Endurance World Champions SERT won the 2011 season-opener at Bol d'Or over the weekend.

The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team took the Bol d’Or 24 Hours victory for the fourth consecutive year over the weekend at round one of the FIM Endurance World Championship.

With a six-lap margin at the end of the race, the pace was hot from start to finish and the team gained the early advantage in the series with the 35 points for victory.

On the official Suzuki, Vincent Philippe – who equalled the record of wins with seven victories at the Bol d’Or -, Anthony Delhalle and Freddie Foray took the lead as from the start.

Only the Team SRC Kawasaki could fight for the lead in the beginning of the race. The team of Gilles Stafler and his three riders, Julien
da Costa, Gregory Leblanc and Olivier Four, took the brand-new ZX-10R to the end.

Until the last minute, the third degree of the podium was the target of a hard-fought duel between the BMW Motorrad France 99 and the Bolliger Team Switzerland Kawasaki.

The factory BMW, focusing on the relays of its two fastest riders, Sébastien Gimbert and Erwan Nigon, ended winning this fight, with Australia’s Damian Cudlin enjoying a podium to kick-start his season.

It is the first podium for the S1000RR in the QTel FIM Endurance World Championship. Entered last year, it was only noted in qualifying practice or in the beginning of the races.

The BMW Motorrad France 99 made it real, despite problems of brakes and fuel tank – which obliged to shorter relays – and a last minute change of the technical crew.

The Bolliger Team Switzerland Kawasaki, private team runner-up in the 2010 Qtel IM Endurance World Championship, proved once again that it will have to be taken into account in 2011, with Horst Saiger, Roman Stamm and Jérôme Tangre.

The podium of this 75th Bol d’Or is thus composed of three different manufacturers, Suzuki, Kawasaki and BMW, and three tyre manufacturers, Dunlop, Pirelli and Michelin.

Behind this group of four, another fight opposed two Hondas. The factory machine of the Honda TT Legends, with Steve Plater, John McGuinness and Keith Amor, ended winning against the private team of the Paris dealer National Motos with Emeric Jonchière, Lucas de Carolis and Etienne Masson.

Then two Yamahas follow in the classification: the Spanish one of the YMES Folch Endurance of Dani Ribalta, Pedro Vallcañeras and José Luis Rita and the factory machine of the Yamaha Racing France GMT 94 Ipone.

Among the top teams, it dropped down the classification after less than one hour of race following a crash of Kenny Foray, and came back to eighth place thanks to a superb race of David Checa, Kenny Foray and Mathieu Lagrive.

The Metiss JLC Moto, only motorcycle left in the Open Class, made a very good race finishing in ninth position.

The Superstock class was won by the Team Motor Events Bodyguard AMT always in the leading group of this class, ahead of the Atomic Motorsport team and the Team Van Zon Boenig Motorsportschool Penz RT.

The record of the number of laps covered was almost equalled, with 814 – against 815 laps covered by the SERT winner in 2009 – thanks to good atmospheric conditions and only one intervention of the safety cars on Saturday evening.

Thirty-five teams were able to reach the chequered flag of this 75th Bol d’Or.

Concerning the retirements, the first to be noted was Aussie Steve Martin’s Monster Yamaha YART in the early morning following a broken engine. The Austrian Yamaha was in the leading trio since the start of the race.

Another unlucky leader was the team AM Moto Racing Compétition which left the race in the middle of the night following a crash of Kevin Denis.

The next round of the 2011 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship will be the Albacete 8 Hours in Spain on Saturday, 21 May.