Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Jean-Michel Bayle, Sebastien Gimbert and Nicholas Dussauge won the Bol d’Or 24-hour race Sunday at Magny Cours Circuit in France. The team completed 788 laps of the 2.73-mile course on a SuperProduction-spec Suzuki GSX-R1000 and won by nine laps.

Frederic Protat, Christophe Cogan and Matthieu Lagrive did 779 laps and finished second overall on a Yamaha YZF-R7, the only Superbike entry in the 54-team field.

David Checa, Serafino Foti and William Costes earned the last spot on the overall podium by turning 773 laps on their SuperProduction Yamaha YZF-R1.

David Emonet, Christophe Roche and Alexandre Gibet finished seventh overall and won the StockSport class with 753 laps on a Yamaha YZF-R1.

The Bol d’Or is a round of the Masters of Endurance series and not a round of the FIM-sanctioned Endurance World Championship.


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

SUZUKI CASTROL WIN BOL D’OR

The 2003 Bol d’Or round of the Master of Endurance series has been won by the number 2 Suzuki Castrol GSX-R1000 of Jean-Michel Bayle, Sebastien Gimbert and Nicholas Dussauge. They completed 788 laps of the Magny Cours circuit at an average speed of 144km/h and also set the fastest lap of the meeting with a time of 1:44.056.

The winners finished the race with a comfortable nine lap lead over the second placed Free Bike Performance team after a thankfully uneventful weekend; many other teams suffered mechanical problems. The number 1 Suzuki Castrol bike finished in fourth place after an overnight crash dropped them down the rankings and left them with two riders doing back to back sessions.

The Suzuki Castrol bikes have won all three Master of Endurance rounds by a significant margin, dominating the series comprehensively and leaving the GSX-R1000 as the machine of choice for world-class endurance racing.