It's 2024 as I write this, and the Bol d'Or endurance race for this year is now in the history books. Once again, the brilliant Franco-Japanese team, Yoshimura SERT Motul, took a stunning victory.
To be more specific, Suzuki took its 20th-ever Bol d'Or victory. It's a feat that would (and should) be considered impressive by any manufacturer, in any sport. You might even call it an undisputed display of dominance in a given sport, in fact.
It's also the Yoshimura SERT Motul team's second EWC title, and the 13th to be won by the team in total (including 11 titles achieved when it ran under a different name, as the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team).
It's almost surreal to think about the fact that a little over two years ago, Suzuki almost quit racing entirely. When Suzuki president Toshihiro Suzuki made the shock announcement that the company was pulling out of both its MotoGP and EWC efforts, it made jaws drop around the world.
A tense few months passed before Yoshimura SERT spoke up and said not so fast, and that it had worked out a deal with Suzuki to keep racing in EWC in 2023. Just days after that fateful confirmation that the EWC would continue to have official Suzuki participation in the paddock, former Suzuki MotoGP rider Alex Rins played a bittersweet Instagram prank for Día de los Santos Inocentes. But unlike Rins' IG joke, Yoshimura SERT Motul's efforts were very real.
And the important thing to remember is, while the EWC may not have anywhere near as massive a calendar cram-packed with dates as the MotoGP championship, it still draws attention.
This year, the bike was ably piloted by racers Gregg Black, Dan Linfoot, and Étienne Masson. This 2024 Bol d'Or victory also marks the fourth win of this event for both Black and Masson.
You could say these guys know what they're doing. Linfoot is no slouch, either; he alone among the Yoshimura SERT Motul racers managed to finish on the podium at all four races in the 2024 FIM EWC season.
The 2024 edition of the 24 Heures Motos drew an impressive 78,000 spectators throughout the weekend. And Suzuki France regularly takes advantage of the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team's success with special graphics packages on decidedly un-GSX-R1000R bikes in its stable, such as the GSX-8S.
Suzuki was super close to having none of this international racing attention after 2022, but it changed its mind. And thanks to the valiant efforts of Yoshimura SERT Motul, it can now do some well-deserved victory laps yet again.
