Suzuki Castrol’s Vincent Philippe has taken pole position for this weekend’s Oschersleben 24 Hour round of the FIM World Endurance Championship, setting a best lap time of 1:28.816 in today’s second session. He was less than a second faster than Yamaha Austria’s Gwen Giabbani (1:29.493), setting the scene for a very competitive race tomorrow. Suzuki Castrol team manager Dominique Meliand was pleased with the performance of all his riders: “We set good times on qualifying tyres and good times on race tyres so I am happy. If it rains tomorrow then that makes it difficult to race; there are a lot of people on the track here and a lot of tight turns – but then that is Oschersleben.” Yamaha Austria rider Sebastien Scarnato is really looking forward to the race; “I think we can be equal to Suzuki Castrol here. Everything is working very well; the riders and the bike, and the tyres are good in the dry and in the rain.” In third place was Bolliger Kawasaki’s Patric Muff (1:30.103) and in fourth was Yamaha Phase One’s Damian Cudlin (1:30.246), just over a tenth of a second behind. The first four teams were over a second clear of the rest of the field, but fifth to tenth places were covered by just over a third of a second. Fifth place went to wildcard team Yamaha PS-LSL Beck Racing, sixth to Kawasaki 666 Diablo, seventh to Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se, eighth to Yamaha Acropolis Zone Rouge 99, ninth to Suzuki Austria Team 76 and tenth to Yamaha Racing Team Hepplemann. The Oschersleben 24 Hour race starts at 3:00pm tomorrow afternoon. Top Ten Qualifying Positions: 1st 1 – Suzuki Castrol Team – FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – V.Philippe – 1:28.616 2nd 7 – Yamaha Austria – AUT – Yamaha YZF-R1 – G.Giabbani – 1:29.493 3rd 8 – Kawasaki Bolliger Team – SUI – Kawasaki ZX10R – P.Muff – 1:30.103 4th 3 – Yamaha Phase One Endurance – GBR – Yamaha YZF-R1- D.Cudlin – 1:30.246 5th 13 – Yamaha PS-LSL Beck Racing – GER – Yamaha YZF-R1 – R.Penzkofer – 1:31.439 6th 666 – Kawasaki Diablo 666 – GBR – Kawasaki ZX10R – J.Hutchins – 1:31.542 7th 12 – Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se – SWE – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – T.Anderson – 1:31.555 8th 99 – Yamaha Acropolis Zone Rouge – BEL – Yamaha YZF-R1 – M.Fissette – 1:31.661 9th 76 – Suzuki Austria Team 76 – AUT – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – S.Herbst – 1:31.745 10th 92 – Yamaha Racing Team Hepelmann – GER – Yamaha YZF-R1 – R.Kraechter – 1: 31.790 More information about the FIM World Endurance Championship can be found at www.worldendurance.com More, from a press release issued by Suzuki Racing: SUZUKI CASTROL ON OSCHERSLEBEN POLE Suzuki Castrol’s Vincent Philippe and the SERT GSX-R1000 have taken pole position for this weekend’s Oschersleben 24 Hour sixth round of the FIM World Endurance Championship with a time of 1:28.816. He was just under a second faster than Yamaha Austria’s Gwen Giabbani (1:29.493), setting the scene for a very competitive race tomorrow. Suzuki Castrol team manager Dominique Meliand said: “We set good times on qualifying tyres and good times on race tyres so I am happy. If it rains tomorrow then that makes it difficult to race; there are a lot of people on the track here and a lot of tight turns – but then that is Oschersleben.” Behind pole setters Philippe, Mathieu Lagrive and Keiichi Kitagawa and Yamaha Austria is the Kawasaki Bolliger Team and Yamaha Phase One. Suzuki Fargersjo-el se hold seventh and Suzuki Austria ninth. The Oschersleben 24 Hour race starts at 3pm tomorrow afternoon.