorcycles since 2015.

"We came to win," Guintoli warns.

After two consecutive victories in the FIM Superstock World Cup, Puniet's team are starting in EWC, and will be aiming for "a podium".

© 2021 AFP