Bol D Or 24 hour endurance race - Kawi win SS - 2nd in SB

[MadKaw]

SERT Win Bol – YART Win Championship

Michelin Honda Cheat – Yamahas Break – BMW, Ducati Finish...

SERT Suzuki have won the Bol d'Or round of the Endurance FIM World Championship after battling for much of the race with Yamaha Austria, Michelin Power Research Honda and Yamaha GMT94. SERT eventually finished three laps clear of the Michelin Honda, with the two leading Yamahas suffering technical problems and dropping down the results.

After the race, Michelin Power Honda were found to have been running a fuel tank “slightly bigger” than the allowed 24 litres, in contravention of the rules of the sport. They were penalised 40 laps, dropping them to tenth place, and allowing GSR Kawasaki to inherit second place and the Sapeurs Pompiers Suzuki to move up to third.
Well done Mandy, Christian, Igor, Steve, Gwen and the rest of the team! Yamaha Austria Racing Team, 2009 World Endurance Champions

Yamaha Austria suffered an oil leak and then overheating problems in the final hours of the race, but they returned to the track for the last lap to record a finish and celebrate winning the 2009 World Endurance Championship.

Yamaha GMT94 were forced to retire from the race on Sunday morning after their head gasket failed, almost certainly as a result of overheating. Weather conditions for the race were almost perfect and there was only one pace car intervention, at the very start of the race, These two factors made the race unusually tough on the motorcycles, and Yamaha seems to have been the manufacturer that paid the highest price. The best placed Yamaha YZF-R1 to finish was the Superstock bike of LTG57 that took 20th place. Only three other R1s finished the race, including YART's stricken bike.

Other non-finishers included front runners Yamaha Phase One Endurance with a broken crankshaft and Yamaha BK Maco Moto who eventually retired with overheating problems after riders Jason Pridmore and Josh Hayes attempted to run back-to-back stints for the whole race. Maco's third rider, Dani Ribalta, was injured in a crash on the first lap and was declared unfit to race. The same crash took out the National Motos Honda.

Young Brit Calvin Hogan rode for the MCS Ipone Suzuki team, eventually finishing a difficult race in 34th place overall, just ahead of the world champions. Other Brits in the race included Greg Black on the fourth placed RAC41 City Bike Suzuki and Sam Matthews on the Team ACR 74 Suzuki in 32nd overall.

The first Superstock team to finish was Maccio Racing Kawasaki, in sixth place overall. QERT Suzuki finished in eighth place overall and third in class to take the 2009 FIM World Endurance Cup.

The importer-backed Superstock BMW S1000RR finished in 12th place overall and fourth in class, and the Ducati Endurance Racing Team finished 30th overall.

Congratulations to everyone who finished this very gruelling race, and well done to Yamaha Austria Racing Team for winning the 2009 Endurance FIM World Championship.

[Wattie]

we're taking over slowly!!

Go the Bradbury!