Rd.4 – Bol d’Or 2024 – Qualifying

YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL IS ON THE PACE FOR THE BOL D’OR EWC DECIDER

The 2024 FIM Endurance World Championship title will be decided this weekend at the famous Bol d’Or race at the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet, France. Yoshimura SERT Motul, currently second in the championship and just six points off the leader, is more motivated than ever to add another world title to its rich prize list.

The Suzuki team will start the Bol d’Or 24-Hour, the season finale, from third position on the grid and is a serious contender for another world title.

After winning the opening round of the Championship at Le Mans earlier this year, the Franco-Japanese team continued to build on its strong start to the season with two podium finishes. It was placed second in the 8 Hours of Spa Motos in Belgium, and third in the Suzuka 8 Hours in Japan.

The 45 teams entered for the Bol d’Or have taken part in two qualifying practice sessions, with the first held on Thursday the 12th of September. Despite slightly tricky weather conditions, with very strong wind, the Suzuki riders were already making their mark in the first session. Gregg Black set the tone with his best time of 1‘53.116, which placed him third in his session. In his wake, Etienne Masson also put in a very good performance, finishing with a time of 1‘54.234, the fifth fastest time in his group. Dan Linfoot’s attack was interrupted with a red flag and there was no time for a restart, therefore, his time of 1‘55.965 was not a true reflection of his performance. Reserve rider Cocoro Atsumi (1‘57.754) gradually found his way on the very demanding circuit to finish 12th. At the end of the first day, the Yoshimura SERT Motul was provisionally third in qualifying.

In the final qualifying session, which took place on Friday the 13th of September, team continued its preparation work. Black was the first to take to the track, but the team bike suffered a technical problem, and he had to return to the pits. He could get back out in the final minutes of the session, however, he was unable to improve on his best time, set the day before. Masson made significant progress. He set a fast lap of 1‘53.360, gaining almost a second on his previous time. Linfoot’s progress was even more spectacular, as the British rider set the second fastest time of his session, with a best lap of 1‘52.762. Atsumi made his contribution to the work of the whole team by concluding qualifying with a time of 1‘55.401, also making a leap forward on the timesheet.

Averaging its two fastest times, Yoshimura SERT Motul was credited with a time of 1‘52.939, which placed it third in qualifying. The team picked up an additional three points in the process.

Yohei KATO – Team Director

We suffered a lot from the strong wind, so it was difficult to set good fastest laps. But it was the same for everyone. We’re ready for the race and for these complicated conditions. We got third position, which isn’t too bad. We know that we perform better in the race than in qualifying, so I’m confident in the team and the riders. If we stick to our plan, we should achieve our goal of becoming world champion again.

Damien SAULNIER – Team Manager

We lost one point to our direct rival but it’s not the end of the world. My main consideration is that we had a good qualifying session, with the riders getting a better feeling for the bike and improving their performance today. Dan set a very good time, so I’m very positive for the race. It’s all going to come down to the race and the pressure is growing. But I’m reassured about the way the team works, the bike, and the tires… I think we’ll have to be cautious at the start of the race and then become more aggressive because at some point we’ll have to move to the front. Things will obviously come down to the 8th and 16th hours. We’ll have to monitor and calculate carefully as the race progresses.

Gregg BLACK – Rider Blue

I’m happy to be back racing after injuring my wrist in the Suzuka test. I still have some discomfort but I feel good on the bike. I was very confident about qualifying after a positive first session, but we had a small technical problem with the bike in Q2, so I only had one lap to set my time and that wasn’t enough. I’m a bit disappointed because we have the potential to be better placed on the grid. But I’m still very confident because we’re always very strong in the race itself. We have a solid team that performs well in 24-hour races.

Dan LINFOOT – Rider Red

We lost another point to the leader so we’re a bit disappointed but, in the end it doesn’t change much. Our main objective is of course to win the championship. There’s a long race ahead of us, during which anything can happen. We have the chance to win and take the title. The wind made qualifying difficult, but it should ease off for the race, which will be great for us. Now we must concentrate on having a solid race.

Cocoro ATSUMI – Rider Green

I took advantage of qualifying to try out some new tires in preparation for the race and that went well. The bike has improved since the start of the week. My team-mates had a very good second qualifying session so I’m happy that the team can once again fight for victory and the championship.

The 2024 Bol d’Or, gets underway at 3pm (local time) on Saturday the 14th of September.

Pos.	Team	Machine	Best TOP2 Ave.
1	BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM	BMW M1000RR	1’52.049
2	YART – YAMAHA	YMAHA YZF-R1	1’52.692
3	YOSHIMURA SERT Motul	SUZUKI GSX-R1000R	1’52.939
4	HONDA VITALS RACING	HONDA CBR1000RR-R	1’52.993
5	F.C.C. TSR HONDA FRANCE	HONDA CBR1000RR-R	1’53.560