Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE W R DC O L HAMPIONSH IP E NDURA SERIES NCE Final Round: 801 d'O" said with a gri n. By Gary Pinchln File photo by Johan Vandekerckhove LE CASTILLET, FRANCE, SEPT. 21 -22 r-, 0\ 0\ ,...... 00- .... Q) ..0 .8 u o 52 n inc re d ib ly fra n tic last hour of the 61st Bol d 'Or at the Paul Ricard circuit in so u the rn France saw Kawasaki France hold onto their lead despite an overheating engine and a valiant late-race cha rge by Mig ue l DuHam el. The fac tory Honda rider was on the limit late in the race in an effort to for ce Terr y Rym er into making a mistake, but it was an error that never came. Rymer, after b riefl y runn ing DuHamel's pa ce, se ttled in to a holding pattern to cross the line a mer e o ne m inute and 16 seconds a head o f the Honda RC45 a fter 24 hours of racing . was riding with two fingers over the clut ch, but we just wanted to prove for a coup le of laps that our bike was capable of ru nni ng their pa ce," Rymer :1 While Kawasaki mi ght hav e w on the battle, it w as Suzuki who w on the wa r, with Dou g Polen a nd Peter God d ard fin all y co nfi r med as th e new World Endurance Ch ampions after finish ing fifth. Th e Bol, run in 24 hours of pe rfect racing conditions, wa s Kawasaki's first points in a year of blow n motors and Rym ers first w in of the season - and his third Bol d'Or title. Th e race wa s also run at record pace with the w in ni ng ma ch in e co vering 692 la ps - 19 more th an th e reco rd se t by Ry m er, D'Orgeix a nd Jea n-Louis Ba ttistini in Kawasaki's 1995 win in the Bol. "We ca me in to th e race hoping for top three, bu t we had some good luck for a cha nge - a bit differe n t to Spa, when we broke down with 25 minutes to go when we were lead ing," Rymer said . "Ou r bike was overhea ting a t the end." Rymer was credited with the fastest lap of the race, three hou rs int o the race wit h a 1:59.212. The p ace in the final hour for Rymer a nd DuHamel was two minutes flat, but it was a dramatic tum of events that gave Kawasak i the victor y d espite DuHamel's in cred ibly aggr essi ve d isplay as he tried to close the gap. The Ca nadi an was up and o ver curbs, sliding wildly, even clipping the Airfen ce on the exit of the final tum every lap, but his supe rhu ma n effort could not overcome tw o ea rlier probl ems whi ch slowed the team. " I tried h ard," DuHa mel said. " I d id n't ge t mu ch time o n the bike in practice but as the race went on, I felt more comfo rta ble. I think that showed in the last hour wh en I was rea lly able to push it. You never know w ha t migh t happe n if yo u a pp ly a little pres sure. The fans we re loving it , too, so I was popping a few wheelies - but trying not to crash at the same time:' The Smo kin' Joe's Honda superbike star had jelled in from Honda' s SOthbirt hday-party celebration in ew York la te o n Thursd a y night to stamp h is authority on the event with the help of Fren chm an William Costes and Christian Lavieille on Honda France's facto ry RC45. After gearbox -relia bili ty problems earlier in th e yea r, a new CTS qu ick-sh ifter sys tem ensured there was no repea t d isaster for the team and they a p pe a red to be cru isi ng to a tw o-lap victory - d esp ite Lavieille picking up a flat tire at 3:30 a.m. But just before 10:30 a.m on Sunday, DuHamel was battling on track wit h Brian Morriso n wh en the Kawasaki showered the Ho nda wi th sto nes , o ne o f them piercing the rad iat or. Th e team lost nearly five m inu tes replacing the radiat o r, p utting their rivals back on the lead lap. Th en La vieill e, who wa s trying to ma ke up time, cras hed a couple of la ps later a nd the team lost a further seven m inutes repa iri ng the d amag ed bike. This end ed u p dropp ing them two laps d own o n the Kawasak i a n d p laci ng them under the threat of the surviving Yamaha France en try that included Brit Steve Hislop. "Du Hamel's bike was quicker so he was bli tzing me on the stra ights, bu t I w ould ge t h im ba ck in th e co rners," Mo rrison said . "J loo ke d over to see wh ere he was and he'd d ropped back. J though t he'd got a ba ckmarker but one of the stones from my bike had obviously holed his rad iat or . Wh at a sha me, eh?" It was no smoo th race for Kawasaki France, either. They had a n immed iate clutch problem as Rymer took off from the traditional "Le Mans" start, but ran for the first four hours with virtua lly no clu tch before losin g 15 minutes replacing the unit. And then, with two hou rs remai ning. Morrison handed over to D'Orgeix, repo rting an overheating engine. Still, the motor held out to give Ka wasaki its first win of the year .

• Cover