BOLLIGER BOSS EXPLAINS BOL D’OR DELAYS – AFTER 10,800 KILOMETRES OF 2022 EWC ACTION

BOLLIGER-BOSS.jpg EWC x Webike

Kevin Bolliger has explained what delayed his team’s #8 Kawasaki – and how the Swiss squad remained in the points-paying positions – during the deciding round of the 2022 FIM Endurance World Championship, the 100th-anniversary Bol d’Or.

Team Bolliger Switzerland finished seventh in Formula EWC at Circuit Paul Ricard last month to secure seventh place in FIM Endurance World Championship for Teams and third in the Independents’ Trophy for outfits competing without manufacturer support.

After three 24-hour races and a bit more than 10,800 kilometres we could end the season on a good final ranking, said Bolliger. After collecting more important points after the 16-hour mark, a small thermal problem came up. Nico steered the Kawasaki into the pits for a pit stop as scheduled about six hours before the end of the race and reported a rapid rise in temperature.

We immediately decided to add water to the closed cooling system via our Birchmeier bucket hand pump. This is a system that we have been using on our motorbikes for about eight years and which allows us to intervene in the cooling system in exactly this way. Time loss per pit stop is approximately 30 seconds.

During another pit stop, where we refilled the water, a small damage of the crash from lap one became noticeable. The radiator water hose ruptured due to the excess pressure created and so we had to briefly replace the radiator hose in the pits.

Our three riders then each showed a flawless last stint and so we were able to finish this year’s Bol d’Or in ninth place overall and seventh in our category. Overall, we lost about five or six laps due to our small problems.

Squad regulars Jan Bühn and Nico Thöni were joined in Team Bolliger Switzerland’s Bol d’Or line-up by Kévin Denis, a late replacement for the ill Jesper Pellijeff.

Original Source [ FIM EWC ]

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