[EWC] Bol d'Or 2018: Victory for the FCC TSR Honda France 54 seconds ahead of the YART Yamaha!

Never give up ! This is once again the lesson to be learned from this 82nd Bol d’Or with multiple twists and turns…

In fact, we find in the first two places two motorcycles which, given the current pace of Endurance races, seemed to us to have lost any chance of victory following two incidents which had cost the Yamaha several laps (see here) then the Honda (see here).

So much the better for them and their crews, and a shame for the SRC Kawasaki which led from the start until two hours from the end of the event, overwhelmed by a multitude of small glitches (rear light, puncture, shifter and harness).

This is how Endurance goes, a mixture of sprinting, strategy, will… and luck!

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At the end of a thrilling race until the last lap, the reigning world champion, FCC TSR Honda France won with a 54 second lead over YART Yamaha. The Yamaha Wepol Racing completes the podium of this first FIM EWC 2018-2019 event.

The FIM EWC World Champion honors his title and begins a new season with a victory at the Bol d'Or. On the Paul Ricard circuit, Freddy Foray, Josh Hook and Mike Di Meglio for FCC TSR Honda France snatched victory over the YART Yamaha of Broc Parkes, Niccolò Canepa and Marvin Fritz. Only 54 seconds separate this Japanese Honda and the Austrian Yamaha which respectively split into two^e and 3^e place on the rack.

Wepol Racing creates a surprise by taking the third step of the podium. This Yamaha managed by the Penz13 team, which finished 2^e of the 2017 Bol d'Or on BMW, moved to Yamaha just before the 2018 edition. We discovered the bike on Tuesday just before the race » admits Mathieu Lagrive who teamed up on the Yamaha #13 with Daniel Webb and Sheridan Morais.

Wepol battled for a long time with Bolliger Team Switzerland (Kawasaki) which finished just off the podium thanks to Roman Stamm, Sébastien Suchet and Jonathan Hugot.

Nothing is ever decided in Endurance
The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team was often at the front of the race but various technical problems then a capricious clutch caused Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Gregg Black to fall back to 5^e position on arrival.

Other favorites saw their hopes of a podium disappear like Team SRC Kawasaki France. As a final twist in this race with twists and turns, electrical problems affected the Kawasaki of Randy de Puniet, Jérémy Guarnoni and David Checa who finished 7^e after holding the lead of the race during the night and early morning.

The intensity of the race never wavered, from the 10 seconds that separated the leading trio after 5 hours of racing to the 30 seconds gap between the podium candidates 3 hours from the finish. At the finish, five different manufacturers enter the Top6 of this race which has seen constant changes of leader.

The Superstock points at 6^e position
As in EWC, the Superstock podium focuses on internationalization. The Germans from Gert56 moved very quickly to the top of the category after the engine problems of the first leader in the race, Team 33 Coyote Louit Moto. The BMW Gert56 Superstock of Julian Puffe, Stefan Kerschbaumer and Filip Altendorfer finished in 6^e position of this Bol d'Or. The Franco-Japanese team Webike Tati Team Trick Star on Kawasaki takes 2^e place Superstock with Julien Enjolras, Kevin Denis and Osamu Deguchi. This team also won the 2017-2018 FIM Superstock World Cup.

The Italians from No Limits Motor Team on Suzuki took third place in Superstock with Eddy Dupuy, Luca Scassa and Michael Mazzina and received the Anthony Delhalle EWC Spirit Trophy for their combativeness in this race.

Unlucky animators
Among the crews that started at the top of the starting grid, some were unable to reach the finish. This is the case of ERC-BMW Motorrad Endurance, 4^e on the grid, who retired at the start of the night following a collision and a fall after two hours of racing.
Honda Endurance Racing also threw in the towel on Sunday morning after major engine problems.
Among the rookies in FIM EWC, we noticed the good performance of SET Racing. This new Swedish team was stuck at 10^e place after a start in 30^e position. SET Racing retired on Sunday afternoon due to engine failure.

69 spectators on the Circuit Paul Ricard
Under the Var sun, 69 spectators attended this 000^e Bol d'Or, 1 more people than for the 000 edition.

Next FIM EWC 2018-2019 meeting, the 24 Heures Motos on April 20 and 21, 2019 on the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans.

source: FIMEWC.fr