The Albacete 8 Horas Nocturnas round of the FIM World Endurance Championship has been won by the Suzuki Castrol GSX-R1000 of Vincent Philippe and Keiichi Kitagawa. Second place went to Spanish team Yamaha Folch Endurance, and third to Yamaha Austria.

The first hour saw a battle for honour between championship leaders Suzuki Castrol and local heroes Folch Endurance, as Vincent Philippe and Folch rider Daniel Ribalta swapped the lead repeatedly. Yamaha Austria's Gwen Giabbani settled into a comfortable third place, while Kawasaki Bolliger and Yamaha Phase One Endurance fought for fourth.

The first round of pit stops allowed Suzuki Castrol to break away and build up a lead over the rest of the field, a lead which they extended hour by hour through the race. Folch Endurance and Yamaha Austria continued to trade places for the next four or five hours, with no real advantage emerging.

A similar fight was developing further down the field, as Kawasaki Diablo, Shell Endurance Academy, Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se and the Sapeurs Pompiers team chased sixth place. Fagersjo-el succumbed to an electrical fault which led to their retirement after a long push-in for Paul Young. The other continued trading places until the closing minutes of the race, with Sapeurs Pompiers finishing sixth, Shell Endurance Academy seventh and Diablo eighth.

Yamaha Phase One seemed set for a sure fourth place until the final hour when suspected engine problems brought them into the pits for a diagnostic check and then in again to cool the bike, allowing Bolliger Kawasaki through to take fourth. Suzuki No Limits & RT Motor Team finished in ninth place, just ahead of fellow Italians Suzuki Fabi Corse.

The win for Suzuki Castrol has allowed them to stretch out a 19 point advantage in the championship standings. The next round of the championship is the Suzuka 8 hours on July 31st.

Press Conference Quotes:

Vincent Philippe - Suzuki Castrol - 1st Place: "In the first relay it was quite difficult to go past Folch Endurance, and I was thinking of the championship and not just this one race. This is a very good result for us in the championship."

Keiichi Kitagawa - Suzuki Castrol - 1st Place: "We must do something special for the Suzuka 8 Hour race, because the level of competition there is very high. We hope to get a special engine from the Suzuki factory, and I will be competing in the Suzuka 300km race next month with Vincent Philippe for preparation."

Daniel Ribalta - Yamaha Folch - 2nd Place "We had competed in the Spanish championship here two weeks ago, so it was easy to get into a fast rythmn at the start fo the race. It was important for us to get a good result here, and not just lead in the first hour."

Thomas Hinterreiter - Yamaha Austria - 3rd Place: "Right now I feel okay, but in the race it was very difficult. I have an injury in my wrist and in my foot, so it was very hard doing back-to-back relays with Gwen

Provisional Result