Dunlop tyres provided the grip and durability for the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) to secure an historic win at the Bol d’Or on April 17, taking Dunlop’s consecutive win tally to eleven wins at the French 24 hour motorcycle race.

Dunlop tyres, using NTEC and Multi-Tread technology, endured the constant pressure of 24 hours of intense battle at the French circuit of Magny Cours to emerge victorious at the at the 75th running of the French event which this season is the opening round of the FIM Endurance World Championship.

The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, who are supplied exclusively by Dunlop, crossed the finishing line after starting from pole with six laps in hand from their nearest rival, 814 laps to 808.

“This was a fantastic weekend for Dunlop and a superb endorsement of our race to road philosophy,” said Dunlop Motorsport Service Engineer Peter Chapman. “At the front of the field, SERT were faultless in their approach. All three riders had the pace to race with the quickest that any other team could throw at them, whilst the crew provided faultless pit stops time and again.”

This year’s running of the Bol d’Or was a new challenge for Dunlop as the traditional autumn time slot has been abandoned for a new season-opening spring position on the calendar.

“A challenge of a 24 hour race is having the correct tyres for the change in ambient and track temperatures as the event runs in both day and night, meaning very different temperatures are experienced,” said Chapman.

“With the change in date we prepared very thoroughly with our simulation models and in testing to ensure we bring the compounds for a variety of eventualities especially as during the course of the race, the track temperature ranged from a high of 40 degrees Celsius at the race start to a low of 8 degrees Celsius at sunrise.

“In order to ensure the best opportunity for the winning team we provided different front and rear slick compounds for the expected track temperatures, and a selection of wet tyres to cover every eventuality from heavy rain to slightly damp track”

As well as the winners, Dunlop tyres were also used by the fifth-finishing EWC debutant Honda TT Legends team.

“We’ve enjoyed many successes with Honda in other categories so it was no surprise to see how well the team performed in their first race,” said Chapman. “They ran faultlessly, with no crashes or dramas. I think they will certainly be threatening the podium very soon.”

At the other end of the grid was the biggest endorsement of the strength and performance of Dunlop’s road tyres, as the thirtieth-finishing Adrenatem Esprit Moto squad used Dunlop’s D211 road-legal trackday and competition and summer tyre in the same 120/70ZR17 GP Racer D211 front and 190/55ZR17 GP Racer D211 rear configuration as available from any Dunlop stockist.

“We race to be able to translate our technology from the lessons learnt on track to our tyres available for the public, so to see a commercially available tyre used in the race through all the conditions experienced illustrates that we have genuine performance from these tyres and our race to road philosophy is not mere marketing speak.”

Dunlop’s eleventh win at the Bol d’Or marks the first race of the season, with the Albacete 8 hours in Spain on May 22 the next event in the six round calendar.

“Our continued success in this event makes us a target for other tyre manufacturers, so to continue our winning streak at the Bol d’Or eleven in a row is a tremendous achievement, but now our target is the remaining five races, and a championship winning team which uses Dunlop tyres.”

Other Dunlop success was seen in the stock class, where the #50 Motors Events Bodyguard AMT Assura Team used 17” tyres from Dunlop’s standard racing range, predominantly in 120/70R17 KR106 6875 front and 195/65R17 KR108 NTEC 6854 rear. As well as taking class honours, the team finished in tenth in the overall standings.

Dunlop’s eleven consecutive wins at the Bol d’Or:

2001 – Suzuki Castrol Team 2002 – Suzuki Castrol Team
2003 – Suzuki Castrol Team
2004 – Suzuki Castrol Team
2005 – Suzuki
2006 – Suzuki Castrol Team
2007 – Yamaha GMT 94
2008 – Suzuki Endurance Racing Team
2009 – Suzuki Endurance Racing Team
2010 – Suzuki Endurance Racing Team
2011 – Suzuki Endurance Racing Team

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