La 78ème édition du Bol d’Or, la dernière sur le circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, va rester dans les annales. La course a été marquée par des conditions de course extrêmement difficiles entraînant un nombre de chutes record n’épargnant aucun concurrent. Kawasaki SRC est sorti vainqueur pour la troisième fois consécutive. Il devance le GMT 94 (Michelin). Le Junior Team Suzuki, première équipe Superstock, complète le podium général.
Les 46 équipes engagées à la 78ème édition du Bol d’Or se sont élancées sur une piste détrempée. Jaillissant de sa troisième place, Vincent Philippe au guidon de la Suzuki du SERT prend immédiatement le commandement. Auteur de la pole position, Honda Racing, se place rapidement dans les roues du SERT. Grégory Leblanc, parti de la 16ème place, se fait piéger dès le sixième tour. La Kawasaki n°11 plonge alors à la 29ème place. La première heure de course est marquée par de nombreuses chutes alors que les choix de pneus ont été aussi complexes que primordiaux du début à la fin de cette course.
Le SERT et Honda Racing s’échangent la tête au grès des ravitaillements alors que le GMT 94 reste au contact en troisième position. Honda Racing semblait prendre l’avantage sur le SERT mais l’arrivée de la pluie en début de soirée (21H30) a inversé la tendance. Anticipant un arrêt au stand pour chausser les pneus pluie, le SERT a repris l’avantage et a ensuite creusé un écart suffisant pour conserver la tête à l’issue du ravitaillement suivant. Peu avant minuit, le SERT a accentué son avance suite à la chute de la Honda n°111. Le GMT 94 en a profité alors pour passer deuxième.
Deux chutes d’Erwan Nigon et Vincent Philippe juste après la mi-course ont cependant mis fin aux espoirs du SERT d’ajouter un 16ème succès au Bol d’Or à son palmarès. Le GMT 94 a hérité des commandes pour la première fois depuis le départ avant de céder aux assauts de Honda Racing peu avant l’aube. Installée en tête avec cinq tours d’avance sur son premier challenger, la Honda n°111 de Sébastien Gimbert, Freddy Foray et Julien Da Costa a été cruellement trahie par un problème de transmission à trois heures de l’arrivée.
Quelques dizaines de minutes plus tôt, le GMT 94 s’était fait piéger par un changement d’adhérence et avait concédé sa deuxième place à Kawasaki SRC. Grégory Leblanc et Nicolas Salchaud ont cravaché toute la course pour ramener la Kawasaki n°11 dans le peloton de tête. Blessé suite à sa chute aux essais libres, Matthieu Lagrive n’aura finalement effectué que deux relais.
A 11h47 (643ème tour), Kawasaki SRC est devenu le quatrième et dernier leader. Grégory Leblanc, Nicolas Salchaud et Matthieu Lagrive se sont imposés en bouclant 743 tours. David Checa, Kenny Foray et Mathieu Gines du GMT 94 ont été relégués à cinq tours.
Premier leader Superstock, le Junior Team Suzuki a connu le même parcours que Kawasaki SRC en chutant dès la première heure. La Suzuki n°72, bénéficiant des nombreuses chutes, a ensuite repris la tête de la catégorie et complète le podium général. Le Team Viltaïs Expérience (Michelin) termine deuxième devant BMRT 3D Endurance. La troisième place en EWC est revenue à Motors Events.
Prochaine épreuve : 8 heures de Suzuka, Japon, 27 juillet
The last Bol d’Or to be held at Nevers Magny-Cours will be remembered as one of most entertaining in recent years. Difficult conditions led to a record number of falls up and down the leaderboard, but that didn’t prevent Kawasaki SRC from collecting its third straight Bol d’Or victory. Second place ended up in the hands of GMT 94 (Michelin), while Junior Team Suzuki added a top-three finish to its triumph in the Superstock class.
The 46 starters faced wet conditions for the start of the race which saw Vincent Philippe (SERT) leap from third on the grid to emerge in front out of the first turn, as the pole-winning N°111 Honda tucked in behind in second place. Grégory Leblanc, who started from 16th on the grid, fell on Lap 6, dropping the N°11 Kawasaki to 29th position overall.
The first hour of the race was marked by numerous other falls, while choosing the ideal rubber for the consistently changing weather proved a complex exercise from start to finish.
As GMT 94 settled into third place at nightfall Saturday, SERT and Honda Racing spent a long time trading first place as a function of their respective pit stop strategies. Honda Racing then appeared to gain a slight edge over SERT but the balance tipped the other way when rain resumed during the seventh hour. The N°1 Suzuki pitted at once to switch to rain tyres before rapidly pulling out a big enough cushion to be able to re-join in the lead after its following refuelling stop. Shortly before midnight, SERT’s lead was further extended when the N°111 Honda suffered a costly fall, allowing GMT 94 through into second place.
SERT’s hopes of adding a 16th Bol d’Or win to its record were annihilated, however, when Erwan Nigon, then Vincent Philippe fell just shortly after the halfway point. Confirmation of the team’s retirement came soon afterwards. Suddenly, GMT 94 was in front for the very first time but Honda Racing succeeded in wrestling back top spot at daybreak. The situation was not to last, though, since the N°111 Honda was cruelly eliminated by a transmission problem with three hours remaining.
Just before that, the N°94 Yamaha had suffered significant damage in a fall when Freddy Foray was caught out by an unexpected change in grip. That allowed Grégory Leblanc and Nicolas Salchaud (who had spent the night battling to bring the N°11 Kawasaki back onto the provisional podium; team-mate Lagrive only completed two stints after sustaining a back injury on in free practice on Thursday) to appear at the top of the timing screens at 11:47am (Lap 643).
The green team then held firm to collect victory after completing 743 laps, five more than the second-placed Yamaha of GMT 94’s Checa/Foray/Gines.
The early Superstock leader Junior Team Suzuki suffered a similar fate to Kawasaki SRC when it, too, lost ground following a fall during the opening hour. The N°72 Suzuki then took advantage of its rivals’ problems to claw its way back to the class win and third overall. Team Viltaïs Expérience (Michelin) and BMRT 3D Endurance were second and third in the production class respectively. Third in EWC was the N°50 Suzuki (Motors Events).
Next round: 8 Hours of Suzuka, Japan (July 27)
The last Bol d’Or to be held at Nevers Magny-Cours will be remembered as one of most entertaining in recent years. Difficult conditions led to a record number of falls up and down the leaderboard, but that didn’t prevent Kawasaki SRC from collecting its third straight Bol d’Or victory. Second place ended up in the hands of GMT 94 (Michelin), while Junior Team Suzuki added a top-three finish to its triumph in the Superstock class.
The 46 starters faced wet conditions for the start of the race which saw Vincent Philippe (SERT) leap from third on the grid to emerge in front out of the first turn, as the pole-winning N°111 Honda tucked in behind in second place. Grégory Leblanc, who started from 16th on the grid, fell on Lap 6, dropping the N°11 Kawasaki to 29th position overall.
The first hour of the race was marked by numerous other falls, while choosing the ideal rubber for the consistently changing weather proved a complex exercise from start to finish.
As GMT 94 settled into third place at nightfall Saturday, SERT and Honda Racing spent a long time trading first place as a function of their respective pit stop strategies. Honda Racing then appeared to gain a slight edge over SERT but the balance tipped the other way when rain resumed during the seventh hour. The N°1 Suzuki pitted at once to switch to rain tyres before rapidly pulling out a big enough cushion to be able to re-join in the lead after its following refuelling stop. Shortly before midnight, SERT’s lead was further extended when the N°111 Honda suffered a costly fall, allowing GMT 94 through into second place.
SERT’s hopes of adding a 16th Bol d’Or win to its record were annihilated, however, when Erwan Nigon, then Vincent Philippe fell just shortly after the halfway point. Confirmation of the team’s retirement came soon afterwards. Suddenly, GMT 94 was in front for the very first time but Honda Racing succeeded in wrestling back top spot at daybreak. The situation was not to last, though, since the N°111 Honda was cruelly eliminated by a transmission problem with three hours remaining.
Just before that, the N°94 Yamaha had suffered significant damage in a fall when Freddy Foray was caught out by an unexpected change in grip. That allowed Grégory Leblanc and Nicolas Salchaud (who had spent the night battling to bring the N°11 Kawasaki back onto the provisional podium; team-mate Lagrive only completed two stints after sustaining a back injury on in free practice on Thursday) to appear at the top of the timing screens at 11:47am (Lap 643).
The green team then held firm to collect victory after completing 743 laps, five more than the second-placed Yamaha of GMT 94’s Checa/Foray/Gines.
The early Superstock leader Junior Team Suzuki suffered a similar fate to Kawasaki SRC when it, too, lost ground following a fall during the opening hour. The N°72 Suzuki then took advantage of its rivals’ problems to claw its way back to the class win and third overall. Team Viltaïs Expérience (Michelin) and BMRT 3D Endurance were second and third in the production class respectively. Third in EWC was the N°50 Suzuki (Motors Events).
Next round: 8 Hours of Suzuka, Japan (July 27)
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