IN
THE
WIND
P50
SRC TAKES THE BOL; SERT TAKES TITLE
K
awasaki SRC took victory
in front of 74,000 fans in
the 79th Bol d'Or 24 Hour from
Yamaha GMT94, held for the
first time in over 15 years at the
legendary Paul Ricard venue
at Le Castellet in France. But
while SRC won the battle, the
Suzuki Endurance Racing Team
won the war, claiming their 14th
World Championship with a
third-place finish.
The Bol was billed as a battle
between SERT and reigning
champions GMT94 for the title,
but it was seemingly all over
for GMT after only one lap of
the 24-hour race when David
Checa crashed, necessitating a
lengthy pit stop for repairs. The
team rejoined in 54th place and
put on a tremendous fight back
to eventually claim the second
spot.
The race distilled to a battle
between SRC, SERT and the
Honda Racing Team, all three
taking alternating turns in the
lead. But by 2:00 a.m., SERT
lost its lead after a rear wheel
axle problem caused them to
lose seven laps in the pits.
"I was really scared last night.
I was filled with doubt," SERT
rider Vincent Philippe admit-
ted. "When you're going at 250
km/h [155 mph] and you find
you've got a skewed wheel, it's
pretty tough."
This promoted BMW Motor-
rad France Team Penz 13 up to
third, but they too would fall out
of the podium place at 10:00
a.m. with a snapped chain. Not
long after, the leading Honda
Racing Team machine was re-
tired with overheating problems.
Four hours from the finish, the
positions firmed up with SRC
leading from GMT and SERT,
and that's the way they stayed.
SERT, with riders Philippe, An-
thony Delhalle, Etienne Masson,
took the title with 154 points to
GMT94 Yamaha's 132 and SRC
Kawasaki third at 100.
The title win marked the 14th
for SERT, ninth for team leader
Phillipe and seventh for Delhalle.
"They say the younger you
are, the more hunger you have
for victory, but I can assure you
it's exactly the same at my age!"
said team manager Dominique
Meliand's in his 35th year of
running SERT. "This 14th World
Championship title tastes just as
good as our first one. And for
anyone who dismissed the GSX-
R1000, this title proves it is still a
winning machine! I'm very, very,
happy." CN
PHOTO
COURTESY
OF
SUZUKI
RACING
(Left to right) Anthony Delhalle,
Vincent Phillipe, Ettien Masson and
SERT team manager Dominique
Meliand ran a steady race to take
third overall and their 14th World
Endurance Championship title.
