Bol d’Or – Finish: 3rd consecutive victory for the SERT! –

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Finish: 3rd consecutive victory for SERT !

Bol d'Or - Finish: 3rd consecutive victory for the SERT! -

It is not to old monkeys that we learn to make faces: the experience, the rage to win, the tenacity of Dominique Meliand and his men on the handlebars of the Suzuki GSX-R 1000 n ° 2 have allowed Suzuki to sign his third consecutive victory at Magny-Cours, in front of the Swiss Kawasaki n ° 8 of the Bolliger team (leader of the championship…

It is not to old monkeys that we learn to make faces: the experience, the rage to win, the tenacity of Dominique Meliand and his men on the handlebars of the Suzuki GSX-R 1000 n ° 2 have allowed Suzuki to sign his third consecutive victory at Magny-Cours, in front of the Swiss Kawasaki n ° 8 of the Bolliger team (leader of the world championship) and the Spanish Yamaha n ° 4 of Folch Endurance.

Vincent Philippe, Guillaume Dietrich and Freddy Foray reaffirm if it was needed Suzuki’s stranglehold on the Bol d’Or, which has only been ruled out of victory once in ten years !

Suzuki at the Bol d’Or: 9/10 !

Among the last ten Bol d’Or winners, there are nine crews on Suzuki GSX-R 1000, which turns 25 this year. !

  • 2001: Lavieille / Morrisson / Brian (Suzuki)
  • 2002: Bayle / Gimbert / Dussauge (Suzuki)
  • 2003: Bayle / Gimbert / Dussauge (Suzuki)
  • 2004: Philippe / Kitagawa / Lagrive (Suzuki)
  • 2005: Philippe / Kitagawa / Lagrive (Suzuki)
  • 2006: Philippe / Kitagawa / Lagrive (Suzuki)
  • 2007: Checa / Gimbert / Four (Yamaha)
  • 2008: Philippe / Lagrive / Da Costa (Suzuki)
  • 2009: Philippe / Foray F./Four (Suzuki)
  • 2010: Philippe / Foray F./Dietrich (Suzuki)

The SERT men therefore got the better of the fiery and youthful BMW S1000RR n ° 99, whose times in the hands of Sebastien Gimbert, Matthieu Lagrive and Erwan Nigon nevertheless made the entire paddock shudder during practice and the first hours. race but who was unlucky by sliding on a trace of oil when she could reasonably ensure her superb second place…

Guillaume Dietrich: something crazy !

Arrived at the Bol as a replacement within the SERT to learn the day before the start that he would be titular driver on Suzuki n ° 2 alongside Vincent Philippe and Freddy Foray, Guillaume Dietrich still cannot believe it: "It’s been a long time since I dream of winning the Bol d’Or and I didn’t think it would happen this year! So I’m super happy and I hope that it will allow us to start on a good basis for the future. For me, this victory really belongs at SERT because I needed the team to win in a big endurance event. It’s a new line that is on our track record and mine. If this Bol d’Or ended happily for us, I would like to have a thought for those who could not reach the finish line and in particular my friend William Costes, who was seriously injured ".

Bikers’ Days winner in Superstock

"A first place? We want to believe it!" Hoped the Bikers’ Days team at the end of the morning. "We are at the top of the Superstock category and the stress wins me over because we all want to succeed in maintaining this first place a few hours from the finish", confirmed Gregory Fastre: "I must admit that I believed in our capacity to do good results but now I’m crazy !!! In addition, our team is so efficient and zen that it starts to undermine the morale of our opponents! "

The dream therefore became reality for the crew of the Yamaha n ° 199, which won the Superstock category ahead of its two sisters: the R1 n ° 57 of the LTG 57 team (Kevin Denis, Bastie Mackels and David Perret), 8th scratch, and Suzuki n ° 100 of Endurance Moto Racing 45 (Frederic Bernon, Julien Diguet and Alexandre Lagrive).

Victim of an engine failure on the penultimate lap, the Yamaha n ° 5 of the X-One team (Emiliano Bellucci, Jean-Louis Devoyon and Gianluca Vizziello) was indeed "downgraded for not crossing the line of arrival "and leaves its place on the Superstock podium to the Suzuki n ° 100 (read) … Finally, we underline in the 7th scratch place the presence of the Metiss n ° 45, the only motorcycle in the Open category !

"For a company which organizes events throughout the year, embarking on the establishment of an endurance team which wins thanks to its good organization, is a great achievement", rejoices Christian Jupsin, manager. of the Bikers’ Days. "The conductor of our team was Olivier Aerts, his chief mechanics Marc Margraff and the engine trainer Mario Kupper. I thank them all as well as all the mechanics and the entire staff. I still feed many projects. for 2011 and this victory gives me wings "…

Sebastien Gimbert: what a difficult weekend…

"Our podium hopes were gone with five hours to go, when Matthieu Lagrive fell when he was in second place in the race", summarizes Michael Bartholemy, team manager of the BMP Elf 99 team: "the bit to the teeth as he tried to catch up with the leaders, Lagrive was betrayed by a false neutral on entering the turn. Out of his trajectory, the BMP-ELF-99 team rider fell heavily, damaging the BMW S1000RR which had previously made a very strong impression ".

Starting again in 19th position, Erwan Nigon had to stop again in the pits a lap later because of "serious handling problems". After a closer examination, the team finds that the frame of the S1000RR is slightly twisted and must give up..

"A fall, a penalty, another fall … What a difficult weekend!", Notes Sebastien Gimbert for whom "second for us, it was like a victory". The great endurance and speed motorcycle rider that he is nevertheless knows that "it is part of 24 hour races and that you have to be ready to accept disappointment, even so close to the finish line, while Suzuki had the perfect race ".

Erwan Nigon: "we were there to win!"

For his part, Erwan underlines that "it is difficult for both the team and me to finish like this, because we were there to win. We could have secured second place, but it’s a race … Sometimes you attack, sometimes you crash, and sometimes you win. This weekend we fell. But we also have to remember the positive aspects: we adapted the BMW S1000RR well to the Michelin tires and thus were the fastest on this circuit. . It’s important for the next race in Qatar where we will get, I hope, a better result ".

Christophe Guyot: we have proven that our potential is intact !

Naturally disappointed by this 5th place 22 laps behind the leaders while the podium and victory were within his reach this year, the team manager of Yamaha n ° 94 is nonetheless "very satisfied to have proved thanks to Michelin that our potential is intact. In addition, our Yamaha ran like clockwork. For us the results are totally positive. Nevertheless, we all have a thought tonight for the riders who were badly injured during this Bol d’Or ".

"We are very close to William Costes and Sebastien Scarnato who were our pilots," continues Christophe Guyot. "We wish them a good recovery and we hope that the news concerning Raphaël Chèvre (the Suzuki rider n ° 110 also involved in the accident which led to the abandonment of the Honda n ° 63 of the Michelin Power Research Team, Editor’s note) will be soon reassuring ".

On Sunday evening, Raphaël was still in intensive care at Dijon hospital where he was helicoptered. He has come out of the artificial coma in which the doctors had plunged him and we are now awaiting his awakening which may take a few days. Bravo to all … and see you for the next Bol d’Or which will take place on April 16 and 17, 2011 at Magny-Cours !

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