Yamaha Celebrates Superb Victory at Oschersleben
After a perfect win by the factory team in Suzuka a month ago, reigning World Champions GMT94 continue to show Yamaha YZF-R1’s incredible pace with a stunning victory at the 18th edition of the German Speedweek. Monster Energy Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART) was also on the pace and claimed a strong third place, making it a double podium for Yamaha.
As the clock hit twelve, 36 riders ran to their bikes across the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben’s long straight and gunned their racing machines towards the first corner.
GMT94 Yamaha were second in the championship standings with a 29 point margin at the start of today’s eight hour race and had one goal; win the race ahead of the championship leaders and stay in contention for this year’s title.
David Checa had a slightly cautious start from third on the grid and slotted in behind the fellow Yamaha team Monster Energy Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART) bike, crossing the line for the first time in seventh place. He made the most of the nimble character of the Yamaha YZF-R1 and went on to take over the lead shortly before he came in for a quick stop. He handed over the bike to teammate Kenny Foray, who reentered the race in fifth and rode a strong stint before letting Mathieu Gines take over and put the GMT bike back in the lead.
Despite interruptions in the form of safety car situations the GMT team managed to keep their stints faultless and stay ahead of the championship leaders. The race was ultimately won by GMT Yamaha’s incredible consistency. More than five hours and 30 minutes into the race GMT made the most of the third safety car situation and extended their lead to around 40 seconds enabling them to return from their sixth pit stop still in the lead.
As the sun went down it was Foray, with his economic riding style, who was given the honour of bringing the YZF-R1 home. With the track lit up red from the setting sun, he managed the gap perfectly and took the chequered flag with a 18.773s advantage.
Monster Energy Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART) had a similar start to GMT. Starting from pole, Broc Parkes took his time, completing the first lap in sixth. As his confidence grew he worked his way up to fourth but then encountered some technical issues that slightly lowered his race pace and he was forced to let GMT pass.
It then was Iván Silva’s and Sheridan Morais’ turn to take the YZF-R1 out on track, but the Austrian team didn’t have any luck with the pace car situations either, losing half a minute at the first two instances, leaving them no choice but to give it their all. Determined to get a podium finish they fought their way up the rankings and looked comfortable in third position until drama unfolded.
Parkes lost the front when he hit some oil on the track just before the final hour and had to come back in to the pits. He handed the bike over to Ivan Silva, who was unable to open the gas fully on his outlap, due to deformation of the handle bar and had to head back in immediately to have it mended.
Once Silva returned to the track YART had fallen back to fourth, but they kept a cool head, dropping consist lap times to ultimately score a well-deserved third place.
After the strong victory GMT94 Yamaha closed in six points on the championship leaders, while Monster Energy Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART) took away twenty-five points. They look forward to Bol d’Or, held on September 17-20 at the Paul Ricard Circuit, which will be the final round of the FIM Endurance World Championship.
David Checa – GMT94 Yamaha rider
“We did what we came here to do, we pushed to win and it all went perfectly, there is nothing more to say. For sure we are really happy because in endurance it’s really hard to win a race. We often receive second, but when you get results like this, you are really happy. Everything worked really well; the bike, the riders, the tyres and the team was fantastic too. In the last six years I’ve won at this track three times and I love it here, but it’s really small. It’s physically very demanding, but I love difficult tracks and at the end we can be happy with first place and YART taking third, so there were two Yamahas on the podium. In Suzuka Yamaha also won the race so in two races it had two wins, for Yamaha these are very good results.”
Christophe Guyot – GMT94 Yamaha Team Manager
“We are very happy because we had a big battle with the championship leaders. For Yamaha this is perfect because they won Suzuka and now also this race and YART took the third position and pole, so it’s been a good weekend. I was very happy with our pace on the track. I’ve known David for a long time but his pace impressed me a lot this time and also Kenny and Mathieu were fast. We still have to work on the tank and adjust some other things, but the bike is very good. The riders and the team can be proud, the whole package is very strong. It’s never easy to finish in front of from the championship leaders, but we did it today. Oschersleben is like a second home to me. I won here four times; three times the 24H and yesterday the 8H. We like the circuit and the people and we enjoy coming here a lot.”
Broc Parkes – Monster Energy Yamaha YART rider
“We had some problems at the start of the race that meant we didn’t have a pit lane limiter. We raced the whole race without electronics. In BSB we don’t have electronics either, so it wasn’t too different from riding my BSB bike. In the last stint I rode my personal fastest lap of all my stints, a 1’27.1, which was good. The bike felt good, but towards the end of the stint the tyres started to go off a little bit and it wasn’t as easy to keep the times. Overall it was good, but towards the end of the race I crashed on some oil, but we were lucky that the bike was not too damaged and that we could get to the pits without losing too much time. It was a bit of an adventure to be honest, an eventful race. We were lucky to get third, but we had good pace, all the riders were fast today. Ivan, Sheridan and I were close on times and to get pole and finish the first race of the season, I think we have to be happy.”
Mandy Kainz – Monster Energy Yamaha YART Team Manager
“I am happy to be on the podium. We started the race, but after the first lap the electronics shut down and we had to continue the race without traction control, wheelie control or slide control. We had no lap timer so our strategy was sector by sector. The fuel consumption was very high so, that’s why we came into the box early. Normally we could finish with seven pit stops, but by one minute we couldn’t this time, so I was waiting for a safety car. When I saw the oil flag I thought “Maybe this once we are lucky and a pace car comes out”, but then Broc crashed just before the last hour. Luckily the bike wasn’t destroyed. We changed the rider and a few other things, but then came another problem with the steering, so Iván had to ride a slow lap to come in, but we got onto the podium. In the beginning we lost time with the pace car. It came out twice and we lost half a minute, but with the final pace car it all became good and we got on the podium and we are happy for this. I’m especially very happy that Yamaha took very good results, it is what the YZF-R1 deserves.”
Race Results
1. GMT94 YAMAHA, Yamaha YZF-R1, 08:01’09.771
2. SUZUKI ENDURANCE RACING TEAM, Suzuki GSXR-1000, +18.773s
3. MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA YART, Yamaha YZF-R1, +3 lap
4. JUNIOR TEAM LE MANS SUD SUZUKI, Suzuki GSX-R1000, +4 laps
5. HONDA RACING, Honda CBR1000RR, +6 laps
6. BMW MOTORRAD France TEAM PENZ13, BMW S1000RR, +6 laps
7. STARTTEAM PAM-RACING, Suzuki GSX-R1000, +7 laps
8. MACO RACING TEAM, Yamaha YZF-R1, +7 laps
9. NATIONAL MOTOS, Honda CB R1000 RRSP ,+8 laps
10. TEAM TRAQUEUR LOUIT MOTO 33, Kawasaki ZX 10R, +8 laps
27. BERTL K. RACING TEAM, Y-YZF-R1, +38 laps
Championship Standings
1. SUZUKI ENDURANCE RACING TEAM, Suzuki GSXR-1000, 110 points
2. GMT94 YAMAHA, Yamaha YZF-R1, 87 points
3 TEAM BOLLIGER SWITZERLAND, Kawasaki ZX 10R, 55 points
4. JUNIOR TEAM LE MANS SUD SUZUKI, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 54 points
5. SRC KAWASAKI, Kawasaki ZX 10R, 42 points
6. TEAM TRAQUEUR LOUIT MOTO 33, Kawasaki ZX 10R, 39 points
7. BMW MOTORRAD France TEAM PENZ13, BMW S1000RR, 38 points
8. YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM, Yamaha YZF-R1, 35 points
9. MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA YART, Yamaha YZF-R1, 34 points
10. NATIONAL MOTOS, Honda CB R1000 RRSP, 33 points
15. MACO RACING TEAM, Yamaha YZF-R1, 22 points
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
SERT & JUNIOR TEAM SUZUKI PODIUM AT OSCHERSLEBEN
Series leaders Suzuki Endurance Racing Team and Junior Team LMS Suzuki kept their 2015 Championship title hopes intact with two strong performances at Saturday’s Oschersleben 8 Hour World Endurance Championship third round in Germany.
SERT riders Vincent Philippe, Anthony Delhalle and Etienne Masson powered their GSX-R1000 to the second step of the EWC class podium while Junior Team LMS riders Baptiste Guittet, Greg Black and Romain Maitre topped the World Cup category aboard their Superstock GSX-R1000; finishing fourth overall in the race. This puts 13-time World Champions SERT 23 points clear in the series and defending World Cup Champions Junior Team LMS 15 points ahead in Superstock with one round remaining.
Both Suzuki’s hit the front from the start; Junior Team’s Greg Black grabbing the holeshot from ninth on the grid, while SERT’s Philippe slotted into third from seventh place. At the end of the first hour, SERT had moved into second behind leaders Honda racing and Junior Team led its class with fourth.
The following hours saw several changes in lead with SERT taking control in the mid-point of the race from main title rivals Yamaha GMT94 and they remained locked in a close battle until the closing stages when SERT picked-up a puncture and were forced to take an unscheduled pit stop. This, along with two safety car incidents, that didn’t help the Suzuki team, allowed GMT94 to pull ahead and take the victory.
SERT Team Manager Dominique Méliand said: “We suffered from a tyre puncture towards the end of the race and also the two safety car interventions were unfavourable to us. But this is racing and second place gives us a 23-point lead over the GMT94; and that’s the most important!”
Philippe added: “We know the GMT94 bike is very fast on the circuit and we’re fast in the pits, so it all evens out, but the safety car interventions put us at a disadvantage. We put up a good fight and we never let up and considering all the crashes and mechanical problems many of the teams had to face, we can only be satisfied with the result, not least because we’re still top of the championship standings.”
The final round of the 2015 Endurance World Championship will be the Bol d-Or 24-Hour in France on September 19-20th and with a maximum total of 60 points available to the winner, the battle for EWC and Superstock honours is expected to be one of the most exciting in recent years.
Race leaders by hour:
1 hour: 1 Honda Racing, 2 SERT, 3 SRC Kawasaki, 4 Junior Team LMS.
2 hours: 1 SRC Kawasaki, 2 SERT, Honda Racing, 10 Junior Team LMS.
3 hours: 1 Yamaha GMT94, 2 SERT, 3 Bolliger Switzerland, 6 Junior Team LMS.
4 hours: 1 SERT, 2 Yamaha GMT94, 3 BMW Motorrad, 6 Junior Team LMS.
5 hours: 1 Yamaha GMT94, 2 SERT, 3 Monster YART, 5 Junior Team LMS.
6 hours: Yamaha GMT94, 2 SERT, 3 Monster YART, 5 Junior Team LMS.
7 hours: Yamaha GMT94, 2 SERT, 3 BMW Motorrad, 5 Junior Team LMS.
Oschersleben 8 Hour results: 1 GMT94 Yamaha (Yamaha) 312 laps, 2 SERT (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 312, 3 Monster Energy YART (Yamaha) 309, 4 Junior Team LMS (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 308, 5 Honda Racing (Honda) 306, 6 BMW Motorrad France (BMW) 306, 7 Starteam PAM-Racing (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 305, 8 Maco Racing Team (Yamaha) 305, 9 National Motos (Honda) 304, 10 Team Traquer Louit Moto 33 (Kawasaki) 304.
More, from a press release issued by Prime Factors Racing:
BAD LUCK THWARTS PRIME FACTORS RACING CHARGE AT OSCHERSLEBEN 8HR
24th August 2015 – After a strong few days of testing and qualifying, the Prime Factors Racing challenge was cut short during the Oschersleben race as a rare crash from Gary Mason on lap 92 saw them forced to retire. Despite the disappointment, the team demonstrated front running performance that they will carry forward to the next race at the Bol d’Or.
With Oschersleben being only the second Endurance World Championship race for the Prime Factors Racing team, riders Gary Mason, Barry Burrell and Stefan Capella used the opening test sessions to further refine their BMW S1000RR Superstock machine. Unfortunately, the team’s first session on Wednesday saw a total brake failure, meaning valuable track time was lost as they repaired the number one bike.
Things fared much better in Q1, with the team ending the first qualifying session fifth in the Superstock class. Making some changes ahead of the second session, the team worked through a number of setting changes aiming to secure a strong race set up that all three riders were happy with. Finalising tyre choices, fuelling and strategy the Prime Factors Racing team concluded morning warm up confident of a strong showing in the eight hour race.
With Gary starting the race, he launched off the start to climb a number of places to be challenging for top ten (which included factory supported Superbikes). Unable to replicate the grip or lap times from practice or qualifying, Gary ran off track after a few laps and dropped back outside the top 30. Making it back up into 23rd overall, he pitted in and Barry Burrell went out for his first stint but also struggled to replicate his previous times. After debrief with Gary, the team decided to change tactics and rather than just refuel ahead of Gary’s second stint, they also changed tyres. With a fresh set of rubber in, he was immediately able to lap two seconds faster that he had, and set about closing the gap to the riders in front.
Unfortunately, on lap 92 Gary suffered a huge highside which saw him taken to the medical centre and the team forced to retire from the race. Despite fearing a broken collarbone, Gary was thankfully confirmed as having concussion and severe bruising and is already looking forward to the Bol d’Or 24 hour race in September.
Team Principal of Prime Factors Racing, Bruce Charman summed up “We’re bitterly disappointed to be leaving Oschersleben in this way but are very thankful that Gary is OK. The event was another learning curve for the Prime Factors Racing team but I’m really pleased with how everyone worked, we had a few new members join for the race, they slotted in fantastically and we’ve succeeded in creating a family feeling inside the garage. We were able to put in some strong lap times and were capable of pushing at the front of the Superstock class, but unfortunately some bad luck thwarted us from showing our true potential in the race.
We now have a few weeks to further improve the Prime Factors Racing package, before we head to the final Endurance World Championship event of the year at the Bol d’Or. That event will also see our new Team Manager Steve Plater join us, and I’m confident we will be ending our debut season on a high!”