Defending World Endurance Champions Suzuki Endurance Racing Team missed the top-step of the podium by just 800ths-of-a-second in possibly the most exciting World Endurance Championship race in the series’ history today at Portimão at the Autodromo International do Algarve.

After 12 hours and 393 laps of intense and thrilling action, SERT’s youngest team rider, 27-year-old Etienne Masson, crossed the line on the GSX-R1000 neck-and-neck with race winner David Checa after being given the final race stint with just over 30 minutes to go.

Masson and long standing team riders Vincent Philippe (38) and Anthony Delhalle (34) all rode consistently-fast on the tough and bumpy 4.592km circuit with a calculated race strategy by Team Manager Dominique Méliand, that saw them come in for 12 pit-stops; one less than eventual winners GMT94 Yamaha. However, some of the fastest laps were set in the closing stages, in the dark, as Masson put the Yoshimura-powered GSX-R1000 into the low 1:47s.