The 2009 edition of “Le Bol d’Or” will take place this week in Magny-Cours, France.

Michelin will follow this historic motorcycle event for you with inside acess to the MICHELIN Power Research Team and the YART on a dedicated website, MotoRacingLive, the 100% motorcycle competition Michelin website!

Click now on this website and experience the race from the inside !

Gaëtan Barouillet in sparkling form

Clement Marmont emerged in front after the first turn ahead of Julien Brun (Daffix Motos/Clermont-Ferrand) and Gaëtan Barouillet. He then defended his advantage to complete the opening lap clear of Gaëtan Barouillet, who was in turn tailed by Laurent Aymonin (GT77/Meaux), Sébastien Gérard (BPM Bourg/Peronnas) and the rest of the field. Gaëtan took command at the end of Lap 4, however, to take the chequered flag in first place.
Clément Marmont was later passed on Lap 7 by Laurent Aymonin who clinched second place.

Final positions: 1, Gaëtan Barouillet. 2, Laurent Aymonin. 3, Clément Marmont. Etc.

Provisional championship standings: 1, Clément Marmont (86 points). 2, Eric Sévigné (75). 3, Laurent Aymonin (64). Etc.

Three riders can still hope to claim the title.

Final round: Magny-Cours (September 12-13).

Podium French Cup

A-final (1,000cc):
Although he had yet to win a race ahead of the meeting at La Bresse, Fabian Herfort (Proshop Moto/Antibes) was once again up with the front-runners and gave an immediate foretaste of his talent at this challenging circuit in practice. The race itself saw him emerge ahead after the first corner. Yannis Palaccio (Rey Moto/Camaret-sur-Eygues) followed in second place before managing to edge past Fabian under braking for the ‘Bruno Bonhuil’ turn at the beginning of Lap 8. The two riders then engaged in a thrilling scrap which lasted until the final lap when Fabian Herfort took command for good while they were passing backmarkers. He crossed the line just 317 thousandths of a second ahead of Yannis Palaccio.

Final positions: 1, Fabian Herfort. 2, Yannis Palaccio. 3, Manuel Cerda. Etc.

Championship standings: 1, Fabian Herfort (85 points). 2, Yannis Palaccio (84). 3, Ludovic Hanon (75). Etc.

Four riders still stand a chance of winning the second MICHELIN Power Cup. The title will be settled when the series serves as curtain-raiser for the Bol d’Or at Magny-Cours on September 12-13.

Podium 1000 cc

1-final (600cc) – Races 1 & 2:

Gregory Hamard takes the spoils

The first race saw Gregory Hamard take the lead on Lap 2, in front of François François- Alexandre, while Philippe Huguenin warded off strong pressure from Pierre Gelas and Alain Bouvier (N°87, City Bike/Laval) to hold on to third place.

Final positions: 1, Gregory Hamard. 2, François François- Alexandre. 3, Philippe Huguenin. Etc.

Gregory Hamard resumed his winning ways in the second contest, although his task wasn’t helped by a number of non-registered riders who succeeded in staying on his tail during the first third of the race. In the end, Grégory Hamard managed to maintain a two-second gap over Pierre Gelas, Philippe Huguenin and Samuel Souchon (N°42) who finished within the same second in that order.

Final positions: 1, Gregory Hamard. 2, Pierre Gelas. 3, Philippe Huguenin. Etc.

Championship standings: 1, Gregory Hamard (120 points). 2, Philippe Huguenin (98). 3, Alain Bouvier (70). Etc.

Grégory Hamard’s 22-point lead puts him in a strong position to take the title.

Next meeting: Magny-Cours (September 12-13)

Podium, Race 2, 600 cc

You are the most recent recruit in what is a rather young team. Was it easy to adapt?

Not a problem! The experience I have today is a big help, of course. It’s a great team, too, and everyone is nice, and very talented. I didn’t have single problem. I actually knew quite a few people in the team already, although I wasn’t aware of that beforehand.

I imagine you will use your experience (four-time World Champion and four-time winner of the Bol d’Or) to help the team. What advice can you give them?

Just to ride intelligently and not overdo it. That’s no use at all. This year’s Le Mans 24 Hours was a reminder that there is no point trying to be a second a lap quicker than everybody else if you end up falling, and I know what I’m talking about!
You also need to have a good run during practice to get the most out of your bike and tyres.
Once the race has started, we will also need to clock up the laps and put in impeccable pit-stops. That always ends up paying.

What are your thoughts ahead of the 73rd Bol d’Or?

I will take it as it comes, just as I do every year, and give it my very best shot. If we seem to have a chance of winning, then I will be happy to put in that little bit of extra effort…
I don’t feel under any pressure. We have just completed two positive days of testing (official pre-Bol d’Or test on August 24-25). We worked well on different set-ups and tyre options.

Mathieu Lagrive

Copyright : Toxic Communication -Carbontm

French Cup Honda and Michelin Power Cup riders will get a chance to compete at the penultimate meeting of the year which takes place at La Bresse, France, this weekend (August 28-29), prior to the season’s finale which will serve as curtain-raiser to the Bol d’Or on September 12-13.

No fewer than 180 riders are expected to compete in the different categories over the weekend:
- The French Cup Honda: a single make series starring the Honda CBR 600 RR.
- The Michelin Power Cup: two classes for 600cc and 1,000cc bikes of all makes.

Also on the programme is the Trophée de la Ville de Villeurbanne, exclusively for local riders on bikes with a minimum engine capacity of 600cc.

Naturally, all these bikes will run on MICHELIN Power One tyres.

MAKE THE MOST OF THE SHOW!
Timetable:
Friday August 27: 9am-12 noon and 2pm-6pm - free practice
Saturday August 28: 9am-12 noon and 2pm-6pm - timed practice
Sunday August 29: 9am-12 noon and 2pm-6pm - race action

www.coupes-honda.com
www.michelinpowercup.com

A special test session was organised at Magny-Cours, France, on Monday and Tuesday of this week (Augus t 24-25) ahead of September’s Bol d’Or.

Both Michelin teams - the MICHELIN Power Research Team and YART - attended the session to put the finishing touches to their preparations for the race and validate some new tyres.

“We are pleased with the work we managed to get in over the two days. The different types of weather we encountered (high temperatures, rain and mixed conditions) allowed us to try all the products we had at Magny-Cours. We also made good progress on the set-up of the MICHELIN Power Research Team bike,” reports Jean-Phlippe Weber, the manager of Michelin Competition’s two-wheel programmes.

Matthieu Lagrive (MICHELIN Power Research Team): “it’s been a positive two days and I liked the atmosphere I found in the team. We put in some good times but we still have work to do before we are fully ready to score the best result possible in the Bol d’Or.”

Follow  live the Bol d’or from to September 10th with pilots interviews, videos and some surprises : www.motoracinglive.com

Matthieu Lagrive

Copyright : Toxic Communication - Carbontm

Following the successful run of several BMW S 1000 RRs in the Barcelona 24 Hours (a one-two finish and four bikes in the top-six in the Stocksport category), BMW France is supporting the entry of a pre-production S 1000 RR in next month’s Bol d’Or. The bike will take part in the stock class and will be tended by BMW Sikora Bily Prorace Team.

This S 1000 RR will race on MICHELIN Power One tyres.

For spectators, it will be an opportunity to see this pre-production machine for the first time in France after its use for Superbike World Championship homologation purposes.

The BMW S 1000 RR is due to go on sale across the French dealer network on December 15.

Michelin will naturally take part in the official test days at Nevers Magny-Cours on August 24-25 as part of its build-up to the 2009 Bol d’Or, the next round of the FIM Endurance World Championship.

Matt Lagrive, the new recruit to race alongside William Costes and Josep Monge on the N°63 Honda, will be in attendance on both days.

YART’s three riders, namely Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Gwen Giabbani, will also be present for the two-day session to put the finishing touches to their preparations for the 24-hour race.

Tests Bol d’Or results on line the 26th.

The fifth round of the 2009 Italian Speed Championship at Misano turned out to be something of a troubled race for Michelin’s two riders.

Simone Saltarelli (Team Bosseli Race) started from 23rd on the grid but fell at the first turn and promptly retired. The incident saw the red flag come out and a fresh start was given for 10 laps.
On Lap 6, Alessio Aldrovandi (Team QDP) chose to pit for good because of a handling problem with his Yamaha R1.

Neither of the two Michelin riders scored points.

In the provisional championship standings, Simone Saltarelli is 20th with a score of nine points.

The last round of the series is at Mugello on October 11.

Results and championship standings: www.civ.tv

The SSTOCK 1000 programme today at Misano was slightly altered.

After taking part in the category’s two qualifying sessions, the SSTOCK 1000 riders contested the race which had been postponed until today following its cancellation on April 19.

Both Michelin riders got off to a strong start, with Simone Saltarelli (Team Bosseli Race) and Alessio Aldrovandi (Team QDP) going on to finish 13th and 18th respectively.
The MICHELIN Power One tyres delivered consistent performance from start to finish.

Simone Saltarelli (Team Bosseli Race) and Alessio Aldrovandi (Team QDP) will start the weekend’s second race tomorrow (Sunday) from 23rd and 27th places on the grid.

Sunday:
SSTOCK 1000: race (4:45pm)

Follow the action live at http://civ.perugiatiming.com/