Australian Damian Cudlin has kicked off his 2007 World Championship campaign with the Yamaha Austria Racing Team, finishing a gritty 5^th at the season opener in Le Mans on the weekend.

In front of over 100,000 screaming fans, the Le Mans 24hour race saw a record breaking race pace under the clear blue skies of France.

The YART line up of Cudlin, Jerman and Scarnato rode a solid race, running as high as 2^nd in the early stages, to eventually finish 5^th only 8laps down on eventual winners Suzuki after 24hours of racing in arguably the toughest road race on the planet.

“I don’t think I need to tell you how tough this race was…” joked Cudlin. “There are points in this sport when you question your own sanity. Usually at about 4 in the morning!”

“I guess our story was really about being just outside of par in a few areas compared to the teams that beat us. We had fuelling problems, handlebar issues and a brake drama that cost us 4^th spot, but I also really need to ride a bit faster to stand a chance of winning this year and beating Suzuki. Igor and Seb did great, the YART R1 worked well, and I gave it all I had but it just wasn’t good enough this weekend. I hope I can turn it around next week in Spain.”

Team Manager Mandy Kainz was also left feeling slightly somber after the race, although is positive his squad can improve as the season progresses.

“Everyone knows we didn’t come here to finish 5^th, and after such positive testing it was disappointing not to finish on the podium, but congrats to Suzuki, Kawasaki and GMT for running a stronger race than us. It looks to me that this championship will be fought between SERT, KRT and ourselves, so at least we have some good points on the board and a platform to build on in Spain next week.” Kainz said.

Round 2 of the World Endurance Championship will be held at Albacete in Spain on the 4/5^th of May.