Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1189298
P76 Feature 24 HOURS IN BOL d'OR BLENDER Bol d'Or WEDNESDAY —TECHNICAL CHECKS AND RIDER BRIEFINGS I experience the same anxiety I do every time I bring my gear through tech in France. The Snell tag in an Ameri- can Arai is in a different place than a European version, and every time it seems to create confusion and a flurry of French words. But in the end, I get my sticker and us girls take the rest of the day to hang out at a nearby beach and try to relax before the race week gets truly crazy. THURSDAY —THINGS GET REAL Thursday morning starts out with a two-hour free practice session. Jolanda leads off and manages her best time yet around Paul Ricard, finally getting under the 2:01 mark. She is suddenly in agreement with me that the front end of our R1 is soft—a huge relief for me. Melodie is still struggling to get out of her head and ride, but I know she will be fine when the pressure is on. I better my times from the test a few weeks back and get down to a 2:00.4. I can't In my afternoon ses- sion, I'm getting super frustrated with traffic. I'm trying to hit my marks but I'm having terrible luck and am semi-convinced some teams have their mechanics out on track. I finally get a clear lap and try to put my head down, only to crash in the exact same place Melodie did a few hours earlier. "Can you give me a ride to the airport?" I ask the guy driving the safety car that is picking me up after I have unceremoniously flung our motor- cycle down the track. The thought of walking into my team's garage with the now slightly second- hand Yamaha R1 is cringe-worthy at best. I suddenly empathize with Melodie's feelings from a few hours earlier. I'm annoyed with myself for falling, but I know it further proves my point that the bike is too soft—something I feel I complain about every time I ride it. As a result of my mistake, Jolanda never gets her second go at practice, but she's attempting to be cool about it. Thank God for the stoicism of the Dutch. That night, we are visited by Ludo, the former data guy from YART (Yamaha Austria Racing Team) and current Yamaha (YEC) race service manager. I show him on the Y-TRAC data from the R1 that something is up because traction control is cutting power to our bike even when there is 0 degrees of lean. He pulls all traction control out of gears four, five and six, and I go to sleep dreaming of big trap speeds. (Above) The sun is out for Melodie, Jolanda and Melissa as throngs of fans grab an autograph.