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This year the 24 Heures Moto will again be the last round of the FIM World Endurance Championship and it will decide the 2014 winners after the first three rounds on the calendar: the Bol d’Or, the Suzuka 8 Hours (Japan) and the Oschersleben 8 Hours (Germany).

56 teams have entered for the greatest endurance race in the world for motor bikes and the quality of the field promises hot on-track action. They will all be out to topple the no. 11 Kawasaki entered by the Team SRC Kawasaki, which has won the race since 2010 and will be trying to rack up its fifth consecutive victory.

The green and white bike ridden by Leblanc-Lagrive-Foret will have a tough job as so far this season SRC Kawasaki has only one won one race, the opening round of the year. The other two have gone to Honda (the Musahi RT MARC-Pro team, which will not be taking part in the Sarthe event) in Japan and Honda Racing (Da Costa-Gimbert-F. Foray) Saturday in Germany.

The Yamaha Racing GMT 94 Michelin team’s (Checa-K. Foray-Gines) consistency (2nd Bol d’Or, 9th at Suzuka, 2nd at Oschersleben) has given it first place in the FIM World Endurance Championship provisional ratings with a 21-point lead over the Bolliger Team Switzerland and 22 over SRC Kawasaki. Thus, the outcome of the 2014 title chase will be decided at Le Mans between all the front-runners without forgetting the reigning champion SERT (Suzuki), which will be determined to redeem itself.

But in addition to the top teams in the championship riders from different horizons are coming into endurance like Renaud Lavillenie, the 2012 Olympic Pole vaulting champion, who won another European title in early August in Switzerland, back for the second year and Soheil Ayari, better know on four wheels, who took part in his 12th Le Mans 24 Hours in June. If he succeeds in his challenge Ayari will become the second man to have raced in the two Le Mans blue riband events after Christian Lavieille.

Seven manufacturers will be present with Kawasaki topping the list numerically speaking with 22 bikes. There will be 18 in the top category, the EWCs. The category with the highest number of entries is the Superstock with 34 machines, and 4 Open bikes will complete the field for the 37th race.

List of entries for the 37th 24 Heures Moto

At Le Mans the bikes are already running!

Tomorrow and Wednesday 28 teams entered for the 24 Heures Moto will run on the Bugatti circuit during the two days’ free testing, which they will use to find the optimal setups for their bikes in view of the biggest event in worldwide endurance bike racing. The four top endurance teams will be present: only the Bolliger Team Switzerland had decided to give this test, which isn’t obligatory, a miss.

The teams can run from 09h00 to midday and then from 14h00 to 18h00.

List of entries for free practice