Yamaha Racing GMT 94 Michelin and Junior Team LMS Suzuki also on the podium An epic, breath-taking thriller with some surprising twists to the plot! Words can barely describe the 24-hour race the teams have just delivered at the 78th Bol d’Or in Magny-Cours. With some of the favourites forced out by the weather and the vicissitudes of the race, SRC Kawasaki has won again ahead of Yamaha Racing GMT 94 Michelin and an astonishing Junior Team LMS Suzuki.
SRC Kawasaki has clocked up its third Bol d’Or win on the trot and by far its most surprising. No one would have fancied the factory Kawasaki a win for here this year. After a bad crash for Matthieu Lagrive in the free practice, Leblanc and Nicolas Salchaud almost shared the race between them. At the start a crash on the wet track pushed the Kawasaki #11 outside the top 20. After that, a textbook race brought it roaring back to take the top step of the podium with a five-lap lead over Yamaha Racing GMT 94 Michelin. Yamaha Racing GMT 94 with Michelin David Checa, Kenny Foray and Mathieu Gines was never out of the Top 3 throughout the 24 hours of the race. The French factory Yamaha took the lead during the night but was held up around 11 o’clock on Sunday by a crash on a slippery track following a shower of rain. The other outstanding feat of this 78th Bol d’Or was pulled off by Junior Team LMS Suzuki. This team, entered in Superstock (without the fast wheel dismounters) rode its way on to the podium alongside the factory teams with Baptiste Guittet, Etienne Masson and Gregg Black on board despite two crashes during the race. Bolliger Team Switzerland and Team Motors Events April Moto were locked in a veritable duel for fourth place towards the end of the race. Bolliger Team Switzerland had a great start to the race in the top 5 and delivered a superb race with Michael Sutter showing great virtuosity on a wet track despite a crash during the night. In its first race in EWC, Team Motors Events April Moto, winner of the 2011 and 2013 FIM Endurance World Cup, never moved out of the Top 10. Gregory Fastré, Michael Savary and Jimmy Storrar tried in vain to stave off the return of Bolliger Team Switzerland, but hung on to 5th place despite pressure from experienced teams such as National Motos, with its Honda in the capable hands of Olivier Four, Arturo Tizon and Greg Junod, and R2CL, runners up in the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Gareth Jones, Guy Martin and Gwen Giabbani. In Superstock, Yamaha Viltaïs (Loic Bardet, Cyril Carrillo and Johan Nigon) took second place despite a crash ahead of the Suzuki of AM Moto Racing Compétition, on the podium again with Anthony Loiseau, Romain Maitre and Dylan Buisson. Endurance fans have rarely witnessed a 24-hour race with so many twists and so much drama. A huge shower at the start shuffled the cards from the word go with crashes for the SRC Kawasaki, Honda National Motos and Junior Team LMS Suzuki, all in it to win. The first part of the race was an elbow-jostling battle between Suzuki Endurance Racing Team and Honda Racing. Le SERT crashed off the scene during the night leaving an injured Vincent Philippe. Firmly out in front with a five-lap lead after superb contributions from Julien Da Costa, Freddy Foray and Sébastien Gimbert, Honda Racing dropped out just before mid-day with crankcase damage caused by a broken gear system. Monster Energy Yamaha YART went out early on Saturday evening after several crashes that kept it shy of the fray in the leading pack. In Superstock the front runners at the start of the race met with varied fortunes. Kawasaki Hall Motos 02 led the category for a time only to drop out at the end of the night with a broken engine after a number of crashes. A broken engine also put an end to the hopes of Qatar Endurance Racing Team, a contender for the podium in the category, and Starteam PAM Racing, up among the Superstock top five at the start of the race. For the next round of the FIM Endurance World Championship, join us in Japan on 27 July for the Suzuka 8 Hours! What they said… Gilles Stafler, SRC Kawasaki team manager “The week got off to a bad start. With Fabien Foret out and the crash for Matthieu, I wouldn’t have fancied us to win. The best win we ever had in a 24-hour race was our first in Le Mans in 2010. But this one was the toughest. There was also a luck factor in the choice of the tyres and we had the support of really top-notch technical staff.” Kenny Foray, Yamaha Racing GMT 94 Michelin rider “It’s a great feeling to be back on the podium. I made a mistake and I feel bad about that. When I brought the bike back in a very bad state, the mechanics got it back in shape in just 12 minutes. That was really impressive.” Christophe Guyot, Yamaha Racing GMT 94 Michelin team manager “You could say that we were the survivors, but all the lads on this podium can be very proud of what they have achieved.” Etienne Masson, Junior Team LMS Suzuki rider “We were in it to win in Superstock but when we realised we could get on the overall podium we kept our cool. It was Damien Saulnier our team manager who was the most stressed out! The hardest thing was to manage the choice of tyres. We don’t have the high-speed wheel-changing system so kudos to the crew of students from LMS. They did a fantastic job for their first race.” Grégory Leblanc, SRC Kawasaki rider “I was expecting a tough race because of the weather but when we slipped back to 32nd it was hard to believe we could win. Matthieu Lagrive came back from 32nd to 14th place with a broken vertebra! I don’t think I’d have done that myself. I didn’t see the night go by. It was one of the best races I ever rode in but also one of the toughest.”