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
Bol d'Or the 24-liter (6.3-gallon) fuel tank in about 50 minutes. I know with the rain and not being able to get the throttle open it's go- ing to be a long time before that orange fuel light pops on. About 45 minutes in, I'm headed into turn one when I see waving yellow flags. Suddenly I see the guy in front of me nearly fall and I see what looks like a liquid rainbow spread from one side of the track to another. Someone has crashed and spilled fuel. And the river of water crossing the track has spread it. And it-is-slippery! I make it through and a safety car comes out. We all ride laps behind the safety car for about 30 minutes before my fuel light finally comes on. I head in and hand off the bike to Melodie. Melodie rolls out on the track and soon the safety car pulls off. I head into the van where our physio tries to help unclench my shoulder muscles. Laying on the massage table I can hear the rain picking up. Melodie has been on track for nearly an hour at this point. I hear the announcers shouting excitedly in French, and the physio explains they are say- ing there have been several crashes and the safety car is back out. I am walking back into the garage, when a red flag comes out, bringing a pause to the race. This hasn't happened in 17 years. 6:00 PM —ALL ACTION, NO ACTION It's a strange atmosphere in the garages. The hall- mark of endurance racing is you just keep going, no matter what. No one knows what to do. All the bikes are sitting in a line on pit lane while we wait to hear what will happen. The first thing we hear from race direction is there will be no racing until at least 8:30 pm. I can't help but think of the fuel spill in turn one. Had that happened in the dark, no one would have seen it and it would've been absolute carnage. Fast German Lucky Glockner, who gave Rennie such a hard time at Pikes Peak this year, heads over to our garage and she huddles with me and Melodie while we watch MotoGP on my laptop. Suddenly this 24-hour endurance race has turned into some sort of strange moto girl slumber party. At 8:30 pm, an announcement is made. Racing is suspended until 6:00 am, unheard of. I grab a blanket and try to sleep on the garage floor. As you can imagine, I don't have a lot of success. 24 HOURS IN BOL d'OR BLENDER P82 Feature Jolanda and Melissa (left) compare war stories in the closed-down pit lane.