8 Hours EWC Slovakia Ring

FIM Endurance World Championship

Slovakia Ring, Slovakia

May 11, 2018

Final Overall Qualifying Results:

1. F.C.C. TSR Honda France (Josh Hook/Freddy Foray/Alan Techer), Hon CBR1000RR, SBK, 2:04.352

2. YART – Yamaha (Broc Parkes/Marvin Fritz/Max Neukirchner), Yam YZF-R1, SBK, 2:04.432

3. Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (Vincent Philippe/Etienne Masson/Gregg Black), Suz GSX-R1000, SBK, 2:04.812

4. GMT94 Yamaha (Mike Di Meglio/Niccolo Canepa/David Checa), Yam YZF-R1, SBK, 2:04.911

5. Team SRC Kawasaki (Julien Da Costa/Randy De Puniet/Jeremy Guarnoni), Kaw ZX-10R, SBK, 2:04.934

6. Team NRT48 – BMW Motorrad (Kenny Foray/Stefan Kerschbaumer/Peter Hickman), BMW S1000RR, SBK, 2:05.125

7. Honda Endurance Racing (Gregory Leblanc/Sebastian Gimbert/Erwan Nigon), Hon CBR1000RR SP, SBK, 2:05.152

8. Mercury Racing (Karel Hanika/Jakub Smrz/Matej Smrz), BMW S1000RR, SBK, 2:05.247

9. MOTO AIN (Roberto Rolfo/Alexis Masbou/Christoffer Bergman), Yam YZF-R1, SST, 2:06.058

10. Team April Moto Motors Events (Matthieu Lagrive/Baptiste Guittet/Gregory Fastre), Suz GSX-R1000, SBK, 2:06.076

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

F.C.C. TSR HONDA FRANCE PICKS UP POLE IN SLOVAKIA

Japanese team F.C.C. TSR Honda France will start from pole tomorrow at the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring, ahead of YART Yamaha and Suzuki Endurance Racing Team.

F.C.C. TSR Honda France is still going strong. After winning the 24 Heures Motos in April, the Japanese team once again proved it is in top form, picking up pole at the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring. In the saddle of the Honda CB 1000 RR #5, Josh Hook, Freddy Foray and Alan Techer will be targeting a fresh win to consolidate their lead in the 2017-2018 FIM EWC standings.

On the starting grid of the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring, to be flagged off tomorrow at 12.30pm CEST, F.C.C. TSR Honda France precedes YART Yamaha (Broc Parkes, Marvin Fritz and Max Neukirchner). The Austrian team will be looking to collect big points in Slovakia after being forced to withdraw from the first two races of the season, the Bol d’Or and the 24 Heures du Mans.

Having finished 5th yesterday in the first qualifying, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team moved up to 3rd place on the starting grid following this morning’s session after Etienne Masson seriously upped his performance alongside teammates Vincent Philippe and Gregg Black.

Suzuki Endurance Racing Team is one spot ahead of GMT94 Yamaha (slowed down this morning after Niccolò Canepa’s crashed) and Team SRC Kawasaki.

Track conditions were less favourable during second qualifying, ruling out any major changes in starting grid positions. NRT48’s factory-backed BMW is 6th on the grid, ahead of Honda Endurance Racing and the Mercury Racing BMW.

Moto Ain was the sole team to inch up one spot on the grid at the expense of Team April Motos Motors Events, now in 10th place. The Moto Ain Yamaha, entrusted to Roberto Rolfo, Alexis Masbou and Christoffer Bergman, is also the best-placed Superstock machine on the grid, ahead of Junior Team Le Mans Sud Suzuki whose riders Hugo Clere, Alex Sarrabayrouse and Louis Rossi vastly improved their performance in second qualifying. Junior Team Le Mans Sud Suzuki precedes two other Superstocks to keep an eye on: Yamaha Viltaïs Experiences and Atomic 68.

Follow the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring on the website fimewc.com, via the live timing www.fimewc.com/live-timing, on Facebook, Twitter and the new FIM EWC iOS and Android smartphone app.

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

Honda Endurance Racing to start the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring seventh

8 Hours of Slovakia Ring

Slovakia Ring, Slovakia

The 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring gets underway tomorrow (Saturday 12 May), where Honda Endurance Racing will start from seventh place after scoring a combined time of 2:05.152 in today’s final qualifying session. With consistent times aboard the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2, the team are confident heading into the eight-hour race.

Keen to repeat the performance of last year’s event with a podium finish, Honda’s endurance specialists Sébastien Gimbert, Gregory LeBlanc and Erwan Nigon have been working hard with the team to optimise the set-up of the Fireblade at the fast and technical 6km circuit.

All three riders have enjoyed strong qualifying sessions, with today’s results all within the top-five. LeBlanc was first on track this morning for the team and finished fifth fastest with a lap time of 2:05.061. Gimbert completed the top-three in his session with the third fastest time (2:05.253). Last on track aboard the CBR was Nigon, who topped his session with a lap time of 2:05.143.

The team will now prepare for the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring, which after a revised start time, is scheduled to get underway tomorrow at 1230 CEST.

For all race updates and team news follow @HondaRacingCBR

Sébastien Gimbert 111

I think we are ready for the race tomorrow! The Fireblade is very fast and we have good pace, which we have seen at the Bol d’Or and also at Le Mans. We have confirmation we can be on the podium and have good pace. Myself, Greg and Erwan all are very similar riders and we make a very good team. The team always work so hard for us to give us the best package possible and I think tomorrow after eight hours we should be in a good position. I am very confident for the race and look forward to the start.

Gregory LeBlanc 111

My feeling today is not so bad, it’s not perfect but I am happy and think we’re in the best position we can be for the race tomorrow. In my session I had some traffic, two yellow flags and I wasn’t able to push as much as I wanted, so I struggled a little. Qualifying isn’t too important in endurance; it’s all about the race! I think we have a good package and good feeling with the Fireblade, we have a new engine and it’s very fast and will be good for the race. I am happy and confident, and looking forward to racing now.

Erwan Nigon 111

Honestly it’s great! I love Slovakia and it’s great to be here after Le Mans, everyone is happy and we’re just looking forward to racing again. We need to improve in some places during the race, but qualifying was good with seventh place and we reduced the gap to the front in the sessions when compared with Le Mans. We’re making great progress with the tyres, the riders and the Fireblade, everyone works very well together and I think we can be strong tomorrow. The eight-hour is very different to a 24-hour, but they are similar as both are very hard in their own ways. We try to do our best and I try to do my best every time, so we just need to wait now and see what tomorrow brings.

Jonny Twelvetrees

Team Manager

I’m pleased with how everything is going here in Slovakia. Everyone in the team has come to the event on a high after Le Mans and I know we’re all keen to repeat the performance with a podium, or go one better with the win. We’ve managed to get a lot of track time over this week as there has been a lot of practice sessions, which has been really good for us. The times from the guys are all consistent and with endurance it’s not all about qualifying as anything can happen over the eight hours, which we know all too well. We start the race seventh tomorrow and I know with a good start and the riders chipping away we’ll be able to move up into the front group very quickly. I’m looking forward to getting going now and wish everyone a safe race.

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

 SUZUKI ENDURANCE RACING TEAM 3RD ON SLOVALIA RING EWC GRID

Team Suzuki Press Office – May 11.

Suzuki Endurance Racing Team – EWC – 3rd

Junior Team LMS Suzuki – SST – 2nd

Suzuki Endurance Racing Team will start tomorrow’s Slovakia Ring 8 Hours World Endurance Championship third round from third position after a positive day of work in the final qualifying session aboard their 2018 GSX-R1000.

SERT riders Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Gregg Black improved their lap-times from yesterday to finish just 0.460 seconds from Pole Position, while in the Superstock class, Junior Team LMS Suzuki finished second in class and 13th in the overall standings against the EWC Factory teams.

Development work on the new Suzuki GSX-R1000 continues with SERT testing and evaluating new setting during the week and during the first free practice sessions, Dominique Méliand’s riders had to work twice as hard to adapt to this very technical and fast track where the new GSX-R1000 has never performed before, so feedback has been of high importance before the start of the race. But the team was rewarded today for their hard work, which showed on the timesheets.

During the first qualifying session, Gregg Black was with the front runners with a best lap time of 2.04.641. Vincent Philippe, SERT’s longest-serving rider and kingpin, was performing equally with a lap-time of 2.04.971 and Etienne Masson set a best lap of 2.05.971. But during the second qualifying session, later in the afternoon, Masson increased his pace and finished on top of his session with a superb lap time of 2.04.824.

These consistent performances allowed the SERT to end up with third place on the grid of the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring that gets underway tomorrow at 12:30hrs local time.

Vincent Philippe:

“It was a bit hard at the beginning of the week. We weren’t feeling 100% on the bike. But we were not discouraged. We tried many solutions and finally it worked for us. We came to a compromise that allows us to relax more on the bike. For sure we are paying a hard price for the lack of training sessions during the winter, but we are making progress. And it feels good to be back on the top-three during practice! Personally, I am sorry about my crash during the night session. Apparently, even when you are 40, you still can be too optimistic on track!”

Etienne Masson:

“Today, I had to make the hardest part of the work because Vincent and Gregg had already set good lap times yesterday. I am happy to have done the job and to be able to ride in the 2.04 times. It is true that at the beginning of the week we were a bit far away from the leaders, but we didn’t lose our heads and we made good progress. The whole team worked very well, and this third place is the reward. In the end, we achieved in adapting to the bike to the circuit and to our tyres. We are showing that the new GSX-R1000 has great potential and that’s the most important thing.”

Gregg Black:

“It’s been a long week and it allowed us to test many things on the bike. The new GSX-R1000 works well, and it is very fast. During practice, we used our race tyres and this third place on the grid is a good omen for the race because we’ll be able to ride with similar lap times. We are very confident ahead of this 8-hour race because we made a lot of progress on the bike since the last event.”