« I cannot reword » - lepolitique.net

Aux commandes de sa Suzuki n°12, il a réussi à rallier l’arrivée avec son coéquipier Étienne Masson en 24h01’35’‘. Soit près de deux minutes d’avance sur ses poursuivants. Le dernier membre de l’équipe, Sylvain Guintoli, a été contraint de s’arrêter définitivement en début de journée à cause d’une déshydratation.

I am confident that we will have our revenge next year.

On Monday, Gregg Black was contacted and he expressed his feelings about these impressive results.

Il y a une semaine, vous exprimiez votre détermination à remporter cette course à tout prix, et maintenant vous l’avez fait. Quelle satisfaction ressentez-vous après cette victoire ?

Gregg Black. It is a great satisfaction as our last victory dates back to the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year. Victories are always enjoyable, but this one even more so because it was truly a physical and mental challenge where we had to be very strong.

How did the beginning of the race unfold?

The race was really long. We all felt like we were doing three races in one because there were a lot of twists and turns. When we started at 3pm, the track was still drying from the morning, so we decided to play it safe by starting on rain tires. I managed to stay in the lead until we had to go to the pits to switch to slick tires. After that, we automatically found ourselves far down in the rankings, but we quickly made our way back up. We had some minor fuel issues, so we had to plan our pit stops two or three laps in advance, which meant we had to work hard to catch up. But overall, the three of us were confident and were able to set a fast pace and achieve the best times.

Comment avez-vous fait face à la fin de la course après que votre coéquipier Sylvain Guintoli ait été contraint de s’arrêter définitivement en raison d’une maladie ?

At 5 am, Sylvain fell ill due to severe dehydration, so he was unable to continue riding. From that moment on, we knew the race would be challenging. Physically, it was truly exhausting because Étienne and I only had 50 minutes of rest between relays. But despite the fact that there were only two of us on the bike, we managed to maintain our pace and strengthen our lead. Around 10 am, I, along with about ten other riders, got caught in oil patches on the track, which caused me to crash. However, I was able to quickly bring the bike back to the pits, and the team repaired it very promptly.

Avez-vous considéré votre position de deuxième place dans le championnat comme une agréable revanche pour cette saison ?

Yes, it’s a great revenge. We had a perfect weekend, with a second place in qualifying and a race victory. And we managed to score 84 points out of 85 possible. Luck started to turn in our favor when the Honda of FCC TSR (note: reigning world champion) was forced to retire and we managed to overtake the BMW to ultimately finish ahead in the championship. The only bike we couldn’t do anything against was the Yamaha of YART, which just had to finish the race to claim the title.

Qu’est-ce qui vous a empêché de remporter le titre de champion du monde ?

I think that the difficulties and misfortunes we experienced at the beginning of the season, such as the crash at Le Mans because I was hit, the technical problem at Spa, and the fall at Suzuka on a wet track, have caused us to have a significant point deficit compared to the leaders. The only thing we could do to prove that we were the strongest was to win the Bol d’Or. And we did it. What we should remember from this race is the incredible victory and the effort made by the entire team. By winning just one race in the year, we can only be satisfied with this second place in the championship. I am certain that we will have our revenge next year.

Pellizotti et Pilot au pied du podium

Les deux Charentais, engagés en Superstock, ont terminé 4^e et 5^e de leur catégorie.
ème place lors de cette épreuve du championnat.^e place et termine la saison sur une bonne note. Julien Pilot et sa Kawasaki n°24 du BMRT 3D Maxxess Nevers, termine juste derrière à la 5^e place.
The victory goes to the Kawasaki of Team 33 Louit Racing, ahead of the Honda of Chromeburner RAC.