Bol d’Or – Bol d’Or 2012: first laps of the wheels at Magny-Cours! – Pre-Bol d’Or 2012 testing

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Bol d’Or 2012: first laps of the wheels at Magny-Cours !

Bol d'Or - Bol d'Or 2012: first laps of the wheels at Magny-Cours! - Pre-Bol d'Or 2012 testing

The pre-Bol d’Or tests which took place at the end of last week suggest a dantesque 76th edition! And the SERT did well to hire Fabien Foret himself, the competition is so sharp this year…

Pre-Bol d’Or 2012 testing

The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) is racing this year after a fifth consecutive victory at the Bol d’Or … To do this, the world champion Endurance team – which is also racing for a 12th title in 2012 (see our ) – offered the services of a prestigious driver: Fabien Foret, Supersport 2002 world champion.

"I join the SERT for fun and, I hope, to win with this benchmark team", warns the new recruit who will abandon the new Gex and his Dunlops this weekend to take part in the second round of the World Supersport at Imola on his ZX-6R paved with Pirelli:"I wasn’t sure if I was in the game after ten years in Supersport, but I got back on the pace pretty quickly".

The boss of the team, Dominique Meliand, attests to the words of his new colt new stallion: "with a series of regular laps in 1’41.2 for our three drivers (Fabien Foret, Vincent Philippe and Anthony Delhalle, Editor’s note), we are well placed against the competition".

Indeed, on the GMT94 side, similar times are mentioned: "our fastest lap in the 2011 practice was 1’43.6 and our fastest lap last year was 1’42.4", remembers Christophe Guyot’s team. But this year, David Checa, Kenny Foray and Matthieu Lagrive chained the laps in 1’41 !

"The three pilots are homogeneous. We did a total of 280 laps with two motorcycles and had no problems", rejoices the Guyot Motorcycle Team visibly overwhelmed by the great novelty for 2012 on the R1: traction control (read our) !

"Thanks to this technology we win on all fronts", estimate the Blues (and Yellow, since the Yamaha n ° 94 passed last year on Michelin tires):"safety because the drivers are much more comfortable under acceleration. Efficiency because we can accelerate much earlier. From the edge of the track it’s impressive! Finally, we can use all the tires supplied by Michelin. It is much easier to choose tires that are effective over a much wider range".

Also on Clermont-Ferrand, Team BMW Motorrad is undoubtedly one of the favorites for victory on April 15 at Magny-Cours: 2011 vice-world champions and third at the 2011 Bol d’Or, Sebastien Gimbert, Erwan Nigon, Damian Cudlin and Hugo Marchand is aiming more than ever for victory this season on the handlebars of the latest version of the S1000RR !

Second in the Bol d’Or 2011 and winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans that same year, the SRC Kawasaki team was delighted with the new tires offered by Pirelli, qualified as "efficient", but also"new efficient tanks and relay simulation, bodes well for the race"…

"Without forcing"according to them, the Greens (Julien Da Costa, Gregory Leblanc and Olivier Four) announce laps in 1’40.6. Although the official Kawa team does not plan to participate in the entire world championship for the moment Endurance, it will indeed be at the Bol d’Or … and not to make up the figures !

On the Honda side, the "legends of the Tourist Trophy" will also be present at the controls of their new Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, still lacking – like the Suz ‘world champion – traction control. John McGuinness, Cameron Donald, Gary Johnson and Simon Andrews have taken advantage of the cool morning temperatures (less than 5 ° C) to validate their Dunlop tires.

"We had five or six elements in development this winter that required more taxiing", explains Russel Benney, big boss of the Honda TT Legends team,"and these tests have allowed us to grasp what they look like. "The pilots focused on the suspension and geometry settings," in order to get to the Bol without having too many changes to make.".

Alongside this "official" Top 5, 50 other crews will set off for a clock tower – and around 800 from the Magny-Cours circuit! – Saturday April 14. Among them, we highlight the presence of an Aprilia RSV4 in the Superstock category and an MV Agusta F4, the only representative of the Open category this year..

An edition to follow from start to finish in full live video on Site, as during: stay connected !

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