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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127748
other Honda struck trouble. The complete braking system of Nicotte's Honda was replaced, which dropped them from second to third, aiding the Yamaha of Morill as / Lindholm / Dela tang. Meklau's Ducati, which had survived the first hours of the race pretty much unscathed, lost fourth place at the halfway mark when it broke a belt in the Desmodromic distribution system. The red twin- dropped back to 13th position. At around 3 a.m., Sarron hit another snag: He was mixed up' in a crash with two other bikes, and had to push the bike back to the pits, where he lost another 15 minutes. In the early morning, the race went like this: Rymer was still leading from Morillas, Guyot, Coutelle and Nicotte. Apart from Nicotte and Morrison, Mizera (sixth) was still a candidate for the title, and even Bonhuil was still in the running, with the Suzuki having come back to eighth position. For the Yamaha of Sarron, all was said and done at 5:15 a.m. when the former Grand Prix rider gave up. "I had a terrible wobble at the Mistral straight, which did not make things better for my shoulder which had been injured in the crash," he explained. "As we were way down in the classification and we did not want to have the two (Right) O'Ortelz leeds the Bol d'Or In the South of France. (Below) Stephane Mertens ended the day with four broken ribs end some Internal bruising· and the World Endurance Championship. other riders doing the rest of the work, we decided to withdraw." Just before the first sunlight appeared, another number could be added to the list of retirements: The British Phase One team had to retire with a broken gearbox. At around 8 a.m., things looked a bit more clear as to the title battle. At that moment the Honda of Nicotte/Morrison/Castes came into the pit, and the injection system had to be replaced. The same problem had already occurred on the other Honda. And while 10 minutes clicked away, Morrison and Nicotte saw their title chances getting slimmer. . only with. ehough mOney" 'nient r,cjers in the day.s prior' to the ·event. Pt' ·to enter a two-man works team in tlie j 996 . '. cou'rse" the most dramatic cas'e. was witli ,World Superbike Championship . Vama'h,a, where Yasutomo Na'gal was .expected, to ·ride one of the bikeS: 'As ,a 'ina,1Ii .'. Befere :,the stflrt 'of .iha 801· d'O{,.~· solLition" of respect ferthe.Japan·ese Wo~d Superbike' . seemed to have· been'fou,rid·forthe ,clutch, . rider; who had dIed in a: crash'at ,Assen the problems that had haunted th,e 'Ducatii; at-Le 'week' before ,the'BoI (i'Or, his name:was:stilf.: Mans' their only Oiher. 'endurange 'rllce of the" PUt'On 'th,e' fairing of both bikes. The team was .year.·ln addition, th.e red,twins had completed , finally completed by Jim··Moodie.·Yaniaha: aoSS-hour'prlvate· e'i)durance:test sessior\, 'aJS,O' annoiinced that they wouldn't competil' :without p!'Oblerils warth'.mentioning.. in the ffrial.two .ro,unpg of the Wortp Superbike . 'Cfl"mpionship becau~e 'of Nagai's 'dllatfl.· , Tearn ~lIlgnab.odethad r~eived some ~up.' ' , ' . port from HRC , after running into 11 'road . 'TV!o ·iep'lac~me·nl'rkters ~Iso had·to.be· found. .block at'l'Ionda France because 'of the 'title for Du,catl's Mich"e1 PaquaY a.nd.·MarcC) cliances of-the'Prench' importer's bwn 'teaiTi· -ll,Jcchlnelli.. F.ranCis '.Batta. maflager for ,both: ..With, Vieira, 'Nicotte:and ·Morrison: Tha'. team . supersport 'specifllists; had, a'gked fgr top' b'r6ugt>t a str,engthened' frame, a' dot/ble' much money' for his. two, riders. D,ucati'test 'exhaust, ,and'some setup advice: back ,from r/der:Maur'o Lucchlilrl. wa.s 'r~aa,Y to take'· the ~lIZU~a·B-Hour.:1i dfdn't help, h!>wever, as ,ove" .and he :was, expected, to join. Stepl:lane .. ,Mil.tt/olj crashed the bike after on'e'hour, eXist:, .ChambOnand .faQrizio Piro.vaM..· But'af the' ' i.rig .treleam .~ominutes., and a ',bit 'later' .Iast mame.nt 'Pirovano, declifled'lhe offer, and, 'StePhanll Mertens 'to'tlliedthe bike,' nea'rly , " ~ostlng them :the title. .' . . ' . .. .' ·Brief.ly ' (Right) Mertens will share the title with JeanMichel Mattioli, the two andlng the series tlad on championship points. Additionally, the Honda continued to lo.se power,and turned out to be unable to stand up against the ~eturn of the Daffix Honda (with Mizera), which took over fifth place. And while Lucchiari destroyed his' factory Ducati in a crash, a final attack would come for the title. For Nicotte and Morrison the ride was almost over: The factory Honda sounded worse and worse, and two hours before the end the bike had to be retired because of valve problems. At that time, Rymer and Morillas assured themselves of first and second, but a ferocious battle was set to begin in the last 30 minutes for third place between Kawasaki rider Stephane Coutelle and Honda rider Christophe Guyot. In the Guignabodet team, this was the last test. If both riders crashed in their battle, Mizera would finish third and clinch the title in the final minutes. BonhuiL and his Suzuki were too far away. Fortunately, everybody stayed on their wheels, and Coutelle profited from the higher top speed of his Kawasaki at the expense of Guyot. In short, victory was for Rymer / Battistini/ d'Orgeix, while the title went to Mertens and Mattioli, (N Bold'Or Le Castellet, France Results:s.pternbEw18,1995 FINAL: 1. Rymer/Battistini/d'Orgeix (Kaw); 2. Morillas/Lindholm/Delatang (Yam); 3. Goutellel Haquin/Pinchedez (Kaw); 4. Guyot/Damide/Lussiana (Han); 5. Cazade/Briguet/Mizera (Han); 6. DuHamel/ David/Maillard (Hon); 7. Moineau/Bonhuil/Gomez (Suz); 8. Arnbord/ Ammann/Rohrer (Kaw); 9. AmaIncl Sciberras / Leruste (Hon); 10. Barthod / Furling / Came (Ron); 11. Goodley / Plater /Redgate (Yam); 12. Sc:hneider/Gabrieli/Neff (Yam); 13. Jaggi/Coulon/ Sc:horderet (Hon); 14. Dobe/Cavanez/Cortinovis (Kaw); 15. Schmidt/Schlieper/Kretschmer (Yam); 16. Vanduffelen/Platacis/Vandyk (Kaw); 17. Cuzin/ Sandri/Rousset (Hon); 18. Carrara/Gombaud/Gleyze (Yam); 19. Heal/Macpherson/Forsyth (Han); 20.' Leblanc/Treffort/Lethin (Hon); 21. Eckert/Scherm/ Lewien (Kaw); 22. Valfrey/Leglatin/Potier (Due); 23. Girardot/Giabbani/Bessiere (Hon); 24. Schaffter/ Lepetit/Bosonnet (Hon); 25. Ga'utier/Evans/Guitel (Yam); 26. lnvernizzi/Beltzung/Bousseau (Hon); 27. Parker/Smith/Power (Yam); 28. Schmalu/Sialinol Roche (Kaw); 29. Guinand/Cicillani/Weill (Han); 30. Lelan/Collechia/Lefevre (Kaw); 31. Destoopl Rousseaux/Heninot (Han); 32. KoppelJo'lly /Portas (Due); 33. Graf/Ferrero/Comillet (Kaw); 34. Skellem/ Smith/Cruntchlow (Yam); 35. Jolivet/Ulmann/Gallis (Hon); 36. Rosenfeld/Krummenacher/Bottarel (Hon); 37. Monneret/Ferstler/Besson (Suz); 38. Beltermann/ Lippmann/Schmitz (Suz); 39, RoUe/Virey/Belgy (Han); 40. Thomas/Burgevin/MiJtet (Yam); 41. Marchal/ Vanobbergen/Martin (Kaw); 42. Manning MOTton/ Chapuis/lberet (Due). Time: 23 hr., 57:15.36 min. Di,stance: 673 laps, 2423.58 miles. Average speed: 101.552 mph. WORLD ENDURANCE C'SHIP FINAL POINT STANDINGS: 1. StephaneMertens/Jean-Michel Mattioli (95); 3, Terry Rymer (94); 4. Bruno Bonhuil (92); 5. Eric MizeralJuan~Erie Gomez/Herve MoineaulJehan d'Orge.ix/Jean·Louis Battistini (90); 10. Michel Simeon (83), I.!') 0\ 0\ ...-4 ... ~ I-< Q) "B u o 37