Press Release | September 16, 2018
2018 Bol D’Or 24 Hours Endurance World Championship Result—Reigning Endurance World Champions F.C.C. TSR Honda France (Freddy Foray, Josh Hook and Mike Di Meglio) beat YART Yamaha (Broc Parkes, Niccolò Canepa and Marvin Fritz) by a mere 54 seconds to win the 2018 Bol D’Or 24 Hours, a race packed with drama until the very last lap. Yamaha Wepol Racing completed the podium at the first round of the 2018-2019 FIM EWC.
2018 Bol D’Or 24 Hours Endurance World Championship Result
The Penz13 squad, who finished second at the 2017 Bol d’Or on a BMW, had switched to Yamaha on the eve of the 2018 edition.
“We got our first look at the bike on Tuesday, just before the race,” says Mathieu Lagrive, who partnered with Daniel Webb and Sheridan Morais to ride the Yamaha #13.
Wepol was involved in a lengthy battle with Bolliger Team Switzerland (Kawasaki), who finished at the foot of the podium thanks to riders Roman Stamm, Sébastien Suchet and Jonathan Hugot.
Suzuki Endurance Racing Team were often in the lead, but various technical gremlins and a capricious clutch caused Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Gregg Black to drop back to fifth at the finish.
Other favorites saw their podium hopes go up in smoke, like Team SRC Kawasaki France. The final act of the drama-filled race came when Randy de Puniet, Jérémy Guarnoni and David Checa’s Kawasaki suddenly developed electrical problems, as a result of which they finished seventh after leading the race during the night and in the early morning.
The intensity never let up: from the 10 seconds separating the three teams in the lead five hours into the race to the 30-second gap between the podium contenders three hours from the finish.
At the finish, five different manufacturers were represented in the top six of a race marked by incessant lead changes.
As in the EWC class, the Superstock podium was international. German team Gert56 rapidly took the lead when Team 33 Coyote Louit Moto, the initial leader in class, had an engine problem.
The Gert56 Superstock BMW with Julian Puffe, Stefan Kerschbaumer and Filip Altendorfer finished this year’s Bol d’Or in sixth place overall. The Franco-Japanese squad Webike Tati Team Trick Star (Kawasaki) took second place in Superstock with riders Julien Enjolras, Kevin Denis and Osamu Deguchi. The team had also won the 2017-2018 FIM Superstock World Cup.
Italian squad No Limits Motor Team (Suzuki) took third place in Superstock with riders Eddy Dupuy, Luca Scassa and Michael Mazzina, additionally winning the Anthony Delhalle EWC Spirit Trophy for putting up a determined fight throughout the race.
Not all of the teams who started from the top positions on the grid were able to finish the race. ERC-BMW Motorrad Endurance were fourth on the grid, but gave up shortly after nightfall following a collision and crash two hours into the race.
Honda Endurance Racing also threw in the towel on Sunday morning because of major engine problems.
SET Racing got itself noticed among the FIM EWC rookies for a fine performance. The all-new Swedish team had settled into 10th place after starting from 30th, but withdrew at noon on Sunday with a broken engine.
Next race on the 2018-2019 FIM EWC calendar: the 24 Heures Motos on 20 and 21 April 2019 on the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans.
2018 Bol D’Or 24 Hours Endurance World Championship Result