Le Mans podium on track bow for Iddon

BRITISH Superbike rider Christian Iddon took third place at the 24h Motos, held at the famous Le Mans circuit.

The Stockport racer was making his debut at the French track aboard the Wepol Racing by penz13.com team’s BMW S1000RR.

Iddon joined regular BSB team-mate Michael Laverty and Daniel Webb for his second go at endurance racing and the first of a trio of outings planned for 2018.

Laverty would start for the Wepol Racing by penz13.com team, but had a small off during his first stint, though he managed to get back on. Helped by a safety-car period Michael completed his opening spell but as Christian climbed aboard for his first outing, the handlebar snapped on his out-lap, Iddon nursing the BMW back for repairs.

“It was absolute pure luck that I didn’t fall off” he admitted.

“I managed to ride it back, and they switched over pretty quickly, but it dropped us down to forty-eighth at the time.”

The team plugged away as the hours clocked by, but a crash for Danny led to him dislocating his shoulder, and while the bike didn’t require any work, Christian volunteered to double stint.

As the race unfolded, and Danny’s extra rest helped him recover, they continued to climb the order, their strong rider line-up helping them continuing at a good pace, picking off places as the rode.

As the flag fell, some 86,400 seconds after the red lights went out, it was left to TYCO team-mate Laverty to bring home the squad’s BMW in third place overall.

Christian said: “It’s probably one of the biggest achievements in my career. The stand on the Le Mans 24hr podium is hard to describe. To get that trophy at the end of it is something spectacular.

“Thanks to TYCO BMW for letting me, and Michael, go and race this series, and to the Wepol Racing by penz13.com team for putting on a fantastic race for us.

“Nobody ever lost sight of the fact that we could keep on going, and in the end the hard work paid off.”