27
April
2014
|
08:40
Europe/Amsterdam

Pirelli and Team Kawasaki SRC, after a spectacular comeback, win at the Bol d’Or for the third consecutive year

The trio made up of Gregory Leblanc, Matthieu Lagrive and Nicolas Salchaud on the number 11 Kawasaki ZX10R fitted with Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres crossed the finish line with a 5 lap advantage of the second place team Yet another victory, the third in a row, for Pirelli and Team Kawasaki SRC today at the 78th edition of the Bol d’Or, the 24-Hour race held for the last year on the French Nevers Magny-Cours track and which is part of the FIM Endurance World Championship. Riders Gregory Leblanc, Matthieu Lagrive and Nicolas Salchaud for Team Kawasaki SRC on the number 11 ZX10R shod with Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike, DIABLO™ Rain and DIABLO™ Wet tyres won the race with a 5 lap advantage of the second place team. For Pirelli and Team Kawasaki SRC this is not only the third consecutive win in this competition but also the seventh win in a row together in the Endurance World Championship if you consider the 4 consecutive victories at the Le Mans 24-Hour from 2010 to the present, proof of the perfect harmony between team, riders, motorcycle and tyres. After starting from the sixteenth spot on the grid and an uphill race due to a crash by Leblanc during the first hour of the race, as well as the constantly changing weather, “Le Verts” (The Green riders) took a win after 743 laps and 24 pit stops, putting in an average of 31 laps with each set of tyres. The tenacity of the Kawasaki SRC and its riders, combined with the experience of the Pirelli engineers and the excellent reliability of the Pirelli tyres, allowed them to make an exceptional comeback, taking Pirelli and Team Kawasaki SRC to victory once again. The performance of the Pirelli racing tyre range was certainly a substantial contributing factor for the win. In fact, throughout the 24 hours the riders encountered asphalt which alternated between dry and completely wet and slippery. The intermediate DIABLO™ Wet tyre designed by Pirelli last year and also used when needed in the World Superbike Championship proved to be essential for the victory. With a tread design halfway between the slick solutions and the rain solutions, this tyre was designed to improve performance on a wet/damp track and the design was taken directly from the one on the rain tyre, making changes of the land/sea ratio in order to guarantee water drainage in wet track conditions and at the same time provide more surface to the compound in order to reduce stress, deformation and consequently overheating.