Suzuki Castrol Win Bol d’Or 24 Hour Race, 2006 FIM World Endurance Championship Yamaha Austria Second, Kawasaki France Third Suzuki Castrol have won the Bol d’Or 24 hour race at Magny Cours, in front of second placed Yamaha Austria and third placed Kawasaki France. Suzuki Castrol’s victory also confirms their 2006 FIM World Endurance Championship title. The race was one of the toughest of the year, with wet qualifying sessions denying teams sufficient time to find a set-up that would work in the bright, hot and dry conditions experienced at the start of the race. Suzuki Castrol entered two bikes, aiming to secure the race win with their No.0 machine and clinch the championship with a safe result by the No.1 bike. In fact, the No.0 Suzuki crashed early in the race, putting additional pressure on the No.1 machine’s riders Vincent Philippe, Keiichi Kitagawa and Matthieu Lagrive. That pressure also came from championship challengers Yamaha Austria, Le Mans winners National Motos Honda, 2004 World Endurance Champions Yamaha GMT94 and ultra professional Team Kawasaki France. Despite this, Suzuki Castrol led for almost the entire race. National Motos crashed heavily on Sunday morning and dropped back to fifth place, Yamaha GMT94 retired with a broken engine a few hours before the end of the race, and Kawasaki France suffered a series of minor setbacks to finish third. Only Yamaha Austria stayed the course, finishing in second place and doing everything they could to keep the pressure on the leading Suzuki. Junior Team LMS Suzuki finished fourth and Yamaha Phase One finished sixth; both teams having a largely incident free but nonetheless tough race. Conditions during the second half of the race were difficult for all the teams, with unpredictable weather and a slippery track making tyre choice hit and miss. The nature of the circuit also took its toll; long fast straights followed by first gear hairpins are a real test of the riders’ stamina. Some of the most respected permanent teams failed to finish the race, with Bolliger Kawasaki, Diablo Kawasaki, Fagersjo-el.se Suzuki and RMT21 Racing Honda all abandoning the race before the end. Keiichi Kitagawa took the final stint of the race and the chequered flag for Suzuki Castrol, marking his retirement from motorcycle racing with a race victory and world championship title; what a way to finish! Pose Race Quotes Matthieu Lagrive, Suzuki Castrol, first place in race, first place in World Endurance Championship: “It feels very fantastic, because this is my third victory at the Bol d’Or and my second World Endurance Championship. I’m not tired; it’s not possible to be tired at a time like this. The race was not really difficult for us, and of course I had fun. Always racing is fun.” Gwen Giabbani, Yamaha Austria, second place in race, second place in World Endurance Championship: “I feel very happy and very tired right now. But by the end of the race we knew we had the bike in good shape, so we are ready to celebrate second place. It was a very tough race. I don’t know what we missed in practice and qualifying, but the bike was very heavy to ride and we had to push, to push, to push very hard. Conditions after three o’clock in the morning were very dangerous so it was physically and mentally very demanding. A very tough race.” Warwick Nowland, Yamaha Phase One, sixth place in race, third place in World Endurance Championship: “It was very difficult, just because we had no set up time due to the rain, and we didn’t test here a few weeks ago. So it was a difficult race, yes. We qualified 22nd – I wasn’t sure where to line up on the starting grid! – so to finish sixth is not so bad. I went out in my last session to chase the National Motos Honda and we were catching them but they had a good pitstop and that was it. It was a good race but I’m glad it’s over.” Top Ten – Provisional Result 1st 1 – Suzuki Castrol Team – FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Philippe, Kitagawa, Lagrive – 785 laps 2nd 7- Yamaha Austria – AUT – Yamaha YZF-R1 – Jerman, Scarnato, Giabbani – 772 laps 3rd 111 – Team Kawasaki France – FRA – Kawasaki ZX10R – Piot, Plater, Ailva – 762 laps 4th 72 – Junior Team Suzuki LMS – FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Metro, Delhalle, Foray – 755 laps 5th 55 – National Motos Honda – FRA – Honda CBR1000RR – Protat, Four, Ribalta – 752 laps 6th 3 – Yamaha Phase One – GBR – Yamaha YZF-R1- Nowland, Cudlin, Miinin – 750 laps 7th 33 – Team Decibels Endurance – FRA – Yamaha YZF-R1 – Cuzin, Giles, Nuques – 746 laps 8th 45 – Metiss JLC Moto – FRA – Metiss 1000 – Baratin, Thuret, Cheron – 740 laps 9th 68 – Team Power Bike – FRA – Yamaha YZF-R1 – Noyes, Huvier, Auger – 737 laps 10th 79 – Aprilia Motociclismo Test Team – ITA – Aprilia RSV1000 – Aliverti, Pellizzon, Veghini – 736 laps More, from a corrected press release re-issued by Folch Endurance Yamaha: Kenny Noyes’s Team Ninth in Bol d’ Or American Kenny Noyes, a member of the reigning Spanish Endurance Champion Folch Endurance Yamaha team, got the call just ten days before the Bol d’Or. Yamaha Power Bike obtained permission from Folch Yamaha of Spain to start the Spanish-based American on their Pirelli-shod Yamaha R1 with Frenchmen Pierot Lerat Vanstaen and Julian Anrolras. A 40 minute stop to replace an alternator and stator dropped the team to the depths of the field and they started their long climb up from 55th position after four hours, eventually taking ninth place, recovering positions four during the final four hours.