Suzuki Endurance Racing Team takes Bol d’Or victory ahead of Kawasaki Bolliger Switzerland and Yamaha Folch Endurance Among more than ten favourites for final victory, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team made a nearly troublefree race and won the 74th Bol d’Or with a fourteen laps gap. Vincent Philippe, Guillaume Dietrich and Freddy Foray were battling against the Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone all night long before opening the gap early this morning. The fourth and penultimate round of the 2010 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship has been very hectic. The best private teams did not miss the opportunity to make a great result as most of the favourites and official teams had more difficulties than expected. The Kawasaki Bolliger Team Switzerland of Horst Saiger, Patric Muff and Roman Stamm finished in second place, fourteen laps behind the SERT. Bolliger therefore keeps the provisional Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship leadership, with a nine points advantage over the SERT. The 2010 title will be attributed after the final round in Doha, Qatar. The Yamaha Folch Endurance ridden by Jordi Almeida, Pedro Vallcaneras and Jose Manuel Luis Rita took the third place only one lap behind the Kawasaki Bolliger. This podium is very much appreciated as the Spanish endurance specialists had some difficult qualifications. The Suzuki RAC 41 City Bike is still doing great (4th at 2009 Bol d’Or and 3rd at the 24 Hours of Le Mans). Gregg Black, Olivier Depoorter and Mathieu Gines finished fourth ahead of Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone, who lost some time after a crash this morning. The Yamaha 94, who arrived at Bol d’Or with new Michelin tyres after having started the season with some Bridgestone, has proven once again the value of its team and its riders, David Checa, Kenny Foray and Greg Junod. In the EWC class, the Yamaha BK Maco Moto and the Suzuki RT Moto Virus finished in sixth and seventh position (but ninth and tenth overall). BK Maco Moto scored the first points of the season and RT Moto Virus is moving up to the provisional championship third place. Hence, they were outdistanced under the chequered flag by two Superstock machines. Sixth overall, the Yamaha Biker’s Day of Gregory Fastré, Raymond Schouten and Marc Fisette took the class victory after a very regular race. They managed to hold back the Yamaha LTG 57 of Kevin Denis, Bastien Mackels and David Perret, who finished eighth and second Superstock bike. Biker’s Day managed to put some pressure over the Team X-One, who were promised a class victory before they crashed. Unfortunately, gremlins did not help the Italian Yamaha X-One as their engine broke down in the antepenultimate lap. The third Superstock position went to the Suzuki Endurance Moto 45 of Frédéric Bernon, Julien Diguet and Alexandre Lagrive, who stayed in an ambush all race long. In the Open class, the Metiss JLC and its double triangle front end proved its track efficiency. The Metiss finished in seventh place and only Open machine classified. The “DNF” list had barely been that long. 22 teams over the 57 engaged did not see the end of the race. The favourites also paid the big price. The first to retire were National Motos, seventh on the starting grid. Sébastien Scarnato was involved in a collision was found with a hip luxation and could not bring back the Honda into the pits. Around 5 pm, a violent collision between Michelin PRT and AM Moto Racing meant the end for both of them. William Costes (Michelin PRT) was evacuated with a broken femur and Raphael Chèvre (AM Moto Racing) with a serious head trauma. As the bikes had been too much damaged after some crashes, the GSR Kawasaki and the BMW BMP Elf 99 also had to give up, as they were racing for a podium. The Yamaha Austria Racing Team, in a very good pace from the start, was quick to encounter some technical problems and retired Saturday evening. The Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers, who was holding a great 5th position, left the race around 3 am due to some electric problems. In the Superstock class, the Junior Team Suzuki LMS definitely closed the pit iron curtain after the engine was overheating in the beginning of the night. The 8 Hours of Doha, next and last round of the Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship, will take place Saturday, the 13th of November, in Qatar. We already know the dates of the next Bol d’Or: it will be the 16th and 17th of April 2011 at Magny Cours, as the dates have been swapped with the 24 Hours of Le Mans. More, from a press release issued by BMP-ELF-99 Racing Team: BMP-ELF-99 FALL AT FINAL HURDLE The BMP-ELF-99 Racing Team were on track to secure their best ever Endurance World Championship result in the 74th edition of the Bol d’Or at Magny-Cours today, but all hopes of a podium finish were dashed when Matthieu Lagrive crashed out of second place with just five hours of the race left to run. Pushing to close the gap on the race leaders, Lagrive hit a false neutral on corner entry, ran wide and crashed heavily. The crash resulted in extensive damage to the BMP-ELF-99 Racing Team’s BMW S1000RR, which had performed flawlessly throughout the race, and a long push back to the pits for the four-time Bol d’Or winner. The team’s mechanics repaired the extensive crash damage in record time, allowing Erwan Nigon to return to the track in 19th position with just over four hours of the race remaining. Just one lap later, however, Nigon returned to the pit box complaining of handling issues. The BMP-ELF-99 Racing Team were forced to finally abandon the race after further examination of the bike revealed the chassis had been twisted in the crash. Sebastien Gimbert: Pilot Bleu “First a crash, then a stop-go penalty and then another crash. What a difficult weekend, but that’s 24-hour racing and you have to be prepared for disappointment, even near the end of the race. That’s it really; I don’t have much else to say about what has been a weekend of real highs and lows for the whole team, all of whom have worked so hard.” Erwan Nigon: Pilot Blanc “It’s very difficult for me and the whole team to accept this finish because we all came here to win. We could have backed off and held our second position, but this is racing; sometimes you push, sometimes you crash and sometimes you win. This weekend we crashed. But there are many positives we can take away with us. We’ve all adapted quickly to the BMW S1000RR on Michelin tyres, with the result that we’ve been faster than anyone all week. This is important for the next race in Qatar, where I hope we enjoy a better result than we have this weekend.” Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal “Matthieu was pushing to close the gap on the leaders, hit a false neutral and crashed out of second place. This is endurance racing and these things happen, but it’s doubly disappointing given all the hard work that went into getting us here this weekend and the fact that we cannot now challenge for the championship at the final round in Qatar.” “We were offered the opportunity to race at the Bol d’Or with the BMW S1000RR and, despite the short timescale, we never considered not doing it. The fact that we were fastest throughout practice, qualified on pole and then led the race for the first seven hours shows we made the right decision, but it also illustrates just how much effort everyone in the team has put in to get us to this level so quickly. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone. From the riders, to the guys in the pit box, to the people running hospitality – everyone has pulled together to get us here this weekend. I’d also like to say a big thank you to Elf, Michelin, BMW and all our partners for their support, without which we wouldn’t be here.” “Now we must look forward to November and the final round of the Endurance World Championship in Qatar, where I’m confident that the BMP-ELF-99 Racing Team will finally realise their full potential. More, from a press release issued by Honda: World Championship Class results 24h of Bol D’Or POS / TEAM / RIDERS / BIKE / NAT / LAPS / TIME 1 / S E R T / PHILIPPE-DIETRICH-FORAY / SUZUKI GSX R 1 / 781 / 24:00:17.682 2 / BOLLIGER TEAM SWITZ / SAIGER-MUFF-STAMM / KAWASAKI ZX 10 / 767 / 24:00:18.886 3 / FOLCH ENDURANCE / ALMEIDA-VALLCANERAS-LUIS / YAMAHA R 1 / 766 / 24:00:20.846 4 / RAC 41 CITY BIKE / BLACK-DEPOORTER-GINES / SUZUKI GSX R 1 / 765 / 24:01:38.121 5 / YAMAHA France GMT 94 / FORAY-JUNOD-CHECA / YAMAHA R 1 / 759 / 24:01:27.511 6 / BK MACO RACING / PRIDMORE-RIBALTA-SZKOPEK / YAMAHA R 1 / 752 / 24:00:46.418 7 / R T MOTOVIRUS RACIN / JOND-GRARRE-BRIVET / SUZUKI GSX R 1 / 746 /24:00:27.258 8 / MOTOBOX KREMER RA / GAZIELLO-SCHERRER-PAAVILAINEN / SUZUKI GSX R1 / 736 / 24:01:33.954 9 / TEAM FMA ASSURANCE / MORIN-BOULANGE-KIPP / HONDA CBR 100 / 730 /24:02:02.014 10 / DUNLOP MOTORS EVE / GALLERAND-DENEQUE-BOUVIER / SUZUKI GSX R 1 /725 / 24:01:31.320 11 / TMS RACING / HENRIQUES-FARLAT-KHARTCHENKO / SUZUKI GSX R 1 / 713 / 24:00:42.056 12 / SH TECHNOLOGIE / ROYER-CHEVAUX-POUHAIR / YAMAHA R 1 / 709 / 24:00:41.096 13 / RTM / BATTAGLIA-SZALAI-HENRY / KAWASAKI ZX 10 / 708 / 24:01:09.706 14 / TEAM RACING 85 / FRANCOIS-POINFOUX-GAUFRETEAU / KAWASAKI ZX 10 /704 / 24:01:03.896 15 / SLIDER ENDURANCE / LECOUTURIER-LEBAIL-LEPECHEUR / YAMAHA R 1 /692 / 24:01:39.259 16 / TEAM ESPOIR AUVERG / GILTAIRE-FILAIRE-RIBOULET / YAMAHA R 1 /678 / 24:01:13.977 17 / TEAM FLEMBBO / JARDIN-GUYOT-CHAMOIN / YAMAHA R 1 / 664 / 24:01:12.547 18 / TEAM R2CL / CHAUSSE-DELAVILLE-BARATIN / SUZUKI GSX R 1 / 186 /24:00:39.999 World Champion Class point standings after Race 4 1 Bolliger Team Switzerland 74, 2 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team 65, 3 RT Moto Virus Racing 41, 4 RAC 41 – City Bike 40, 5 YMES Folch Endurance 38, 6 Yamaha Austria Racing Team 36, 7 GSR Kawasaki 35, 8 Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone 33, 9 Motobox Kremer Shell Advance 31, 10 MuSashi RT Harc Pro 30, 11 Keihin Kohara RT 24, 12 Team FMA Assurances 23, 13 National Motos 22, 14 BMP Elf 99 Racing Team 22, 15 FCC TSR Honda 19. SuperStock Class results 24h of Bol D’Or POS / TEAM / RIDERS / BIKE / NAT / LAPS / TIME 1 / BIKER’S DAY / FASTRE-SCHOUTEN-FISSETTE / YAMAHA R 1 / 756 / 24:01:43.825 2 / LTG 57 / DENIS-MACKELS-PERRET / YAMAHA R 1 / 752 / 24:00:19.778 3 / ENDURANCE MOTO 45 / BERNON-DIGUET-LAGRIVE / SUZUKI GSX R 1 / 745 / 24:01:08.771 4 / ANDALUCIA BMW / MOLINA-HEDELIN-ROSIVALL / BMW S 1000 RR / 736 / 24:00:42.730 5 / ‘3 D ENDURANCE MOTO / GEERS-BRAUN-LABUSSIERE / KAWASAKI ZX 10 / 733 / 24:00:31.356 6 / RACING TEAM SARAZIN / GUEROUAH-BARBANCON-GENETAY / KAWASAKI ZX10 / 731 / 24:01:51.965 7 / MCS RACING IPONE / MIKSOVSKY-PROSENIK-SEIDEL / SUZUKI GSX R 1 /728 / 24:00:36.993 8 / MOTOS ACTIVES SPOR / PIGEON-PIGEON-ROCHE / SUZUKI GSX R 1 / 724 /24:02:05.433 9 / MOTO 39 COMPETITION / MAITRE-GUICHETTE-DANTON / KAWASAKI ZX 10 /713 / 24:02:04.702 10 / LEEK RACING TEAM (DE / BELLEMBOIS-ARNAUD-LEROY / YAMAHA R 1 /711 / 24:02:03.870 11 / QERT / DELHALLE-CUDLIN-AL NAIMI / SUZUKI GSX R 1 / 697 / 24:02:01.597 12 / MOTORS EVENTS / HUMEAU-BOCQUET-MUTEAU / SUZUKI GSX R 1 / 696 /24:00:23.971 13 / BPM / DARME-JOLY-DE CAROLIS / HONDA CBR 100 / 691 / 24:02:08.728 14 / SERBIAN RACING TEAM / PERISIC-STANICIC-POLESSO / SUZUKI GSX R 1 / 681 / 24:00:31.597 15 / TEAM ZRT 74 ENDURAN / GUICHON-FONTES-DURIEUX / YAMAHA R 1 / 580 / 24:01:12.948 16 / ’33 MAIL PERFORMANC / DUTRONQUOIS-CUZIN-PLANCASSAGNE / YAMAHA R1 / 395 / 24:00:19.113 SuperStock Class point standings after Race 3 1 Qatar Endurance Racing Team I 54, 2 Andalucia BMW 43, 3 Biker’s Days 35, 4 Team Motors Events 34, 5 LTG 57 32, 6 Team X-One 30, 7 Atomic MotoSport 30, 8 3D Endurance Moto Center 30, 9 Team Endurance Moto 45 29, 10 Racing Team Sarazin 27, 11 MCS Racing Ipone 26, 12 Colexon Racing Team 22, 13 Cordoba Patrimonio de la Humanidad 20, 14 Boening Penz 13 Racing 19, 15 TRT 27 Bazar 2 la Becane 18