Kawasaki win the Bol d’Or 24 Hour battle but Suzuki win the 2015 Endurance World Championship war
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 Superstock sub-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.
Dominique Meliand – SERT Team Manager – “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!”
While SERT won the World Endurance Championship war it was Team Kawasaki SRC that savoured their fourth consecutive Bol d’Or victory.
Gregory Leblanc – Team Kawasaki SRC – “I did not want to think about a fourth Bol d’Or success during the race. We had no time to think anyway. Each time we took a small lead we had a small issue. This race was nervewracking!”.
Matthieu Lagrive – Team Kawasaki SRC – “After a difficult season we had with our two Suzuka and Oschersleben DNF results, we had to score a win this year but it hasn’t been easy”.
GMT94 Yamaha rode the catch up race of a lifetime to secure second place and end the 2015 FIM Endurance World Championship season as the Vice-Champion. Monster Energy Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART) also showed an incredibly strong pace at Circuit Paul Ricard, but luck was not on their side and they were forced to retire after 14 hours.
GMT94 Yamaha’s David Checa, Kenny Foray and Mathieu Gines were still in contention for the championship title as they entered the round in Castellet (France), a circuit they hadn’t ridden the brand-new YZF-R1 on before, 23 points behind the championship leader, with 60 points still up for grabs.
Starting from third, Checa was the first GMT rider onboard the YZF-R1, styled in a special 60 Year Anniversary livery, towards the first corner along with 54 other riders. After some scrapping he had positioned himself in eleventh place, when suddenly drama struck just before the end of the first lap. The Spanish rider suffered a small crash and had to hurry back to the pit box.
The French team showed its professionalism when it quickly repaired the bike in a manner of minutes, so they could re-enter the track eleven minutes into the race in 54th place. It was second rider Foray who took over the bike and started chipping away at the five-lap disadvantage, before handing the bike over to third rider Gines who raised the pace even further.
It was the experience of the number 94 team and the never-ending fighting spirit of the riders that saw them pull through the hardship and become the heroes of the race as they fought against the odds.
By the eight-hour stage they had climbed back up to sixth place and secured five important points for the championship. They kept their heads down and rode a brilliant night session that saw them not only move up to fourth position, but also leave their main rival behind them as they added another seven points to their tally.
Their change in fortune allowed them to set a new goal for themselves. They were now setting their eyes on a podium finish and were determined to make it happen. Through some strong teamwork they worked their way up to a sensational second place, taking the chequered flag two laps behind the leader.
Broc Parkes, the first rider for the Monster Energy Yamaha Austria Racing Team, started from second place on the grid. He came out of the first corner in seventh place and did well as he made his way up to fourth. He continued to ride a strong stint before handing over the bike to second rider Max Neukirchner when the four front running bikes all headed into the pits at the same time.
Despite not being at a 100 per cent level fitness, Neukirchner and third rider Sheridan Morais carried a very strong and consistent pace, which the number 7 bike had displayed all season.
YART gave their all to get hold of the second place and had closed the gap from 45.141s to the race leaders down to 28.743s, but their efforts ended with a déjà vu. Despite their great pace they suffered a technical error during the night, similar to what happened at the 24-hour race of Le Mans, and were unable to finish the race.
The Bol d’Or results see GMT94 Yamaha take home 45 points and finish the season in second place with 132 points in total. Despite their not having completed the race, Monster Energy YART still secured 7 points for holding fourth place at the eight-hour stage, increasing the point total to 41 for tenth place in the championship.
Final Ranking – EWC World Championship
- Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, Suzuki GSXR 1000, 154 points
- GMT94 Yamaha, Yamaha YZF-R1, 132 points
- Team SRC Kawasaki, Kawasaki ZX 10R, 100 points
- BMW Motorrad France Team PENZ13, BWM S 1000RR, 71 points
- Team Traqueur Louit MOTO 33, Kawasaki ZX 10R, 68 points
- Team Bolliger Switzerland, Kawasaki ZX 10R, 55 points
- Junior Team Le Mans Sud Suzuki, Suzuki GSXR 1000, 54 points
- Tati Team Beaujolais Racing, Kawasaki ZX 10R, 53 points
- Honda Endurance Racing, CBR1000 RRSP, 50 points
- Monster Energy Yamaha YART, Yamaha YZF-R1, 41 points
Final Ranking – SST World Cup
- Team Traqueur Louit MOTO 33, Kawasaki ZX 10R, 68 points
- Junior Team Le Mans Sud Suzuki, Suzuki GSXR 1000, 54 points
- Tati Team Beaujolais Racing, Kawasaki ZX 10R, 53 points
- AM Moto Racing Competition, Suzuki GSX R, 31 points
- Völpker NRT 48 & PENZ13 By Schubert Motors, BWM S 1000RR, 25 points
- Starteam Pam-Racing, Suzuki GSXR R, 23 points
- Team 3ART YAM’ Avenue, SST, Yamaha YZF-R1, 18 points
- ATOMIC 68, Suzuki GSX R, 22 laps 13 points
- BMRT 3D Endurance, Aprillia 10 points
- Ecurie Chrono Sport 1, Kawasaki ZX 10R, 10 points