Suzuki has won the World Endurance Championship after an exciting and drama-filled deciding-round at the Oschersleben 8-Hour Race in Germany yesterday that saw two GSX-R1000 teams take to the 2016 overall podium.

Suzuki Endurance Racing Team riders Vincent Philippe, Anthony Delhalle and Etienne Masson lifted SERT’s 15th World Trophy aboard their GSX-R1000 after a race-long battle where they fought with several contenders; as just a handful of points separated the main challengers coming into this fourth and final event following the Suzuka 8-Hour race in Japan at the end of July.

Joining SERT on the overall championship podium was Suzuki privateer Team April Motor Motors Events, the early series leaders Gregg Black, Alex Cudlin and Gregory Fastre finishing third overall after suffering with some issues on the day, and with Fastre hurting after a crash in qualifying, but fighting back to finish 11th overall in the race.

At Oschersleben, SERT completed a total of 309 laps, to finish just 21-seconds behind race winners and eventual series runners-up GMT94 Yamaha. During a frantic eight hours, the Suzuki team took seven pit-stops (a total of 39.2 minutes) to clinch the title by just one point.