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
24 HOURS IN BOL d'OR BLENDER P78 Feature understand why I'm having such a hard time on track with traffic when truthfully, we are closer to the bot- tom of the time sheets than the top. After the free practice, all the girls agree that something isn't right with the front end. Our team owner generally wants to keep things very standard and is reluc- tant to change, but we manage to get him over to the Ohlins truck to talk to a technician. At this point my good friend Phillipe from Beringer Brakes ar- rives, and I am beyond grateful to have a good translator. After much discussion, we pick a direction to head in, and Pierre agrees to revalve our shock and make some more changes to the front end. I'm cautiously optimistic for qualifying. I'm up first in the blue group for qualifying—20 minutes to do my very best. Once again, I'm strug- gling with traffic when I finally realize the problem: everyone is simply looking for a tow. With the back straight over a mile long, the draft is key. Still, it's super annoy- ing to have a really fast rider stuff the sh*t out of you and then sit up two corners later. Finally, I get a semi-clear go and can tuck in behind someone down the long back straight (where I get up to 202 mph!), and I come up with a 1:59.7. My next lap is looking even better when, naturally, a red flag comes out. Melodie heads out next and posts a 2:02.223 when another team blows an engine in front of her, and she crashes in the oil at high speed. Luckily, she is uninjured but the bike and her confidence are bashed up. The team works hard to make repairs but there is no way Jolanda is going to make it out in time for her session. In any case, it starts to rain so she doesn't actually miss anything. The team manages to get the bike back together in time for us to make a couple laps of night practice on a half wet and half dry track. You know when you're racing on a drying track and you're straining to see what's wet and what's not? Try doing that in the dark. It's super fun. FRIDAY —JUST GET ON THE GRID It's Friday morning, and we have a second round of qualifying. Pierre comes to us with a worried look on his face. One of our bikes has been on its side three times. The engine is now start- ing to make a noise that is "tres etrange" (very strange). So, we are down to only one engine, a few spares, and very little time or room for mistakes. At this point, all he wants is for us to be sure that Jolanda is able to post a qualifying time. Translation: Don't crash the bike, Melissa. Jolanda on the gas. Practice finally saw her under the 2:01 mark.