YAMAHA GMT94 OVERCOME ADVERSITY TO TAKE SECOND AT BOL
19 September 2005 - Yamaha Racing

The final race of the Masters of Endurance series, the Bol d''Or 24 hours race, once again saw battle resume between long-time rivals Yamaha GMT94 and Castrol Suzuki.

Christophe Guyot''s Yamaha team of Sebastien Gimbert, William Costes and David Checa had won the first round of the Masters of Endurance series, the 24 hours of Le Mans and were out to do the double at the Bol d''Or at Magny Cours in France.

Their preparations were given a huge setback when, in the week before the race, their race transporter was broken into and both their endurance Yamaha R1s were stolen, along with the vast majority of their race equipment. Yamaha Austria team manager Manfred Kainz came to the rescue at short notice and provided both of their R1 Yamahas, along with team mechanics to help out their French colleagues.

Troubles deepened when Checa had a huge highside crash in practice on the Wednesday prior to the race and had hurt his shoulder and foot but had pronounced himself fit to ride. Determined to overcome the loss and compete Yamaha GMT94 qualified second on the grid, just one tenth of a second behind the Suzuki. At the start, the race was over for the Swiss Bolliger team before the end of the first lap when their bike crashed out spectacularly while leading but, after three laps under the safety car, the race resumed and the GMT94 had taken the lead. There followed a thrilling first hour with Yamaha rider Checa and Suzuki''s Matthieu Lagrive both fighting for the lead.

After the first relay it was clear that the Yamaha would have to pit earlier for fuel than their Suzuki rivals and a broken gear-lever four hours into the race would cost then even more time. The GMT94 Yamaha matched the Suzuki on lap times but without their stolen endurance fuel tanks and running a virtually stock engine the team would always have to pit earlier than their rivals.

But the Yamaha team battled back hard through the night and for the next 22 hours were only three laps behind the leaders. Although the Suzuki team suffered some confusion in the pits while calling their bikes in for refuelling and rider Vincent Philippe made an unscheduled stop to change a punctured front tyre, this was not enough for the GMT94 Yamaha team to pull enough time back on the leaders and, after 806 laps and 24 hours of racing, Christophe Guyot''s Yamaha team crossed the line in second place.

Team quotes
Christophe Guyot
''We lost two to three laps early in the race but during the night we were right on the pace. We also suffered a stop-and-go penalty because we couldn''t test our replacement speed limiters which were set at 72kph instead of the 60kph pit-lane limit, but I''m very happy with our results after all of our problems. Without our stolen fuel tanks we had to do two laps less than our competitors on every relay.''

Sebastien Gimbert
''For me the race was good after I got into the endurance rhythm but early in the race I was in superbike rhythm. We had some small unavoidable problems but, overall, I am happy with our result.''

William Costes
''It was difficult with the weather changing for the race; it was a lot colder on race day and difficult to get good settings with the replacement Yamaha. I broke my scaphoid bone a few years ago and the old injury was holding me back. It wasn''t the best race for me; my team-mates did a great job but I''m not really happy because I couldn''t ride at my best.''

David Checa
''It was easy at the start to get good times but after four hours we broke the gearshift and we had to do less laps than normal for a relay because of our smaller tanks. To finish second for us is really a victory in these circumstances and I really want to thank Manfred Kainz and Yamaha Austria for their help. My crash on Wednesday meant that late in the race it was very hard for me but we are fighters. It''s a shame to be second but you cannot win every time.''

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