Bol D'Or

[mangocrazy]

On the timing screen I'm watching Chaz on the Ducati is a full second a lap faster than the 2nd place Kawasaki.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Possibly being caused by a tail wind on the mile long Mistral straight allowing the riders to over rev the engines.

Ducati is in front, but will need more fuel stops than the Kawasaki.

[ChrisW]

The Kawasaki put in a 3 minute lap when the lead changed - what happened? The Eurosport coverage ended just before.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Must have been a put stop, they've had no problems.

But saying that, it's just died, probably an electrical fault.

Ducati could win.

[wull]

That straight is ridiculous, 1.1mi long

[mangocrazy]

How many laps does a full tank of fuel last for the Ducati and for the Kawasaki? i.e. how much thirstier is the Desmo?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Apparently the Kawasaki does 3 laps more on a tank of fuel, so I think 21ish vs 24ish.

But it's now Ducatis to lose, if they don't break down or crash, they will win, they're over a lap in front of the second place Kawasaki and lapping over a second a lap quicker.

But there is 20 hours to go.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Dull Bol D'Or facts

The idea for it comes from a 24 Hour bicycle race
Originally one rider had to ride the bike for the whole 24 hours.
This is the 85th Bol, but it is the 100th anniversary, the first race was in 1922.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Apparently Suzuki had a con rod fail, so probably caused by over revving the engine and an optimistic down change at the end of the straight.

[mangocrazy]

The circuit is a bit of an engine breaker - the Mistral straight combined with temps in the high 20s (well into the 30s some years), so hardly surprising engines go pop.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Honda in the pits having a new exhaust fitted.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Suzuki SERT have officially retired
Yamaha YART are continuing to rebuild their engine

Other retirees

No.37 BMW
No.74 BMW

[mangocrazy]

Bit of a damp squib for Suzuki - all that build-up for 34 laps raced. Can they still win the Endurance Championship if other teams in contention don't fare as well as hoped? At least Sylvain Guintoli won't need to stress his damaged wrist.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Suzuki can only win the championship if the TSR Honda retires in the next 2.5 hours, YART retires and the Beringer Kawasaki retires before 16 hours, so very unlikely

I think that's correct but I haven't worked it out.

I think Suzuki will end up 3rd in the championship, as I don't think YART will get out again.

[Noggin]

I do wish I had eurosport!!! Note to self, sort out a sodding VPN (and get someone to help me make sure it doesn't screw everything else up!) and get a cheap Eurosport pack in November!!!

Thank you for posting so much. It's really interesting, even if I haven't followed the series x

[KungFooBob]

You need the Discovery Plus app.

[Noggin]

You need the Discovery Plus app.

Will that work in France?

Edit - just googled discovery plus streaming and got this -

[mangocrazy]

3 Brits in the top 4 positions at this snapshot in time...

Bol d'Or 2022.JPG (44 KiB) Viewed 409 times

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Correction to my earlier post, Berringer Kawasaki and TSR Honda need to finish to beat Suzuki in the championship.

Coming up for 6 hours and it's the long haul through the dark, it'll get light in about 9 hours, and there will still be another 9 hours to race after that.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

No. 55 has crashed, safety car is out