Bol d’Or 24-Hours

FIM Endurance World Championship

Circuit Paul Ricard, France

September 15, 2017

Overall Qualifying Results:

1. TEAM SRC KAWASAKI (Mathieu GINES 1:59.412/Randy DE PUNIET 1:57.532/Fabien FORET 1:58.883), Kaw ZX-10RR, Superbike, 1:58.609

2. YART – YAMAHA (Broc PARKES 1:58.560/Marvin FRITZ 1:58.966/Kohta NOZANE 1:59.220), Yam YZF-R1, Superbike, 1:58.915

3. F.C.C. TSR Honda France (Josh HOOK 1:59.676/Alan TECHER 1:58.378/Freddy FORAY 1:58.785), Hon CBR1000RR SP2, Superbike, 1:58.946

4. Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (Vincent PHILIPPE 1:58.893/Etienne MASSON 1:59.226/Gregg BLACK 1:59.842), Suz GSX-R1000, Superbike, 1:58.987

5. Honda Endurance Racing (Gregory LEBLANC 1:59.295/Sebastien GIMBERT 1:58.814/Yonny HERNANDEZ 1:59.623), Hon CBR1000RR SP2, Superbike, 1:59.244

6. GMT94 YAMAHA (David CHECA 1:59.801/Niccolo CANEPA 1:59.032/Michael DI MEGLIO 2:00.074), Yam YZF-R1, Superbike, 1:59.635

7. TECMAS – BMW (Kenny FORAY 1:59.050/Julien DA COSTA 1:59.022/Camille HEDELIN 2:01.231), BMW S1000RR, Superbike, 1:59.767

8. EKO IVRacing BMW CSEU (Karel HANIKA 1:59.271/Fabrizio LAI 2:00.168/Julien MAYER 2:00.205), BMW S1000RR, Superbike, 2:00.205

9. Yamaha Viltaïs Experience (Axel MAURIN 2:00.597/Bastien MACKELS 2:00.025/Florian ALT 2:00.191), Yam YZF-R1, Superstock, 2:00.271

10. Voelpker NRT48 Schubert-Motors by ERC (Stefan KERSCHBAUMER 2:00.910/Jan BÜHN 1:59.627/Lucy GLÖCKNER 2:01.008), BMW S1000RR, Superbike, 2:00.515

More, from a press release issued by Eurosport Events/FIM EWC:

SRC KAWASAKI ON POLE AT THE BOL D’OR

Team SRC Kawasaki will start from pole position tomorrow (Saturday) at the Bol d’Or, ahead of YART Yamaha and F.C.C. TSR Honda France. The race – the opening round of the 2017-2018 FIM EWC – will be flagged off at 3pm on the Paul Ricard circuit.

Team SRC Kawasaki will have a head start on the competition. Mathieu Gines, Fabien Foret and Randy de Puniet (who set his quickest lap – a 1’57.532), put the ZX 10R #11 in pole position at the Bol d’Or, the opening round of the 2017-2018 FIM EWC.YART Yamaha and F.C.C. TSR Honda France significantly improved their performances in the second qualifying session on the Paul Ricard circuit this morning, despite cool weather and a spell of light rain. The Austrian Yamaha squad (Broc Parkes, Marvin Fritz and Kohta Nozane) took second place on the starting grid, just ahead of Josh Hook, Alan Techer and Freddy Foray on the Japanese Honda.

In fourth place on the grid is Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, still very much a favourite to win with riders Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Gregg Black in the saddle of the GSX-R 1000 2017.

Another team to watch out for is Honda Endurance Racing with its rejigged line-up (Gregory Leblanc, Sébastien Gimbert and Yonny Hernández), not to mention 2016-2017 FIM EWC champions GMT94 Yamaha (David Checa, Niccolò Canepa and Mike Di Meglio), respectively fifth and sixth on the grid.

Two BMW squads – Team Tecmas and IV Racing BMW CSEU – will line up next to each other on the grid, in 7th and 8th place.Right behind them is Yamaha Viltaïs Experiences, winner of the 2016-2017 FIM EWC World Cup and the top Superstock team post-qualifying at the Bol d’Or. The two other quickest teams in this class were Team 33 Accessoires Louit Moto and Ecurie Chrono Sport.

Tyre checks

Four teams were issued a 30-second stop-and-go penalty to be applied during the first two hours of the race for not having markings on their qualifying tyres. EWC teams are given 45 tyre stickers and Superstock teams 27 stickers for 24-hour races. The four teams that got a penalty are Glazik Moto Sport, Acro Racing Team 64, LMC Endurance and Team Broke Racing.

The 81st Bol d’Or starts at 3pm CEST tomorrow (Saturday).

More, from a press release issued by Honda Endurance Racing:

Honda Endurance Racing fifth fastest in Bol d’Or qualifying

Bol d’Or

The Circuit Paul Ricard, France

The Honda Endurance Racing team has qualified fifth fastest overall ahead of the 81st Bol d’Or, which takes place tomorrow (Saturday 16 September) at Circuit Paul Ricard.

Kicking off the new 2017/2018 FIM Endurance World Championship, the Honda team welcomes new riders Gregory LeBlanc and Yonny Hernandez to the Bol d’Or, alongside Honda veteran Sébastien Gimbert. Along with reserve rider Jan Halbich the team has been in the mix throughout all sessions aboard the new 2017 Fireblade SP2.

Endurance specialists Gimbert and LeBlanc have been lending their experience to EWC rookie Hernandez, who has impressed during his first time at an endurance event and finished his final qualifying session in second place.

Showing strong pace and confidence throughout, the Honda squad finished the final qualifying fifth, with a combined average best time of 1:59.244, just 0.635 seconds from pole position.

The Bol d’Or starts tomorrow, Saturday 16 September at 1500hrs local time (GMT+1) and will finish at 1500hrs on Sunday 17 September. For all the real time information on the team throughout the 24 hours, follow @HondaRacingCBR.

Sébastien Gimbert 111

I am happy all practice and qualifying has been positive and we finish fifth fastest overall in today’s final qualifying. We have a big difference from last year and we experience less chatter, and we are quicker. We now have a year’s experience with the new Fireblade and the team over the last season collected a lot of data, and we’re now able to use this to our advantage. I also have new team-mates for the Bol d’Or, there’s Yonny who although has not done EWC before comes from MotoGP, he’s very fast and has taken to the circuit well, then with Greg comes a lot of EWC experience like me! It’s nice working with them and we are already a good team. I am now looking forward to the race and I am positive for tomorrow!

Yonny Hernandez 111

I am really enjoying my first EWC experience, it’s very different to what I am used to and I have had a lot to learn. Last night was my first time in the dark with lights; I have raced in Qatar, but it’s totally different as you can ride with a dark visor, here you can’t, but it’s a good experience. I want to make a good job in the race and try to understand everything, at the moment I am thinking it’s too long! My team-mates are very experienced with endurance and I am trying to learn as much as I can from them, tomorrow I want to see their times in the race and just learn when they come in from their stint before I go out on mine. I like the circuit also, I have not been to Paul Ricard before, it’s very fast and a lot of fun to ride. So this weekend is a big learning curve for me with a new race, new circuit, new bike and also a new team. But I am enjoying it and cannot wait to get stuck into the race tomorrow.

Gregory LeBlanc 111

We are very happy after qualifying, we finish fifth, which is not so bad and we have a good starting position for the race. It’s also important that the gap with the other teams is very short, so we have good pace and I think for the race we will be OK. For me this is a new team and also a new bike, but the new CBR is perfect and I am really enjoying to ride. We have had no problems over practice and qualifying and it is not physical to ride, which is important for 24 hours. Of course the race is very long, it’s 24 hours and anything can happen, but I hope we are lucky and can maybe finish on the podium.

Jonny Twelvetrees

Team Manager

I am really happy how qualifying has gone, everyone from the team and the riders has worked together well and everyone is helping each other out. We have two new riders to the team, but already it feels like we have all been racing together for some time. We have Sébastien and Greg who have vast amount of endurance experience between them, and then Yonny who has never done endurance, but comes from MotoGP so brings different experience. I am pleased with the lap times and the consistency from each rider, tomorrow we have a strong starting position for the race, where we can push on from. We have 24 hours ahead of us, so anything can happen, but the team is going into the race positive and confident with both the all-new Fireblade and also the riders.

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service:

NEW SUZUKI GSX-R1000 4TH ON BOL D’OR ENDURANCE GRID

Suzuki Endurance Racing Team will start tomorrow’s 81st Anniversary Bol d’Or 24-Hour Endurance World Championship from fourth position aboard the new GSX-R1000 Suzuki at the Paul Ricard circuit in Castellet in southern France.

After setting the fastest time in last night’s evening practice with a time of 2:00.358, SERT riders Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Gregg Black continued to improve their pace throughout today on the 5.791km circuit close to Marseilles.

First-up, Philippe set a best lap of 1:38.893 and then Masson put-in a 1:59.266 in his qualifying stint. And then newcomer Black, obviously happy with the new Suzuki, put-in the fastest time of 1:58.842; as he did in yesterday’s initial practice and qualifying.

This gave SERT an average combined time of 1:58.987, which is just 0.378s from Pole-Sitters SRC Kawasaki.

Following yesterday’s initial practice and qualifying debut with the new 2017 GSX-R1000, Team Manager Dominique Hébrard said: “It’s a great pleasure to come back qualifying in the top-three. We know that this bike has a huge potential. It’s a brand-new generation regarding handling, motor, electronics, engine power and frame. Even if there are still some set-up adjustments to make, everything’s going well. We can see that our riders are comfortable and their times are very consistent, so it’s promising for the race; which is of course our priority.”

In the Superstock category, Suzuki’s Junior Team LMS finished sixth in class with Robin Camus, Cédric Tangre and Hugo Clere and were 18th overall aboard their GSX-R1000.

Tomorrow’s race gets underway at 15:00hrs local time (Saturday) and live coverage will be available on various global TV channels. You can also follow the race with live timing on the FIM Endurance Website: HERE