The 2009 FIM
World Endurance Champions
Yamaha Austria Racing Team finished up the season with another win during the final round at Qatar. The Yamaha squad had already sealed the championship title at the penultimate round held in September at Bol d’Or, but YART members, Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Gwen Giabbani, took the victory by one lap. Yamaha Phase One Endurance finished second with the Bolliger Team Switzerland taking third.
The Yamaha Austria Racing Team finalized the World Endurance Championship Title with their win at the final 8 Hours of Doha round.
“We had some problems at the Bol d’Or round and Suzuki passed us in the manufacturer’s championship standings,” said YART Team Manager Mandy Kainz. “So we came here to Qatar to win. The race was perfect, there were no mistakes and it was a good weekend for us, as it was usually over the year! We also wanted to finish on the podium on Sunday, it was the best way to finish the year.”
Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers rode its Suzuki to a three-lap gap over fifth-place finishers, Qatar Endurance Racing with the No Limits Team following up in sixth. Suzuki Endurance Racing (SERT) Junior Teams graced seventh and eighth with Team Endurance Moto 45 in ninth and RT Racing Team Moto Virus bringing in its Suzuki in the final top-ten spot.
LTG 57 Zone Rouge came home in 11th ahead of the Michelin Power Research Team on its
Honda CBR1000RR in 12th. Mean Machine Team and Markos
Suzuki Serbian both finished 197 laps with MCR Racing rounding out the top-15.
Slovak Yamaha suffered a major defeat when former AMA Superbike rider Jason Pridmore crashed heavily breaking his collarbone. Pridmore was unable to bring the Yamaha back to the pits due to his injury and the
YZF-R1 had suffered too much damage to continue.
The 2009 FIM World Endurance Champions - Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART).
1. Yamaha Austria Racing Team (Yamaha) 226 laps
2. Phase One Endurance (Yamaha) – 225
3. Bolliger Team Switzerland (
Kawasaki) – 224
4. Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers (Suzuki) – 223
5. Qatar Endurance Racing (Suzuki) – 220
6. No Limits (Suzuki) – 219
7. SERT Junior Team (Suzuki) – 217
8. SERT Junior Team 2 (Suzuki) – 215
9. Team Endurance Moto 45 (Suzuki) – 214
10. RT Racing Team Moto Virus (Suzuki) – 214
11. LTG 57 Zone Rouge (Yamaha) – 211
12. Michelin Power Reseach (Honda) – 209
13. Mean Machine Team (Kawasaki) – 197
14. Markos Suzuki Serbian (Suzuki) – 197
15. MCR Racing – IPONE (Suzuki) 193
FIM World Endurance Championship Standings:
1. Yamaha Austria Racing Team (Yamaha) – 145
2. Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers (Suzuki) – 73
3. Bolliger Team Switzerland (Kawasaki) – 71
4. RT Racing Team Moto Virus (Suzuki) – 70
5. Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (Suzuki) – 57
6. No Limits (Suzuki) – 50
7. Team GSR Kawasaki (Kawasaki) – 42
8. Phase One Endurance (Yamaha) – 42
9. Amadeus X-One (Yamaha) – 40
10. Michelin Power Research Team (Honda) – 34
11. RAC 41 – City Bike (Suzuki) – 33
12. AM Moto Racing Competition (Suzuki) – 31
13. MCS Racing (Suzuki) – 31
14. Yoshimura Suzuki with Jomo (Suzuki) – 30
15. BK Maco Moto Racing Team (Yamaha) - 29
