Bol d'Or, 4th hour: The Suzuki of SERT and the Yamaha of GMT94 wheel in wheel

At the end of the fourth hour of racing, the fight for first position was between the official GSX-R and the reigning World Champion R1, while the Honda FCC TSR was around twenty seconds behind. In Superstock, the Tati Beaujolais Racing team led the way.

The first hour of the Bol d'Or unfolded in a surprising manner, with the early retirement of the Kawasaki SRC of Mathieu Ginès/Randy De Puniet/Fabien Foret who broke its engine after only half an hour of racing, while it was well ahead.

Two Hondas then found themselves at the front, which had not happened for ages in world endurance racing, with the FCC TSR Honda France team of Josh Hook/Freddy Foray/Alan Techer preceding Honda Endurance Racing with Sébastien Gimbert/Grégory Leblanc/Yonny Hernandez.

The FCC remained in the leading group, third behind the Suzuki du SERT which took first position with Etienne Masson/Vincent Philippe/Gregg Black, and in second place the GMT94 Yamaha with David Checa/Niccolò Canepa/Mike Di Meglio.

Team Termas BMW was in fourth position with Kenny Foray/Julien Da Costa/Camille Hédelin, ahead of the excellent first Superstock, the Yamaha Viltaïs Experience R1 with Axel Maurin/Bastien Mackels/Florian Alt.

The Honda Endurance Racing with Sébastien Gimbert/Grégory Leblanc/Yonny Hernandez suddenly lost ground when Hernandez rushed back into his pit box. The bike had no problems, but its leather kept opening due to a zipper problem. Gregory Leblanc then quickly moved up the Fireblade to fourth position.

The YART Yamaha was sailing in 23rd position with only Broc Parkes and Marvin Fritz after a fall by Kohta Nozane who was taken to the medical PC for verification.

The Yamaha Viltaïs, then leading in Superstock, had returned to its stand. The BMRT 3D Maxxess Nevers Kawasaki driven by Maxime Bonnot/Jonathan Hardt/Anthony Violland suffered the same fate. The Viltaïs emerged from the stand in second position in the Superstock, behind the Kawasaki ZX-10R of Tati Team Beaujolais Racing with Julien Enjolras/Julien Pilot/Kevin Denis.

The leaders, SERT and GMT94, completed their 100th lap after 3h25 of racing. There were 4 seconds between these two machines, which preceded the Honda FCC TSR by 15 seconds, and the official Honda n°111 by a lap.

The YART Yamaha, which had crashed heavily with Kohta Nozane, seemed in bad shape inside its stand. The team had a problem with an electronic sensor.

Ranking at the fourth hour:

 

Photos © Honda Racing, FIM EWC, GMT94, Viltaïs