Suzuki Castrol's second bike takes pole for tomorrow's Bol d'Or

Julien da Costa has taken pole position on his GSX-R1000. © Suzuki Racing. Suzuki Castrol's “second” bike, running with the race number zero, has taken pole position for tomorrow's Bol d'Or round of the FIM World Endurance Championship. Qualifying sessions yesterday afternoon and this morning have taken place on a very wet track in persistent rain, with times significantly slower than the 142 laps seen in the dry free practice sessions yesterday morning.

Suzuki Castrol No 1's Vincent Philippe was fastest in the first group of riders on the track this morning, with a time of 2'02"059. In the second group, Suzuki Castrol 0's Julien da Costa (2'00"841) and National Motos Honda's Olivier Four (2'01"566) both went faster than Philippe, demoting him to third overall. Team Kawasaki France were fourth and Yamaha GMT94 fifth.

Domenique Meliand, Suzuki Castrol team manager; “I am not so happy this weekend. The top three bikes are all on the same tyre so there is no advantage; to go faster our riders just need more laps on the bike, for their confidence. Bike “0” will be going for the race win, but bike “1” must race for the championship title.”

Steve Plater, Kawasaki France: “I've never ridden anywhere so slippy. People were going down all around me this morning, so I settled for a safe time; I'm the only one of my team not to crash.”

Kawasaki Bolliger's Patric Muff put the team eighth on the grid, but is unlikely to be fit to race after crashing twice and suffering a suspected broken collar bone. Reserve rider Marcel Kellenberger will take his place.

Championship challengers Yamaha Austria could only manage 11th place after struggling to find grip in the wet conditions. Sebastien Scarnato had two minor crashes during this morning's qualifying session. “There is a lot of spray coming from the tyres, there is no dry line at all but unless you are right behind another bike, it is not a problem to see where you are going. The biggest problem is grip.”

Yamaha Phase One's Warwick Nowland explains the conditions, “It's like riding on glass. I'm in third gear where I would normally be in first, trying to get some drive. Normally in the wet you would expect to be 10 or 12 seconds slower than in the dry, but here everyone is at least 20 seconds off the pace. It might be because the circuit has been polished by Formula 1 cars.”

Tyres are likely to be a key factor in tomorrow's race, even though conditions are expected to improve. We spoke to riders who use Bridgestone, Dunlop, Michelin and Pirelli tyres.

Paolo Tessari, Yamaha X-One, Bridgestone: “The Bridgestones are very good in the wet.” Tessari was seventh fastest in his group in this morning's qualifying session.

Martin Kuzma, Yamaha Maco Moto, Dunlop: “Tyres are not a problem for us; our Dunlops are very good.”

Agosto Rosival, Suzuki Innodrom, Michelin: “I had a little crash this morning, but that was because the tyres were cold; the rest of the time they have been okay.”

Steve Mizera, RMT21, Pirelli: “I crashed this morning, I am okay but an engine case on the bike was cracked. One minute the grip is there, the next; nothing. It's dangerous.”

The Bol d'Or 24 Hour race starts at 3:00pm tomorrow afternoon.
(FGSport)

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