Gulf Ducati Makes Endurance History
Gulf Ducati brings second endurance success of the weekend.
September 13 proved to be a notable date for Gulf in endurance racing as a whole. At the same time that the Gulf AMR cars were clinching the LMS titles, the Gulf-sponsored Ducati Endurance Racing Team (DERT) took Open Category honours in the legendary Bol d’Or motorbike race with its Ducati 848, ridden by Nicolas Nowacki, Lionel Ancelin and Jeremie Rasting.The twenty-four hour classic took place at Magny Cours – home to the French F1 Grand Prix – and formed part of the 2009 World Endurance Championship for motorcycles. Gulf’s sponsorship of the Ducati team began last year, through the efforts of the official Gulf distributor for France and Belgium, Michel Majot of Caroil SA. The team has obviously benefited from its 2008 experience to produce this superb result.
DERT team boss, Jean-Pierre Benveniste, reported that the Ducati - which is a showroom specification machine (apart from its brakes and shock absorbers) ran without any mechanical problems, with the Dunlop tyres proving exceptional. It was the first endurance win in any category for a Ducati at a world-level event for more than 15 years, something the team is justifiably proud of.
The formula of having a small but fuel-efficient and reliable engine seems to be paying dividends for DERT, as the Gulf Ducati 848 also finished second in June’s 300 Miles de Carole endurance race, ridden by Jeremie Rasting once again, together with Sam Matthews.
“It was a superb weekend and it has been an excellent season for Gulf in endurance racing” enthused Gulf Oil International Brand and Marketing Manager, Sam Cork. “Congratulations from all at Gulf to DERT on their Bol d’Or success and of course again to Aston Martin Racing for delivering such a tremendous result in the Le Mans Series. Now we have the added bonus of the Asian LMS event in Japan to look forward to and hopefully we will see a repeat of 1996 when a Gulf car took the endurance series title and won in Japan.”
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