GOING THE DISTANCE
Features / September 19, 2016
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This is Jean-Paul Boisgontier, affectionately known in the SERT garage as ‘Big John’, and he is the main man responsible for preparing the team’s engines, and ensuring that the GSX-R1000 can race, flat out, for full race distance. A big responsibility then…
Eight hours is a long time for an engine to be thrashed mercilessly, non-stop, let alone 24 hours. But it’s what is required to win championships in one of the toughest disciplines of racing in the world; endurance racing isn’t kind to motorcycles.
As a result, bikes need to be fast, really fast in fact, but reliability is equally – if not more – important when it comes to winning world endurance titles.
“Our bike produces around 200bhp,” Big John explains. “It changes from circuit to circuit, depending on if it’s an eight-hour race or a 24-hour race, but it’s always around that figure.”
Bol,Dor,2016,2017,Qualif,Team,SertIt’s a race bike, and so there are changes over the standard machine, but impressively, the bike also uses a lot of standard components.
“We use a ported cylinder head from Yoshimura, and different cams and head gaskets. We use different cams depending on the race, increasing horsepower for eight-hour races. The exhaust is a full titanium system from Yoshimura, and we also change the gearbox ratio to suit different circuits. But we use standard pistons, con-rods and crankshaft. These remain from the standard engine and it’s a testament to the GSX-R.
“Unlike superbike racing, durability is a really big consideration. We have to be able to race the full distance to win. But the original engine is very strong and very reliable. The races are difficult for teams and really hard on engines, and things can and do go wrong, but if you look at the results from each race, it is very rare that a Suzuki team has a problem.”
12,h,Portimao,2016,Ewc,Team,Suzuki,SertWith so much stress on the engines, the team follows a strict running-in process. It’s something important for the bike, but not a job that the rider’s tend to love doing.
“When we test we have two race bikes, but we also have a third test bike, which is only used for running in engines. When two riders are out on the race bikes, the third still has a job to do and takes the third bike out. They are not always happy about it as they have to be very disciplined with the throttle!
“They have to do a whole session sticking to 7,000rpm, then another at 7,500rpm, then 8,000rpm, and so on. But this is important to bed everything in. It will then become a race engine for the season, and hopefully one that will take us to victory at whichever circuit it is assigned to.”