8 Hours EWC Slovakia Ring

FIM Endurance World Championship

Slovakia Ring, Slovakia

May 12, 2018

Final Overall Race Results:

1. YART – Yamaha (Broc Parkes/Marvin Fritz/Max Neukirchner), Yam YZF-R1, SBK, 224 laps, Total Race Time 08:01:37.659, Best Lap Time 2:04.560

2. GMT94 Yamaha (Mike Di Meglio/Niccolo Canepa/David Checa), Yam YZF-R1, SBK, -31.463 seconds, 2:04.824

3. F.C.C. TSR Honda France (Josh Hook/Freddy Foray/Alan Techer), Hon CBR1000RR, SBK, -77.505, 2:04.185

4. Honda Endurance Racing (Gregory Leblanc/Sebastian Gimbert/Erwan Nigon), Hon CBR1000RR SP, SBK, -1 lap, 2:05.450

5. Team NRT48 – BMW Motorrad (Kenny Foray/Stefan Kerschbaumer/Peter Hickman), BMW S1000RR, SBK, -2 laps, 2:05.839

6. Mercury Racing (Karel Hanika/Jakub Smrz/Matej Smrz), BMW S1000RR, SBK, -3 laps, 2:06.078

7. Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (Vincent Philippe/Etienne Masson/Gregg Black), Suz GSX-R1000, SBK, -3 laps, 0.767 second, 2:05.232

8. Bolliger Team Switzerland (Roman Stamm/Robin Mulhauser/Sebastien Suchet), Kaw ZX-10R, SBK, -4 laps, 2:06.358

9. Team SRC Kawasaki (Julien Da Costa/Randy De Puniet/Jeremy Guarnoni), Kaw ZX-10R, SBK, -5 laps, 2:05.210

10. Yamaha Viltais Experiences (Florian Alt/Axel Maurin/Vincent Lonbois), Yam YZF-R1, STK, -6 laps, 2:07.497

More, from a press release issued by Eurosport Events/FIM Endurance World Championship:

YART YAMAHA GETS THE WIN IN SLOVAKIA

YART Yamaha ran a masterful race and picked up the win at the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring, ahead of GMT94 Yamaha and F.C.C. TSR Honda France, which however still leads the FIM EWC standings.

The fight between the two factory Yamahas lasted until the very last minute of the race after nightfall in Slovakia. In the end, YART Yamaha emerged the winner with a less than 32-second lead over GMT94 Yamaha. The Austrian Yamaha, which scored its first points this season, took over the lead 1 hr 30 minutes into the race. Broc Parkes, Marvin Fritz and Max Neukirchner then managed to stay in control of the race despite electronics issues, and hold off GMT94 Yamaha’s David Checa, Niccolò Canepa and Mike Di Meglio. Considering the blistering pace set by the two machines in the lead, F.C.C. TSR Honda France’s Freddy Foray, Alan Techer and Josh Hook put up a good fight. In fact, Freddy Foray broke the race’s lap record with a time of 2:04.185. F.C.C. TSR Honda France’s 3rd-place finish at the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring allows the squad to hold on to top spot in the 2017-2018 FIM EWC provisional standings, though they are now just one point ahead of GMT94 Yamaha.

Another CBR 1000 RR ran a fine race to finish at the foot of the podium. After doing battle in the leading pack for a lengthy spell, Honda Endurance Racing came home ahead of BMW-mounted NRT48’s Kenny Foray, Stefan Kerschbaumer and Peter Hickman and Mercury Racing’s Karel Hanika, Jakub Smrž and Matej Smrž.

Favourites once again beset by problems

Suzuki Endurance Racing Team finished 7th, just behind Mercury Racing, in the aftermath of a troublesome race. After being held up by a stop-and-go penalty because of a missing tyre marking in qualifying yesterday (20 tyre stickers are allocated in the EWC class and 13 in Superstock for an 8-hour race), riders Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Gregg Black had braking problems similar to the ones they had experienced at Le Mans.

Bolliger Team Switzerland (Roman Stamm, Robin Mulhauser and Sébastien Suchet) finished 8th, ahead of Team SRC Kawasaki’s factory ZX-10R. The Kawasaki #11 had been tipped as a favourite, but after Randy de Puniet crashed out early on in the race, the bike ran out of fuel 5 hours in and lost touch with the 5 teams in the lead.

Upsets in Superstock class too

Yamaha Viltaïs Experiences, the top Superstock, was 10th past the finish line. Axel Maurin, Florian Alt and Vincent Lonbois came in ahead of Atomic 68’s Suzuki, whose riders Clément Stoll, Guillaume Antiga and Stéphane Egéa pulled off their performance despite taking a spill early on in the race. Gert56 took the 3rd spot on the podium as a result of incidents in the final stages of the race affecting two of the main Superstock players. Tati Team Beaujolais Racing dropped back after running out of fuel, but still managed to finish 5th in the Superstock class and thereby conserve its lead in the provisional standings. Junior Team Le Mans Sud Suzuki also got hit by a stroke of fate. An engine failure put paid to their hopes of a podium place just 10 minutes short of the chequered flag.

Moto Ain, another favourite in this category, lost all hope of victory when Roberto Rolfo crashed in the early stages of the race. Moto Ain finished the race 6th in the Superstock class.

The next round of the FIM EWC – the 8 Hours of Oschersleben in Germany on Saturday 9 June – will also be the Superstock final.

More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:

YART Yamaha End Drought with Perfect 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring Victory

After a dry spell of several years that have seen the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team denied victory on many occasions, today saw a change in fortune as riders Broc Parkes, Marvin Fritz and Max Neukirchner took a decisive win at the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring in Slovakia. Fellow Yamaha riders GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC’s David Checa, Mike Di Meglio and Niccolò Canepa joined YART in being a class above the competition, keeping the pressure on to wrap up the 8 hour endurance race in second position and lockout a Yamaha one-two.

The Slovakia ring is a circuit that suits the YART Yamaha YZF-R1, the team performed strongly there in 2017 and had looked favourites for the win until it was not to be. This year, they came even more determined to out ride any potential bad luck and accept nothing less than a victory. Australian Parkes took the start from second on the grid, and was almost immediately hit with a threat to victory as an electronic issue meant traction and wheelie control were out of action. The team worked hard through the repeated pit stops to try and re-set the bike but were finally able to ride above, Parkes, Fritz and Neukirchner giving the ride of their career to deliver the win, without the added electronic support. The only competition to come close were fellow Yamaha riders GMT94, though a different pit stop strategy gave YART the edge and the well deserved win.

Starting from fourth on the grid, GMT94 Yamaha were quickly able to find their way inside the top three where they remained a permanent presence, climbing then to second as the only team able to really match YART’s race pace for the race duration. The combination of a slightly different pitstop strategy and a hold up with the safety car in the later stages of the race ultimately meant second place on the podium was the only option. With Slovakia being one of the more challenging tracks for the team, the result is extremely positive, bringing GMT94 firmly up to second place, just one point behind their rivals for the championship title.

Mandy Kainz

YART Yamaha Official EWC Team Manager

Finally our moment is here, it’s been a long time coming and is so well deserved and nearly not a reality due to bad luck again here. After the first five laps all our electronics failed, adding huge pressure to the riders to stay at a competitive speed without the electronic support. I told them and the team to stay calm throughout the early hours of the race, we could maybe take more risks at the end if we needed to. So finally we arrive at our well deserved victory and it is an amazing feeling. First I need to thank my family who give up so much to let me focus on this dream. Now my team, no time team works so hard to be competitive and be here at this level. I also need to thank Yamaha and of course Bridgestone, without who this wouldn’t be possible. My rider Broc has been amazing. He has led every EWC race for a while at some point! He really deserves this, and also Marvin and Max, who all worked together to calmly make this happen.

Broc Parkes

YART Yamaha Official EWC Team

We’ve been so close so many times, and something has happened to take it away form us, so this is it, it was definitely our time! We had a problem with the electronics in the first stint, wheelie and traction control shut off, so we basically tried to turn the bike on and off during the pit stops which cost us some time but it didn’t fix it. In the end we had a great strategy with the fuel and GMT94 had to pit one more time so it worked for us. Big thanks to Mandy and Yamaha who put in so much effort over the winter, we’ve shown we are the fastest team on track so to put it on paper with a win is perfect. Also big thanks to the team who’ve worked as hard as us to get to this win, and of course to Marvin and Max who kept it on track and on top despite the electric problems we’ve had. It really is a team effort that makes this result so special. Thanks also to Bridgestone for the great rubber that helped us win.

Christophe Guyot

GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team Manager

We had a little bad luck with the safety car, so like this it was difficult to do one pit stop less, which made it difficult to win. Having said that I’m really happy for YART to have this victory after so many years without, and we had a good fight. We are very happy with the result; we are now one point behind our rivals for the Championship. In the next round in Oschersleben we can do something great, here in Slovakia it was very difficult for us, but the next round will be great for us and we will be ready. Two Yamahas on top of the podium is great so we can be happy and look forward. David and Mike were so fast today. Niccolò had a big crash on Tuesday evening on oil, and his elbow was not in good shape we spent some time in hospital and I was not sure he was able to ride. He did two very strong rides and then we wanted to stop him. Thanks to him, because it was difficult to ride like this. Davide and Mike then did a fantastic job to wrap it up, so a great result for us to move forward.

David Checa

GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team

We know that we struggle a lot here in Slovakia, but Dunlop helped and made a good job and brought us a new rear tyre. In the end we were able to be really close to the front so it was not so bad. For sure before we came we knew we would struggle and we knew YART were stronger than us, last year we were lucky they had a problem so we won the race. This year their luck was also different and they were able to stop one less time than us so they won the race. In three years we have won every time in Oschersleben so we expect to do well there at the next round too. As always we will keep focused on the championship!

More, from a press release issued by Honda Endurance Racing:

A solid performance for Honda Endurance Racing at the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring

8 Hours of Slovakia Ring

Slovakia Ring, Slovakia

After eight hours on track, 223 laps completed and covering a race distance of 1,320km, the Honda Endurance Racing team has come home fourth at the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring aboard the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2, collecting vital championship points keeping them third in the overall series standings.

The third round of the FIM Endurance World Championship got underway today at 12.30 local time and it was Gregory LeBlanc who started the race for the Honda team in seventh place. With temperatures soaring at the fast and technical 6km circuit, LeBlanc had a flying start off the line and quickly found rhythm within the leading pack.

Throughout the eight-hour event, Honda’s endurance specialists never dropped outside of the top-five and with consistent lap times LeBlanc, along with his teammates Sébastien Gimbert and Erwan Nigon enjoyed the performance provided by the Fireblade SP2.

The riders’ achievements on-track were mirrored by the super-slick Honda crew who gave faultless pit stops across the race, with the squad making eight stops in total and recording the quickest total pit time over the race at 5:20.982 – 25.231s faster than any other team.

Crossing the line after eight hours in fourth place, the Honda team collected 19 points towards their championship challenge where they sit in third place – 15 points from leaders F.C.C TSR Honda France, who finished on the podium in third place at Slovakia.

The Honda Endurance Racing team will now focus and regroup ahead of the penultimate round of the endurance championship, the 8 Hours of Oschersleben, which takes place 7-9 June.

Sébastien Gimbert 111

For me personally to finish fourth is not so good, as a rider I always want to win or be on the podium, but the result today for the team and also the championship is very good. We remain third in the standings, which I am very happy about and I feel I have the best team and everyone works so well together, with Greg and Erwan I feel we are as one and we all work very well together with one bike. We have good pace on the circuit and in the box we are very fast, so thank you to my team and my teammates. I am confident for the future and for Oschersleben, we need to push on there and I think we can have a very good result.

Gregory LeBlanc 111

I prefer to finish on the podium, but honestly for us today it was difficult to get on the podium. The first three teams were very fast and we lost some time on track, which we couldn’t get back. The result today for the championship isn’t too bad and we didn’t lose too many points, so we’re still focused on the title. For sure when you finish two races on the podium it is very difficult to then not be on the podium, but I prefer to finish fourth than anywhere else in this situation. Thank you to my teammates and to my team for this race, everyone tried their best for the podium but today it wasn’t our day. Now we focus on the next round at Oschersleben and being on the podium again!

Erwan Nigon 111

I am a little bit sad to finish the race fourth, it’s the position just after the podium so you feel a little sad and have a little cry! No, honestly we had a good race today, we push to our maximum with the package and I am really happy with this. All week the team have worked very good and the Honda, the engine is so fast! But today wasn’t our race, we are not so far away as we know from the last two rounds and I think we can go to the next round stronger. It is very good for Honda as F.C.C finish third, so it’s two Honda’s in the top-four, but next time we’re going for the win!

Jonny Twelvetrees

Team Manager

It’s a bit of a mixed result for us really today, on one hand we’re pleased to have finished with no problems and in fourth collecting good points towards the championship. But on the other hand we’re disappointed not to be on the podium – after the last two races you almost get into a habit of being up there. We did a great race though and the pit crew were fantastic, we were one of the fastest out there, the fuel worked well, the riders pushed hard and everyone just did a great job. We were just beaten today though, perhaps we could have won some time with a different strategy, but ultimately the other teams were a little bit faster. So, we’ll regroup and work on that to see where we can improve and go to Oschersleben to finish on the steps or take that win!

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:

SERT FIGHTS BACK TO SEVENTH AT SLOVAKIA RING EWC

Suzuki Endurance Racing Team – 7th

Suzuki Endurance Racing Team fought back from a costly ‘ride-through penalty’ and adversity at round three of the Endurance World Championship third round at Slovakia Ring in Slovakia on Saturday to finish in seventh position.

SERT riders Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Gregg Black, who had qualified the new GSX-R1000 in third position on Friday, had a great start to the 8-Hours of Slovakia Ring, Black holding the lead initially and then moving back to third in the early stages. But a technical infringement because of a missing tyre marking sticker in qualifying – 20 tyre stickers are allocated in the EWC class and 13 in Superstock for an 8-hour race – forced a stop-and-go penalty, losing the 15-time EWC World Champions valuable time and with a lot of work to catch back up to the leaders.

After re-joining the race in the 12th, SERT had clawed back up to fifth at the two-hour and three-hour marks, but were forced to make further pit-stops due to a front brake disc issue that dropped them back again. However SERT mounted another comeback with consistently-fast lap-times from Philippe, Masson and Black that saw them eighth at the six-hour mark and seventh in the closing stages.

Said SERT Team Manager Dominique Meliand: “We suffered the same problem which disrupted our last race at Le Mans. The good news is that we found a solution. At the end of the race we achieved good lap times. We are hopeful that we will find our skills back for the next race in Germany. We are too far down this year to think about the title, but we will then do everything possible to improve again at Oschersleben and to win the next Bol d’Or!”