SUZUKI REGAINS WORLD ENDURANCE TITLE AT THE BOL D’OR

Suzuki Endurance Racing Team has won the 2015 Endurance World Championship after a drama-packed Bol d’Or 24 Hour Race at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France.

SERT riders Vincent Philippe, Anthony Delhalle and Etienne Masson brought the team’s GSX-R1000 home in third position behind race winners SRC Kawasaki and 2014 world champions GMT94 Yamaha, completing a total of 677 laps of the 5.8 km Le Castellet circuit on the scenic Var hillside near the Marseilles coastline.

Racing in commemorative blue and white 30th Anniversary GSX-R colours, and in celebration of 35 years of the French team, managed by Dominique Meliand from its Le Man’s-based headquarters, SERT has now claimed a total of 14 Endurance World Championship titles.

From the start on Saturday at 15:00hrs local time, the 74,000 Bol d-Or fans witnessed exciting racing, that was action-packed from lap one until lap 684: Suzuki’s defending Superstock World Cup Champions Junior Team LMS Suzuki took the lead half-way around the first lap as SERT positioned its GSX-R1000 in seventh, soon to move into second, as main series rivals GMT94 Yamaha crashed and was forced to push back to the pits for repairs; losing four laps in the process.

Junior Team LMS Suzuki – Baptise Guittet, Gregg Black and Romain Maitre – who have dominated the Superstock class this season, led the opening stages of the race from eventual winners SRC Kawasaki, SERT and Honda Racing Team, but suffered an overheating problem early Saturday evening, forcing them back to the pits; but after the problem was rectified, team rider Greg Black was unlucky to crash, forcing the Le Mans-based team out of the race. However, the team still recorded second position overall in the series.

Going into the night after the Marseille Mistral wind had proved an issue for the teams – particularly on the flat-out 320kph straight – SERT led from SRC Kawasaki, Honda Racing, Monster YART (Yamaha), BMW Motorrad and GMT94 Yamaha; who climbed back-up from 54th position to sixth after its early incident.

But then things went wrong for SERT; just after collecting 10 bonus championship points for leading at the eight-hour mark, the SERT GSX-R1000 suffered and uncharacteristic issue with Philippe in the saddle – a rear wheel axle problem at 2am – which led to two unscheduled pit-stops that cost the team precious time. However, SERT rejoined the race and clicked-off consistent lap-times through the night into Sunday morning to climb-back into an eventual third position; and the top-step of the Endurance World Championship once again, to celebrate 30 years of the GSX-R Superbike and also 35 years of Dominique Meliand’s Suzuki Endurance Racing Team.

Said Meliand: “They say the younger you are, the more hunger you have for victory, but I can assure you it’s exactly the same at my age! This 14th World Championship title tastes just as good as our first one. And for anyone who dismissed the GSX-R1000, this title proves it is still a winning machine! I’m very, very, happy. It has been a very good year for us; and to finish on the podium today and win the Endurance World Championship is great for Suzuki Motor Corporation and all of our sponsors!”

Alongside Meliand, team kingpin Philippe – who has won nine world titles with SERT (Delhalle has now won seven) – was also overjoyed to help put Suzuki back at the top of this very-demanding world series.

He said: “I’m feeling really, really good right now. It’s been a very good year for us all; and to finish on the podium here today and win the World Championship is great for Suzuki and all of our sponsors.”

Bol d’Or Results: 1 SRC Kawasaki (Kawasaki) 684 laps, 2 GMT94 Yamaha (Yamaha) 682, 3 SERT – Vincent Philippe, Anthony Delhalle, Etienne Masson (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 677, 4 Tati Team Beaujolais Racing (Kawasaki) 673, 5 Team Traquer Louit Moto 33 (Kawasaki) 672, 6 BMW Motorrad France Team Penz13 (BMW) 669, 7 Volpker NRT48 & Penz13 by Schubert (BMW) 668, 8 Team 3ART Yam’Avenue (Yamaha) 664, 9 Atomic 68 (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 662, 10 Team AprilMoto Motors Events (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 660.

More, from a press release issued by Prime Factors Racing:

 MECHANICAL WOES FORCE PRIME FACTORS RACING OUT OF 2015 BOL D’OR

21st September 2015 – The 79th running of the iconic Bol d’Or proved to be a weekend of highs and lows for the Prime Factors Racing team. After securing their best FIM Endurance World Championship qualifying position and comfortably running in the overall top 15, a problem with the sprocket necessitated two lengthy pit stops and eventually forced them out of the running. Despite the disappointment, the team leave in high spirits having proven their capabilities on the world stage.

With neither of the four riders having ridden the iconic Paul Ricard circuit before, the Prime Factors Racing team utilised Wednesday’s test day to full effect – despite an early crash from Barry Burrell and minor machine troubles. Although it was a damp start to Thursday’s first official session, the sun soon appeared and the circuit dried which allowed all four riders to improve their times.

Opening qualifying sessions saw Gary Mason, who is still struggling with the shoulder injury sustained at Oschersleben, out first, finishing his session 11th in the Superstock class. Barry was next out, securing an eighth place finish in the class with 24 hour newcomer Lee Johnston going third. Despite having not ridden the Prime Factors BMW S1000RR before this weekend, Lee flew during his opening session to finish third in the Superstock class and an impressive eighth overall. Although having less experience than his team mates, Stefan Capella was fourth out and despite the sun setting was able to lap just shy of the previous three, finishing his session fourth in class.

Increased temperatures for the second and final qualifying sessions on Friday saw all four again improve their lap times, with Gary finishing eighth in class, Lee fifth and Stefan in fourth. However it was Barry Burrell who set the team’s fastest time in his session, lapping a stunning 2:00.903 circulation which was good enough for second in class and ninth overall. After combining best lap times, the Prime Factors Racing team would start the 79th Bol d’Or event from 13th place overall and fifth in the Superstock class.

Following warm up, the team made the difficult decision of deciding the three riders to compete in the race, eventually choosing Lee, Barry and Gary. With tens of thousands of fans packing the 5.8km circuit, the excitement was palpable as Lee took to the grid to start the race. Featuring a traditional ‘Le Mans’ start, he flew through the pack to be running top ten on the opening lap. Maintaining this position for the opening hour, he completed his stint in tenth place and fourth overall. Barry took over from Lee to go out second before Gary went out third.

By hour six, a quarter of the way through the race, darkness had fallen across the circuit and the Prime Factors Racing trio were holding 14th overall and 7th in the Superstock class. Maintaining position through the night, as dawn broke Lee Johnston proved the capabilities of the Prime Factors Racing Superstock BMW S1000RR by lapping faster than anyone else on track.

Disaster struck in hour 17 however as a nut on the front sprocket sheared off, leaving Barry without any gearing. Pushing the BMW back to the garage, the Prime Factors Racing team were able to get the bike repaired in under ten minutes and Lee took over to again run as one of the fastest guys on track. Disaster struck a second time just half an hour later as Lee was forced to a stop along the back straight. With the machine being returned to the garage, the team decided to weld the bike in an attempt to cure the problem however after a short stint from Gary Mason it was deemed too dangerous to continue and the team decided to withdraw from the race.

Despite the bitter disappointment, the Prime Factors Racing team leave the Bol d’Or in high spirits having shown their sheer speed and proving they are capable of challenging at the front. The team now look towards the 2016 FIM World Endurance Championship where they will enter the Superbike category as well as making their debut at the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT races.

Speaking after a disappointing end to the weekend, Team Manager Steve Plater concluded, “Obviously we’re all very disappointed to be leaving the Paul Ricard circuit without a finish, but it has been mega to see the Bol d’Or back to its best in front of a massive crowd.

The team has worked hard throughout the entire week and didn’t deserve that – we’re a new team though and we only need to look up and down pit lane to see how many bigger teams have suffered similar fates during the race. This weekend was a bit of a test for me to see how things work ahead of next year, we had a few new members in the team, some of whom are completely new to racing, so there was a bit of a learning curve. I’m impressed with how everyone worked though, especially the riders. It’s difficult when we have four fast riders but only three capable of racing.

The race went well and Lee was particularly impressive, lapping as the fastest person on circuit on a number of occasions. Unfortunately a small oil leak finished our race just hours from the end. We’ll now head back and focus on our plans for 2016.”

More, from a press release issued by Pirelli:

Pirelli wins at the Bol d’Or for the fourth year in a row with Team Kawasaki SRC and also the Endurance Superstock World Cup with the Traqueur Louit Moto 33 team

The team made up of riders Fabien Foret, Gregory Leblanc and Matthieu Lagrive rides the number 11 Kawasaki ZX10R to victory in the prestigious endurance competition on Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tires, crossing the wire with a two lap advantage over the second place team

Le Castellet (France), 21 September 2015 – For the fourth year in a row, the winning duo of Pirelli and Team Kawasaki SRC have won the Bol D’Or, the prestigious 24 hour endurance competition that is part of the FIM endurance World Championship and which this year, after a 14 year absence, returned to the renowned Paul Ricard di Le Castellet circuit after having been hosted in recent years on another French circuit, the Nevers Magny-Cours.

In this 79th edition of the Bol d’Or, riders Fabien Foret, Gregory Leblanc and Matthieu Lagrive of Team Kawasaki SRC, won the race on the number 11 ZX10R with Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tires a full 2 laps ahead of the second place team.

But this was not the only satisfaction for Pirelli and the Akashi-based manufacturer from the weekend: team Traqueur Louit moto 33, with a final fifth place on the Paul Ricard circuit, clinched the Endurance Superstock World Cup title.

The Kawasaki SRC team rode a perfect, but certainly not easy race. In fact, due to various problems typical of endurance races, several teams alternated in the lead, but in the end, once again it was the Akashi-based manufacturer’s team that triumphed.

During the race the Kawasaki SRC team made 27 pit stops using various Pirelli tires in the DIABLO™ Superbike slick range.

In particular, while on the front the only solution used was the standard SC2, on the rear two difference solutions were used that have already been tested in the FIM World Superbike Championship. The U0544 development solution was by far the most used during the race because of how versatile and suited it is to cooler temperatures typical of night racing, whereas for the hotter times, riders opted for the T0611 solution, which was used several times by riders in the FIM World Superbike Championship. It was also the race tire in the factory derived races held today at Jerez de la Frontera where another Kawasaki rider, Jonathan Rea, was crowned World Champion and the Akashi-based manufacturer won its first Manufacturer Championship.

The endurance Superstock category in which Pirelli won the endurance World Cup is a sub-category within the FIM endurance World Championship, where teams may participate that use bikes similar to factory models and which, among other characteristics, do not have a quick release for the tires and for this reason tend to make less pit stops during the races.

The Italian tire manufacturer’s efforts for this Bol d’Or, which hosted more than 70,000 spectators on site, was significant: Pirelli brought an impressive 300 tires to the track to equip the 20 teams (out of a total of 55 teams registered) which chose to use the DIABLO™ Superbike range tires.

For Pirelli and Team Kawasaki SRC, this is not only the fourth consecutive win in this competition but also the eighth win in the last four years of the FIM endurance World Championship, if you also consider the four victories taken at the Le Mans 24-Hour from 2010 to the present.