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18th September 2008: Endurance FIM World Championship and World Cup Points and Standings
18th September 2008: The Race24 Trophy
Live Video: http://www.orange.fr/.../orange-sports-tv/lives/ 15:00: Race Result
The Bol d'Or 24 Hour round of the Endurance FIM World Championship has been won by the SERT Suzuki No.1 GSX-R1000 of Vincent Philippe, Matthieu Lagrive and Julian Da Costa, with SERT Suzuki No.2 second, Yamaha Austria third, Team Kawasaki France fourth and Yamaha Phase One Endurance fifth. 
Final stop for 2008 World Endurance Champions SERT Suzuki No.1...
SERT Suzuki's race win means that they have also clinched the World Endurance Championship title with one round to spare. Congratulations to Dominique Meliand's dominant and always professional squad, winning four World Endurance Championships in a row. 
Final stop for Yamaha Phase One; Teuchert heads out for the final 40 minutes...
The race went down to the final pitstop for Kawasaki France, Phase One and GMT94 after the Kawasaki had a minor crash just before 2:00pm. With no serious damage done the Kawasaki was able to rejoin the race immediately, leaving Phase One to settle for defending their fourth place against 2007 Bol winners GMT94. Folch Yamaha finished in seventh place, ahead of Superstock class winners LMS Junior Team Suzuki. Bolliger Kawasaki were ninth overall and RMT21 Honda were tenth overall. Top Open class finisher was the No.71 BMW in 29th place overall. 
The Bol d'Or "Village" at lunchtime
Congratulations to everyone who took part in this challenging race, and commiserations to all of those who have had dealings with the race organisers. 12:00: Three Hours to Go
Team Kawasaki France have caught and passed Yamaha Phase One to take fourth place. Lap times have dropped as the track has dried, with the leading teams recording the following typical times: 
SERT Suzuki No.1
Yamaha Austria
Team Kawasaki France
Yamaha Phase One Endurance
Sunday Morning: Four and a bit Hours to Go
Update: What's Been Going On? 
SERT Suzuki No.2 rejoin the race after a routine stop. Note the blue sky!
Yamaha Austria, Yamaha Phase One and Yamaha Maco Moto have all had tyre problems. Early on in the race Yamaha Austria had a batch of tyres that they them no grip but since then they have been ok. Phase One had a duff tyre during the night which had the riders convinced that the bike was leaking oil onto the tyre; with fresh rubber the team were back up to speed straight away. And Maco Moto had two bad tyres in a row, causing different riders to highside on the same corner on successive laps. Again, they are now back to full speed. 
YART's bike is showing signs of a hard race; note the scuffs to the fairing edge near the clip-on, and the hole worn through ahead of the footpeg.
GMT94 had two crashes during the night; one for Steve Plater while he was chasing one of the SERT Suzukis, and a second more serious one for Sebastien Gimbert when he was hit by the crashing Metiss. Steve is ok but Seb's condition is described as "so so". GMT94's overheating problems at the start of the race were caused by a stone holing the radiator, apparently. 
Yamaha Phase One's Graeme Gowland
Phase One's Graeme Gowland seems to be enjoying the race: "It's been an experience. This is only my second 24 hour race, and we had no night practice, plus the rain, and I think I've had all the worst sessions as well… God it's slippy out there - the fine rain is worse than when it's really heavy. But I'm really enjoying it. I wouldn't want to do it every weekend, though…" 
Sunny stop for Acropolis Yamaha
Sunday Morning: Six Hours to Go
SERT Suzukis 1 and 2 are holding first and second place, six laps apart from each other and three laps clear of Yamaha Austria in third place. Yamaha Phase One are fourth, five laps behind the Austrians and one lap ahead of Team Kawasaki France. Folch are sixth and GMT94 seventh. QERT Suzuki are in eighth place, top Superstock team but only one lap ahead of second Superstock runners LMS Junior Team. Igol Acropolis have dropped to 18th place. Moto Revue Honda France are down in 16th place after receiving a 20 minute penalty because Sebastien Charpentier did not take sufficient rest breaks; we can't believe that the team weren't aware of this rule… Maco Moto are in 22nd place and BMW No.71 are in 29th. The No.17 BMW has just retired on safety grounds after experiencing a power loss. Heavy rain overnight has diluted the field, with only 38 teams still circulating National Moto Honda France are now officially out, along with the Metiss, Igol AM Moto, Team LTG 57, etc. Eighth Hour: 23:00
Acropolis and YART have swapped place, and Phase One have worked their way up to sixth place ahead of LMS Junior Team. Yamaha GMT94 are still circulating and making good progress; they are up to 8th place. The rain which had stopped about an hour ago has started again. The track never really got the chance to dry; some teams were swapping to intermediate rears before the rain returned, but many have stayed on slicks. 
Routine pitstop for Yamaha Team LTG57...
Diablo have retired from the race with electrical problems. Maco Moto have had to replace a broken subframe, possibly damaged when Jason Pridmore crashed in this morning's warm up, but are back in the race. BMW No.71 have pitted for accident repairs; they are currently in 47th position. Finally, Damian Rowley's team, MCS Racing Ipone are out of the race with mechanical problems. 
Crash repairs for BMW No.71...
Sixth Hour: 21:00
Everyone is now on full wet tyres as a steady drizzle falls on the track. Yamaha Austria have moved up to fourth place two laps behind third place SERT No.2, who are themselves two laps behind second place Team Kawasaki France. SERT Suzuki No.1 are a lap clear in first place. 
Pitstop for Phase One; Cudlin rejoins the race...
Bolliger are sixth, LMS 72 seventh, Phase One eighth, Igol AM Moto ninth and Folch Yamaha tenth. GMT94 are up to 13th place, ahead of RM21, Maco Moto and Moto38. Diablo are in 24th place. Rossi is on pole and Stoner second. Meanwhile, the "Save the Black Cat" campaign is gathering strength in pitlane, with many teams displaying posters. It looks as though Bolliger - currently in sixth place - have managed to find some good luck without resorting to cat-killing. Still 18 hours to go, though… 
Fifth Hour: 20:00
Yamaha GMT94 have pitted with overheating problems, and are currently lying in 17th place. It wouldn't be the first endurance Yamaha R1 to overheat. 
Yamaha GMT94 pit with overheating problems
National Motos Honda France appear to be effectively out of the race, having dropped to 49th place after pitting to replace a flat battery and then a dodgy alternator. This is apparently a common problem on '08 race Fireblades, indicating a crankshaft problem. Suzuki SERT No.1 are still leading the ace, with Kawasaki France on the same lap in second place. SERT No.2 are third, Igol Acropolis Yamaha are fourth and LMS Junior Team Suzuki are fifth, top Superstock. Yamaha Austria are up to sixth, ahead of Bolliger Kawasaki, Folch, Igol AM MotoSuzuki Yamaha and Yamaha Phase One in tenth. A few spots of rain have fallen but the track remains dry and lap times are unaffected. Stop Press: BMW No.17 have just pitted for crash repairs… Third Hour: 18:00
SERT Suzuki No.1 have pulled 43 seconds clear of Team Kawasaki France, but the order of the teams fighting for second still changes with every fuel stop. SERT No.2 are currently third with GMT94 fourth and Igol Acropolis fifth. 
l to r: SERT Suzuki 1, Igol Acropolis Yamaha, Kawasaki France, Bolliger Kawasaki, Yamaha Austria
Yamaha Austria are back up to 9th, behind National Motos Honda France and Kawasaki Bolliger. Folch Yamaha have recovered to 13th place, just ahead of Maco Moto, while Phase One are now up to 16th. Diablo Kawasaki are in 23rd place. Second Hour: 17:00
SERT No.1 and Kawasaki France are starting to stretch away from the chasing pack, but GMT94 and SERT No.2 are still just seconds apart on the track. Igol Apcropolis Yamaha have moved up to a distant 5th place after Yamaha Austria had a "small crash" which required the rear brake to be changed. LMS 72 Junior Team Suzuki are in sixth place - top STK - with Bolliger 7th, National Moto Honda France 8th, RT Racing Suzuki an impressive 9th and QERT Suzuki 10th. Diablo Kawasaki are 17th, just ahead of Folch Yamaha. Yamaha Phase One lost three minutes during what should have been a routine stop when one of the magnets holding a brake pad in place came unglued, making it impossible to replace the wheel. This dropped the team to 43rd place, and they are now fighting their way through the field; currently 27th. Raffin Motos Kawasaki and the No.85 Thorn Bikes Honda crashed, bringing out the safety car while an inured rider was attended to. This allowed the chasing pack to close back in on SERT Suzuki who had been stretching out a lead. Start and First Hour: 16:00
SERT Suzuki No.1 are currently leading the Bol d'Or, in front of Kawasaki France, SERT No.2, Yamaha Austria and Yamaha GMT94 
SERT No.2 led the opening laps, but GMT94 moved into the lead on lap three, starting a four way battle between SERT 2, GMT94, TKF and YART. YART moved into first place on lap 6 but then SERT No.2 pushed past a few laps later to establish a slightly more permanent lead. The opening 30 minutes were more like a World Superbike sprint race than the start of the most taxing 24 hour race on the calendar. 
The leaders began passing backmarkers after just 15 laps, and by the 40 minute mark the first teams were pitting for fuel. National Motos Honda were one of the first to come in, along with SERT No.2 and then the Bolliger and Diablo Kawasakis on successive laps. 
The start was preceded by the usual grid entertainment, this year featuring the man in the chicken costume doing a striptease act. Despite the appreciation of the audience, the humourless race organisers decided this was all too much for our safety, and demanded chicken-man cease and desist. 
This brought a hail of missiles from the now angry crowd, until the situation was defused by the ABG Performance Suzuki's giant frog and a man in a comedy convict outfit cavorting in front of the crowd. 
Tribute to Franck Millet, who was badly injured in a crash yesterday...
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FIM Points and Standings
Race24 Trophy Points and Standings
Bol d'Or 24H: Warm Up
Bol d'Or 24H: Pit Walk in Pictures
Bol d'Or 24H: SERT Suzuki on Pole, GMT94 2nd
Bol d'Or 24H: Night Practice Cancelled
Bol d'Or 24H: First Qualifying - Summary 
Bol d'Or 24H: Free Practice Sessions
Bol d'Or Timetable - 24H and Support Races 
Bol d'Or Advanced Weather Forecast
Bolliger in Animal Sacrifice Shock Horror!
Jason Pridmore OK for Bol Despite Rumours 
Bol d'Or Prov' Entry List - Honda France are Back. Kind Of
Bol d'Or 24 Hour
Bol d'Or 24 Hour
Bol d'Or 24 Hour
Bol d'Or 24 Hour
Bol d'Or 24 Hour
Bol d'Or 24 Hour
Bol d'Or 24 Hour
Bol d'Or 24 Hour|
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