Le Castellet (France) (AFP)
The Bol d'Or motorcyclist, first round of the World Endurance Championship (EWC) 2019/2020, interrupted Saturday around 17:40 by a red flag because of heavy rains that fall on the circuit of Castellet (south), do not will not resume until at least 21:00.
At 18:35, the race director Patrick Coutant indicated at the microphone of L'Equipe 21 that the race would be stopped under the red flag "for a minimum duration of three hours".
He did not exclude that the race "resume early morning", highlighting "the safety of pilots" when the night fell and the puddles on the track will make driving very risky.
From the start given at 15:00, the rain was invited to the appointment, causing many falls and interventions of the safety car.
At the time of the break, it was the Honda No. 5 TSR Honda France, winner of the 2018 edition, which was ahead of the SERT Suzuki No. 2 at 10.2 seconds and the Yamaha No. 7 YART at 13.1 seconds. The world champion bike last year, the No. 1 Kawasaki of the SRC, was 4th at 14.2 seconds, all these bikes covering 63 laps.
Honda # 5 driver Freddy Foray of France praised "a very good decision" about the interruption and also pointed out the risks of night driving in these conditions.
"The spots will mirror on the water and dazzle us: we will not see the limits of the track" if the rain persists, he warned.
Weather forecasts predict persistent rainfall until Sunday 13:00, with thunderstorms expected at night.
In total, 56 crews of three drivers, official teams of major manufacturers (Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, BMW and Yamaha), private and semi-private, who took the start of this race on the circuit Paul Ricard, along 5,673 km.
This 83rd edition of the Bol d'Or is the first of two 24-hour EWC events, with the 24 Hours of Motorcycles on the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans on the weekend of 18-19 April 2020.
The arrival is scheduled for Sunday at 15:00.
© 2019 AFP