Suzuka 2001 Results

2001 Bol d'Or - Magny Cours - Sep 15/16
Weather, dull - intermittent rain; temperature, 18'; track conditions, slippery; crowd, 66,000

The Honda Elf team mounted a magnificent fight back from adversity to claim victory in the Superbike category of the 65th running of the Bol d'Or, and second place overall, after leading for the opening three and a half hours of the 24 Hour race.

Team riders William Costes, Sebastien Gimbert and Fabien Foret, rode a fast controlled race pace round the 4.182km Magny Cours circuit, close to Nevers, to climb back from their lowly 22nd place, after four hours of racing.

The race was won by the Suzuki Castrol team, racing in the new Superproduction category for 1000cc capacity machines. The team of Christian Lavielle, Brian Morrison and Laurent Brian, clinching the Superproduction Endurance World Cup in the process.

Third place in the race went to the Phase One Suzuki (Superproduction) team who had to fight off the close attentions of Free Bike Performance Yamaha. The duel decided in the last 15 minutes when the Yamaha pitted for a rider change.

From the start Morrison and the Suzuki Castrol grabbed the lead chased by fellow Superproduction Suzuki teams of Warwick Nowland on the Zongshen A bike and Sebastien Scarnato on the GMT94. William Costes and the Honda Elf VTR1000SP-1 were closing fast and, once he caught them, swept passed into the lead. Once in front Costes eased away fro the larger capacity Superproduction machines.

At the first stop for fuel tyres and a change of rider the Honda led from Suzuki Castrol with Zongshen A third.

Honda Elf appeared to have the race under control, until 6.35. when the Foret came into the pits with a clutch problem. The clutch was changed but Costes pitted again after a lap, for more clutch adjustments.

When they got back into the race the team were in 22nd place, some eight laps down on the Suzuki Castrol machine. From that point on it was a case of grinding out a result over the next 20 hours.

By the eighth hour some hard riding and slick pit work in tricky track conditions, had carried them to ninth place. Four hours later, at the halfway stage, they were seventh and closing. Three Superbikes, and the Zongshen A bike, between them and the two leading Suzuki's.

But at midnight the Honda made an unscheduled stop to change an exhaust pipe and clutch lever. The stop lasted five minutes and they lost three place, and they had to begin the chase anew.

At the same time GMT94 took the lead from Suzuki Castrol which they were to hold through the night. They held the lead until 7.45 when they ran out of fuel. A cracked weld on the tank the reason.

On 17 hours Suzuki Castrol were back in the lead, two laps clear of second placed Yamaha France team and the GMT94 trio back up to third. Honda Elf were now fourth but still eight laps down on the leader. The Yamaha France machine the only Superbike left in the race ahead of them.

They GMT94 squad had held the lead until 7.45 when they ran out of fuel. A cracked weld on the tank the reason.

When the morning gloom had cleared the Yamaha began to run into problems. At 9.30 an electrical fault cost them two minutes in the pit. A too fast pit exit cost them a stop and go penalty. That was followed by a crash which ended their hopes of a Superbike Class win.

The episode cost them five minutes and gifted the Honda the lead in the Superbike category, and second place overall. They were on the same lap as the battle for third place between the Free Bike Yamaha and the Phase One Suzuki who had fought their way the field, despite a fuel injector problem.

From that point on the top places did not change, despite rain brining out the pace car with just 90 minutes to go. Suzuki Castrol took the flag eight laps clear of the Honda who finished 45 seconds ahead of Phase One Suzuki.

Free Bike Performance Yamaha, who had kept the crowd of 66,000 entertained during their battle with Phase One, finished third to end their season on a high note.

Yamaha France held on to fifth place, albeit 16 laps down on the winners.

Newly crowned Endurance World Champions Wim Motors Honda were never able to show their title winning form. The VTR1000SP-1 was plagued by injector problems and retired before the halfway stage, never higher than 14th place in the race.

William Costes - "Very happy but at the same time disappointed with second place as we came here to win. Two races, two second places. The bike was very good, good chassis and very fast but unfortunately the clutch let us down."

Sebastien Gimbert - "Very happy with the fact we could come back from 22nd to second. However, I came here to win. Maybe if we had had a couple more races it would have been easier to iron out the teething problems, The team worked very ell and also very hard."

Fabien Foret - "I didn't come here for second place. Everything was very good until the clutch problem which left us too much to do to come back and win. We need more testing time to iron out these little problems. Both Le Mans and the Bol d'Or to me because I am French. However, World Supersport is my priority and it is difficult to combine the two series. I have a weeks break before Imola, not like after Le Mans when I had to fly to Phillip Island."

Race results:
1. Christian Lavielle F, Brian Morrison GB, Laurent Brian F, Suzuki 799 laps

2. William Costes F, Fabien Foret F, Sebastien Gimbert F, Honda Elf 791

3. Igor Jerman SL, Olivier Ulmann F, James Ellison GB, Suzuki 791

4. Matthiieu Lagrieve F, Bertrand Sibileau F, Cyril Fernadez F, Yamaha 790

5. Jean Marc Delatang F, Mark Willis AUS, Thierry Paillot F, Yamaha 783

6. Frederic Jond F, Olivier Four F, P Lerat Vanstaen F, Suzuki 779

7. Christian Haquin F, Michel Amalric F, J F Le Glatin F, Kawasaki 779

8. Thomas Hinntereiter A, Bruno Bonhuil F, Roger Bennett GB, Suzuki 778

9. Sebastien Scarnato F, Arnaud v d Bossche F, Frederic Protat F, Suzuki 775

10. Gwen Giabani F, Christophe Roche F, Franck Gebelin F, Kawasaki 768

11. Stephane Mertens B, W Nowland AUS, C Fernandez E, Suzuki 765

12. Stephane Neff F, Robert Di Foggia F, Franck Tauziede F, Honda 763

13. Tobias Nystrom CH, Frederic Gaillard F, Laurent Dubus F, Suzuki 760

14. Claude Aish Jaggi CH, Dave Rollier CH, Head Carrard H, Suzuki 756

15. Bruce Rulfo F, Nicola Jauneau F, Sylvain Waldmeier F, Yamaha 754

     FIM World Endurance Championship
     Final Standings:

     1st -   9 Wim Motors Honda SP-1 		182 points
     2nd - 12 FreeBike Yamaha R7 		130 points
     3rd -  111 Honda Elf Honda SP-1		100 points
     4th -   7 Ducateam Ducati 996 		 92 points 
     5th -   6 Herman Verboven Suzuki GSX-R750	 91 points

     Other British Teams:
     23rd - 27 Bikeshire Racing Suzuki GSX-R750
     25th -  29 Morgan Read & Sharman Ducati 996
     29th -  60 Team Alf's Ducati 996

     FIM Endurance World Cup (SuperProduction class):
     Final Standings:

     1st - 11 Suzuki Castrol GSX-R1000 222 points
     2nd - 94 GMT94 GSX-R1000 177 points
     3rd - 2 Zongshen 'A' GSX-R1000 150 points
     4th - 1 Whirley Phase One GSX-R1000 132 points
     5th - 38 Endurance Moto 38 Yamaha R1 90 points

     Other British Teams:
     8th - 41 Motomax/Derbi Suzuki GSX-R 67 points
     15th - 88 GB Moto Yamaha R1 21 points
     19th - 42 Bike Torque Suzuki GSX-R 17 points
     27th - 27 Bikeshire Racing Yamaha R1 10 points

     FIM Endurance Cup (Stocksport class):
     Final Standings:

     1st - 22 Police Nationale Kawasaki ZX9R 192 points
     2nd - 23 Jet Endurance Team Suzuki GSX-R1000 124 points
     3rd - 47 Bridgestone Bikers Profi Suzuki GSX-R 108 points

     Other British Teams:
     18th - 21 Dynotech Performance Honda Fireblade
     39th - 55 Trackdaze.co.uk 'B' Yamaha R1
     44th - 54 Trackdaze.co.uk 'A' Yamaha R1
     48th - 32 US/GB Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000
     50th - 27 Bikeshire Racing Yamaha R1

Summary

Total No. of Riders

553

Total No. of Teams

156

Total No. of Japanese Teams

44

Total No. of Nations

22

Total No. of Factories

11

Factories Represented

Suzuki

181

Yamaha

172

Honda

81

Kawasaki

61

Aprilia

31

Ducati

9

Voxan

5

MV Agusta

4

Triumph

3

BMW

3

JLB SP1

1

Not specified

3

Classes

Totals

Prot.

46

SBK

150

SPP

113

STOCK

235

Not specified

9

Nations Represented

F

219

D

139

J

43

B

42

GB

41

CH

16

USA

9

CZ

7

AUS

5

AUS

4

NL

4

L

3

H

3

RUS

3

E

3

S

2

I

2

CHINA

2

GR

2

CND

1

IRL

1

SLO

1

PAST CHAMPIONS

Year

Riders

Manufacturers

1980	M.Fontan / H.- Moineau	Honda
1981	R. Roche / J. Lafond	Kawasaki
1982	J.C. Chemarin / J. Cornu	Kawasaki
1983	H. Moineau / R. Hubin	Kawasaki
1984	G. Coudray / P. Igoa	Honda
1985	G. Coudray / P. Igoa	Honda
1986	P. Igoa	Honda
1987	H. Moineau / R. Hubi	Suzuki
1988	H. Moineau / T. Crine	Suzuki
1989	-	-
1990	-	-
1991	A. Vieria	Kawasaki
1992	T. Rymer / C. Fogarty	Kawasaki
1993	D. Toland	Kawasaki
1994	A. Morillas	Kawasaki
1995	S. Mertens / J.- M. Mattioli	Honda
1996	B. Morrison	Kawasaki
1997	P. Goddard / D. Polen	Suzuki
1998	C. Lavieille / D. Polen	Honda
1999	J. D'Orgeix / T. Rymer / C. Lavieille	Suzuki
2000	P. Linden / W. Nowland	Suzuki
2001	Wim Motors SP1	Honda