Reigning World Endurance Champions GMT94 Yamaha started the new season by sweeping to victory at the 2017 Bol d’Or with a nine-lap lead despite running out of fuel during the race.

The team combined the bonus points awarded at the eight and 16-hour marks (20 points in all) with the 40 points allocated to the race winner, zooming to the top of the 2017-2018 FIM EWC standings.

Riders David Checa, Nico Canepa and Mike Di Meglio were in the lead practically throughout, and finished nine laps ahead of the competition despite running out of fuel at one point.

Wepol BMW Motorrad Team by Penz13 got on the second step of the podium after an epic race. Having dropped to the bottom of the standings after a problematic refuelling stop, Markus Reiterberger, Alessandro Polita and Danny Webb climbed back up at speed to ease into the Top 5.

Honda Endurance Racing had to fight hard to score third spot on the podium at the tail end of the race. Electronic issues and a faulty alternator had slowed down Grégory Leblanc, Sébastien Gimbert and Yonny Hernández. Völpker NRT48 Schubert Motors by ERC, the team comprising Lucy Glockner, Stefan Kerschbaumer and Jan Bühn, finished fourth, missing the podium by a hair’s breadth.

Another S1000RR was in fifth place: IV Racing BMW CSEU’s bike, with riders Karel Hanika, Fabrizio Lai and Julian Mayer.

F.C.C. TSR Honda France started from third position on the grid and wrested the lead from GMT Yamaha on Sunday morning. But at around 11am, a crash dashed the hopes of victory of the Japanese team backed by Bridgestone (and, as of this weekend, by Honda France). Josh Hook, Alan Techer and Freddy Foray finished sixth.

Suzuki Endurance Racing Team was back in top form on the new GSX-R 1000. However, this being the machine’s debut run in a 24-hour race, several mechanical and electronic issues cropped up, and they finished 7th.

The fastest Superstock squad, Tati Team Beaujolais Racing, picked up a superb 8th place, with riders Julien Enjolras, Julien Pilot and Kevin Denis running a flawless race. 9th past the finish line (2nd in the Superstock class), Team 33 Accessoires Louit Moto (Kawasaki) was three laps behind Tati Team Beaujolais Racing. After a smooth climb back up into the Top 10, Junior Team Le Mans Sud Suzuki was the 3rd Superstock team at the race finish.

This edition of the Bol d’Or proved particularly gruelling for both the riders and the machines. Only 29 of the 59 competing teams made it past the chequered flag. More than one team in the lead was forced to withdraw early on in the race. After taking the lead for Kawasaki SRC, Randy de Puniet rode long enough to post the fastest lap of the race (a 1’58.386) before returning to the pits with a broken engine on the ZX 10R #11.

Other favourites too were forced to throw in the towel. YART Yamaha withdrew around 9pm after sliding down to the tail end of the standings following Kohta Nozane’s crash. Team Tecmas BMW featured in the leading pack for quite some time, then had to abandon the track during the night with a broken engine. Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers was the first to withdraw, 10 laps into the race, with a broken engine.

Maco Racing also gave up after the first quarter of the race, followed by multiple withdrawals as the night wore on. Yamaha Viltaïs Experiences, Moto Ain CRT and RAC41 Honda crashed out; Ecurie Chrono Sport, WSB Endurance and Atomic Motosport had engine breakdowns, and Team April Moto Motors Events had electrical and electronic issues.

2017 Bol d’Or final results

1 GMT94 YAMAHA 1 EWC 683 24:00:52.472 - - 1:59.074 525 27 27:07.784 40
2 WEPOL BMW Motorrad Team by penz13.com 2 EWC 674 24:03:04.880 9 Lp. 9 Lp. 1:58.913 3 28 33:30.627 33
3 Honda Endurance Racing 3 EWC 673 24:02:39.430 10 Lp. 1 Lp. 1:59.067 41 28 44:35.618 28
4 Voelpker NRT48 Schubert-Motors by ERC 4 EWC DIT 673 24:02:40.419 10 Lp. 0.989 1:59.764 16 26 26:45.010 24
5 IVRacing BMW CSEU 5 EWC 671 24:02:37.668 12 Lp. 2 Lp. 1:59.671 547 28 34:39.497 21
6 F.C.C. TSR Honda France 6 EWC 670 24:01:07.831 13 Lp. 1 Lp. 1:58.915 533 26 31:36.808 19
7 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team 7 EWC 670 24:01:09.535 13 Lp. 1.704 1:59.024 7 28 40:06.980 17
8 Tati Team Beaujolais Racing 1 SST DIT 670 24:01:42.736 13 Lp. 33.201 2:01.490 5 27 23:30.374 15
9 Team 33 Accessoires - Louit Moto 2 SST 667 24:02:48.759 16 Lp. 3 Lp. 1:59.628 2 26 30:57.596 13
10 Junior Team LMS Suzuki 3 SST 663 24:00:59.587 20 Lp. 4 Lp. 2:01.243 481 29 34:20.905 11
11 sarazin motorsport by hall moto 02 4 SST DIT 662 24:02:02.338 21 Lp. 1 Lp. 2:01.353 6 28 32:12.013 10
12 No Limits Motor Team 5 SST 650 24:02:48.191 33 Lp. 12 Lp. 2:00.678 2 29 1:30:51.822 9
13 Aviobike 6 SST 648 24:02:07.983 35 Lp. 2 Lp. 2:01.716 83 29 49:30.115 8
14 AMSS-TRB VIDRA TEAM SERBIA 8 EWC DIT 647 24:02:32.592 36 Lp. 1 Lp. 2:00.692 479 28 33:05.320 7
15 Team R2CL - MKS - Partelya 9 EWC 646 24:01:46.611 37 Lp. 1 Lp. 2:01.622 75 30 1:01:10.366 6
16 Motobox Kremer 10 EWC 646 24:02:16.301 37 Lp. 29.690 2:03.214 106 26 45:41.363 5
17 Bolliger Team Switzerland 11 EWC 645 24:00:53.937 38 Lp. 1 Lp. 2:00.810 52 27 1:11:15.704 4
18 ENERGIE ENDURANCE 91 7 SST DIT 637 24:01:08.840 46 Lp. 8 Lp. 2:03.184 13 26 46:02.639 3
19 GIRLS RACING TEAM 8 SST DIT 630 24:02:56.679 53 Lp. 7 Lp. 2:05.009 8 24 36:25.200 2
20 Zuff Racing Team 9 SST DIT 620 24:01:06.671 63 Lp. 10 Lp. 2:03.990 8 22 1:51:34.617 1
21 SPEEDTEAM 72 10 SST DIT 618 24:01:09.338 65 Lp. 2 Lp. 2:07.509 95 27 53:03.275 0
22 ACRO RACING TEAM 64 12 EWC 608 24:01:11.048 75 Lp. 10 Lp. 2:05.113 12 33 1:47:17.907 0
23 ARTEC #199 11 SST DIT 608 24:02:18.527 75 Lp. 1:07.479 2:05.265 291 32 1:37:39.800 0
24 TEAM GP MOTO 13 EWC DIT 606 24:02:18.566 77 Lp. 2 Lp. 2:03.900 5 31 2:33:18.060 0
25 FLAM RACING 12 SST 605 24:02:53.666 78 Lp. 1 Lp. 2:05.211 469 29 2:17:17.620 0
26 LMC ENDURANCE 14 EWC 603 24:01:23.431 80 Lp. 2 Lp. 2:03.387 52 30 1:49:21.433 0
27 National Motos 15 EWC 596 24:01:31.234 87 Lp. 7 Lp. 2:01.770 11 28 2:17:35.498 0
28 TEAM BROKE RACING 16 EWC DIT 546 24:01:42.660 137 Lp. 50 Lp. 2:06.284 6 31 3:23:02.711 0
29 Team Mongore 13 endurance 17 EWC DIT 525 24:01:14.849 158 Lp. 21 Lp. 2:06.224 96 27 4:20:13.426 0
30 SKULL motor's / Aquaserv 18 EWC DIT 504 24:02:23.088 179 Lp. 21 Lp. 2:06.180 59 28 5:52:00.818 0
31 AM Moto Racing Competition 13 SST DIT 404 15:36:17.647 279 Lp. 100 Lp. 2:02.684 57 19 47:33.933 0
32 3ART - YAM AVENUE - MOTO TEAM 95 14 SST 508 18:25:59.295 175 Lp. - 2:01.146 101 21 26:29.696 0
33 TECMAS - BMW 19 EWC 418 15:18:53.844 265 Lp. 90 Lp. 1:59.227 10 18 16:51.562 0
34 Glazik Moto Sport Passion Endurance 20 EWC 411 15:42:38.271 272 Lp. 7 Lp. 2:06.120 10 21 28:58.007 0
35 BMRT 3D MAXXESS NEVERS 15 SST DIT 394 14:49:03.618 289 Lp. 17 Lp. 2:00.611 91 15 1:37:28.357 0
36 Ecurie Chrono Sport 16 SST DIT 384 14:08:03.908 299 Lp. 10 Lp. 2:00.297 53 20 1:32:40.777 0
37 ATOMIC MOTORSPORT 17 SST 379 14:53:05.547 304 Lp. 5 Lp. 2:02.747 80 21 1:18:53.134 0
38 Team April Moto Motors Events 21 EWC DIT 377 14:31:18.570 306 Lp. 2 Lp. 2:01.394 9 20 1:10:06.209 0
39 LMD 63 / ULTIMATE CUP 18 SST 346 15:11:21.986 337 Lp. 31 Lp. 2:01.639 116 17 3:00:36.268 0
40 Space Moto 37 22 EWC 332 12:34:08.051 351 Lp. 14 Lp. 2:04.272 2 15 34:21.498 0
41 WSB-Endurance Team 23 EWC 331 12:07:17.344 352 Lp. 1 Lp. 2:02.964 33 15 13:09.688 0
42 Team Dunlop Motors Events 19 SST 328 12:30:50.508 355 Lp. 3 Lp. 2:05.263 7 17 28:54.181 0
43 MOTO AIN CRT 20 SST DIT 321 11:54:17.898 362 Lp. 7 Lp. 2:01.511 195 15 18:21.909 0
44 Rac 41 Honda 21 SST DIT 317 12:21:54.873 366 Lp. 4 Lp. 2:03.212 88 13 1:41:40.000 0
45 Yamaha Viltaïs Experience 22 SST 288 11:17:38.955 395 Lp. 29 Lp. 2:00.121 3 13 34:55.679 0
46 DL MOTO Racing 23 SST DIT 260 09:56:41.069 423 Lp. 28 Lp. 2:02.144 5 14 39:03.543 0
47 Wójcik Racing Team 24 EWC DIT 259 09:41:34.269 424 Lp. 1 Lp. 2:02.472 86 12 20:57.660 0
48 PHI ENDURANCE 25 EWC 252 09:56:53.630 431 Lp. 7 Lp. 2:04.512 4 13 38:32.353 0
49 JMA MOTOS ACTION BIKE 24 SST DIT 199 08:16:58.949 484 Lp. 53 Lp. 2:01.829 11 10 1:11:27.879 0
50 MACO RACING Team 26 EWC 172 06:32:52.591 511 Lp. 27 Lp. 2:01.672 18 8 30:32.061 0
51 Moto 39 Competition 25 SST DIT 154 05:45:39.474 529 Lp. 18 Lp. 2:06.845 122 7 6:53.970 0
52 Z RACING 1 STW 154 06:05:18.514 529 Lp. 19:39.040 2:06.379 45 8 23:47.135 0
53 YART - YAMAHA 27 EWC 152 05:39:53.492 531 Lp. 2 Lp. 1:58.734 39 7 23:33.775 0
54 Team LRP Poland 28 EWC 104 07:21:38.444 579 Lp. 48 Lp. 2:02.394 6 8 5:28:01.773 0
55 MOTOTECH EWC TEAM 29 EWC DIT 91 06:18:39.083 592 Lp. 13 Lp. 2:03.505 17 16 3:01:00.033 0
56 CAMBODGE / ACR 74 26 SST 42 02:55:56.676 641 Lp. 49 Lp. 2:06.744 8 3 1:41:43.724 0
57 TEAM SRC KAWASAKI 30 EWC 17 00:34:02.803 666 Lp. 25 Lp. 1:58.386 2 1 - 0
58 Hertrampf Racing Endurance 2 STW 14 00:30:27.875 669 Lp. 3 Lp. 2:03.175 5 1 - 0
59 Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers 27 SST DIT 3 00:07:04.778 680 Lp. 11 Lp. 2:04.195 2 1 - 0