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/126283
~ ILeft) Bol d' Or Co-winner Chri stian Leon on the works Honda. Note the crash-damaged fairing. (A bove) Takazumi Katayama (rightl rode a TZ750 with Roger Ruiz. Ruiz crashed one hou r after the start then the engine f inally seized at 9:a.m. (Bottoml The Godier-Genoud tuned Kawasaki fi nished second this year after winning the event in 74-75. (Below left) The battleship of Bol d' Or was the Benelli 750 Sei. Two were entered but neither finished. (Below) Nine-time world champion Phil Read. 0') ...... M Q,) ..0 o ... u o 24-HourSuperbike Marathon Honda bowls.over 801 d' Or By Eric Breton LE MANS , FRANCE, SEPT. 17-18 H onda Endurance R acing Team works ri ders Jean Claude Chermarin and Christian Leon gave Honda a second consecutive win in th e most famous 24 hour race in the worl d, The Bol d'Or. Before a crowd estimated at 150,000, the Fren - 36 chmen devastated the opposition aboard th eir 997cc RCB Honda and took a giant step toward retaining th eir European Endurance Champion ship crown . In a show of complete dom ination, the Honda France entry roo k over the lead just ten minutes into the race and held it to the end covering a record 2 ,000 .6 miles in the process, Second plac~..fril 10 .t he 1,000cc Kawasaki of Michel Frutschi and Jean Francois Balde. The machine was prepared by Godier and Genoud , th e French Kawasaki importers and 197475 winners of the Bol d 'Or. Problems early in the event with the suspension held the pair back in the standings. How ever, the Frutschi /Balde team moved steadily up in the tally once th e problems were sorted out. Althoug h there were . no Am erican riders this yea r , there was an American entry. Tri Mil Industries of California sent a Kawasaki 1000 for a pair of Swiss riders. Air freight problems just two days befor e the ra ce and the unavailabil it y of a transport v..hicJe led the Swiss to ride the bike. slicks and all , approximately 100 miles to the track. The race effort was halted by problems four hours into the event . In all , Hondas filIed six of the top seven positions. With five of the '77 works machines in the race (th ree Honda France and two Honda Britain) and an additional five '76 models lent to different importers , Honda could afford to be selfconfident. The early compeunon expected from the Godier-Cen oud prepared Kawasaki and a pair of specially p rep ared Yamaha TZ750Ds never appeared. By nightfalI , those ent ries had had so many problems that alI anyone co uld expect was a great Honda parade. The race , running at near record pace , took its 1011 during the nighttime hours . It was during th e night that Leon crashed the leading Honda • damaging the fair ing and a rear frame st ru t. The problem took 22 m inutes to fix . but with the lead they had th ere was still plenty of cus hion once they were again underway. At the finish Ch ermarin /Leon held a 13 lap (approx imately 30 mil es on the shortened Le Mans race course) lea d over seco nd place. Of the 60 teams that had started, only 21 saw th e checkered flag . • Results , 1. C. Leon /J .e. Chemarin IHen) 763 laps ; 2. M. Ftutschi/F-F-. Balde IKawl 750 ; 3. C. Huguet/P. Korhonen IHonI744; 4. E. Schwemmer/H . Oahne (Han) 744 ; 5. W. BarchilE. Ferreira lHonl 736; 6. J . BuytaertiM . Stinglehammer (Hen) 732; 7. H. van den HoutJL. S pierings (Hon ) 720 ; 8. A. AivalO. Macchi IKaw I 704 ; 9. C. Bou rgeoisIT. Tchernine (Yaml 690 ; 10. G. . Desheu l1es1P Vassard IKaw1676; 11. P. ReadlT . Rutt er (Ha n) 675 ; 12. J . O~nlerI F. Fillard (BMW) 675 ; 13. G. Green/M. Ma;ngret IHon) 673 ; 14. S . HeltaiM . O'Ang elio IM·G) 668 ; 15. A. TerrasIW. Goug y IKaw) 660 ; 16. J . Agot;an/J . Piyre IS Ul l 630; 17. C. Buduisson/F. Fourg eard (Lay); 629 ; 18. A. Norlander/A. Copeland (Ha n) 612; 20 . A. V;al/J . Guitlet IYaml 597 ; 21 . A. Goldsm ithlM. Trimby IKawl592. Wi nners ' distance : 2,006 mil es. Average speed : 83.59 mph.