Bol d’Or – 07h00 – Kawasaki consolidates its 4th place –

07h00 – Kawasaki consolidates its 4th place

Bol d'Or - 07h00 - Kawasaki consolidates its 4th place -

Following the abandonment of Suzuki n ° 0 due to a crash by Guillaume Dietrich, the students of the Lycee Le Mans Sud seized the fifth position on the handlebars of their GSX-R n ° 72 behind the official Kawasaki n ° 111.

Following the abandonment of Suzuki n ° 0 following the fall of Guillaume Dietrich, the students of the Lycee Le Mans Sud seize the fifth position on the handlebars of their GSX-R n ° 72.

Fall of the Kawasaki n ° 8 of Bolliger Team Switzerland, then in 9th position, while the Suzuki n ° 0 gradually loses places and finds itself in 8th at 5:20 am.

A particularly interesting case for the Yamaha n ° 33 of the Decibels Endurance team, which thus goes back to the 9th scratch place, just like for the Honda n ° 55 which is thus placed 7th at 5:30 am.

Tour de force for Guillaume Dietrich who returned Suzuki n ° 0 with the stroller, the two tires flat … A waste of time, because the official retirement was announced at 5:34 am. All SERT hopes are now on the shoulders of the No.1 Suzuki for a Bol and World Championship victory.

But the GMT picked up a pace equivalent to that of the Suzuki n ° 1, regularly completing its laps in 1’45 ", a few tenths faster than the lead machine. Further stepping up the pace, the R1 of Val-de- Marne lines up a few laps later with a time of 1’44.5, then 1’44.2 on the next lap, two seconds faster than the Suzuki n ° 1 !

At 5:24 am, the Kawasaki n ° 111 does not manage to leave its stand, turns around and finally leaves at 5:28 am.

In Blockbuster, the first place is still in the hands of the crew of the Suzuki No. 18 of the Sapeurs Pompiers at 5:45 am, but the Suzuki No. 44 of No Limits RT Moto Virus takes second place ahead of the Yamaha No. 14 of the Maco Moto Racing Team.

At 6:10 am, "the motorcycle returned to the pit with the rear tire destroyed", explains Yannick Bureau, team manager of the Fire Brigade Team:"we changed the wheel and we noticed that the seat support was broken and that the plugs were missing under the fairing". A mishap that downgrades the No. 18 Suzuki to third place in the Blockbusters and 20th overall.

At Stocksports, the considerable delay accumulated by the Kawasaki n ° 69 of the Rhône-Alpes Endurance team (more than 300 laps behind at 5:50 am) led Cyril Bretones, Florent Richard and Philippe Montagne to resume the track at daybreak in order not to not risk exclusion from the race for insufficient distance traveled. Suzuki # 72 is still at the top of the class.

The n ° 55 Honda returned to the pits prematurely at 5:59 am but set off again a few minutes later. On the handlebars of the Kawasaki n ° 111, Steeve Plater completes a lap in 1’44.270, the best time of the official Kawasaki !

At 6:48 am, Suzuki n ° 44 at the head of the Blockbuster category stops at the pits.

The official Kawasaki # 111 got a stop and go at 6:59 am, but retained its fourth place, four laps ahead of the Suzuki # 72. RMT 21 Racing # 21 Honda retires.

At 8 hours from the finish, nothing seems to be able to move the first three positions on a regular basis … But the race is still long and endurance can hold many surprises !

Eric MICHEL and Marcus HIMSELF

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