HONDA TEAMS READY TO TACKLE SLOVAKIA RING
8 Hours of Slovakia Ring
Slovakia Ring, Slovakia
Next stop in the 2018/2019 FIM Endurance World Championship for Honda and its Endurance teams is the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring this weekend (11 May). Besides the race on Saturday for the EWC teams, the World Touring Car Championship (WTCR) will have its Slovakian round on Sunday – with Honda being the only manufacturer to field teams and machinery in both, the two and four wheeled paddocks.
Expectations are high at the 8 hours of Slovakia this weekend, the third round of the 2018/2019 FIM Endurance World Championship. The Honda Endurance Racing team (Randy de Puniet, Sébastien Gimbert, Yonny Hernandez) come fresh from their podium at the 24 Heures Moto at Le Mans just two weeks ago and want to carry on their momentum.
The team’s target is the upper step of the podium to gain some more spots in the World Championship standings. The #111 Honda currently holds on to fifth place, having earned a total of 60 points so far. The leaders are only 42 points ahead with three more races to go, so the 2018/2019 World Championship is everything but decided.
Tuesday saw the Honda Endurance Racing team taking part in a test at the Slovakia Ring with de Puniet, Gimbert and Hernandez working hard to gain the proper set-up to the Fireblade for the weekend.
For the F.C.C. TSR Honda France squad (Josh Hook, Freddy Foray, Mike di Meglio), who are the reigning Endurance World Champions, it is time to strike back after bad luck hindered their race in France. The trio also took part in Tuesday’s test sessions and made good progress in race day preparation already. F.C.C. TSR Honda France holds on to sixth in the EWC standings, having collected 54 points.
Thursday will see the Free Practice with both Qualifying sessions for all riders to follow in the afternoon. This time there will be no night practice and no track action on Friday.
The 8 hours of Slovakia will start on Saturday, 11thof May 2019, at 12:00 Local Time noon with the chequered flag being waved eight hours later at 20:00 (BST +1).
More, from a press release issued by Honda Endurance Racing:
NO REST FOR HONDA ENDURANCE RACING AFTER 24 HOURS FEST
Two weeks have passed since the sensational second place on the podium of the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans and the Honda Endurance Racing squad targets the sharp end again at the 8 hours of Slovakia-Ring.
The team has arrived at the Slovakian track with a test session on Tuesday successfully helped in the preparations for the race on Saturday. The event itself will be a FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) double header with the four wheeled series of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCR). Honda is the only manufacturer to field machinery in both series.
Randy de Puniet, Sébastien Gimbert and Yonny Hernandez took a hard fought second place aboard the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 at the legendary 24 hours of Le Mans just two weeks ago and had not much of a rest prior the third round of the 2018/2019 FIM Endurance World Championship.
The team’s target is the upper step of the podium to gain some more spots in the World Championship standings. The #111 Honda currently holds on to fifth place, having earned a total of 60 points so far. The leaders are only 42 points ahead with three more races to go, so the 2018/2019 World Championship is everything but decided.
Tuesday saw the Honda Endurance Racing team taking part in a test at the Slovakia Ring with de Puniet, Gimbert and Hernandez working hard to gain the proper set-up to the Fireblade for the weekend. Thursday will see the Free Practice with both Qualifying session’s for all riders to follow in the afternoon. This time there will be no night practice and no track action on Friday.
The 8 hours of Slovakia will start on Saturday, 11thof May 2019, at 12:00 Local Time noon with the chequered flag being waved eight hours later at 20:00 (BST +1).
Randy de Puniet 111
The expectation is to fight for the victory after we had a really good race in the 24. The feeling is quite okay. We had some issues during the test with two crashes, so we do have some work to do ahead of the weekend. We don’t know why, many guys crashed in turn four and seven and for me it was a really hard crash but fortunately we are all together fine. The feeling is quite good and all riders have a good pace, so now we try to improve the bike to find the best tyre for the race and that’s it. Maybe we try to push a little bit more to improve the lap time but already we are on a good pace.
Sébastien Gimbert 111
After Le Mans, for sure, I now want to win, because now I know it is possible. My team is very fast and the Fireblade is very fast! For sure it is possible to win here. Me, I like the Slovakia ring, because this circuit is more technical and it suits a lot to my riding style with all the hills, you have fast corners and you slide a lot and you have got heavy braking. I am feeling confident on this circuit. Yesterday morning I had a crash on a very fast left hander – and this comes because here are only three or four left corners and all the others are going right. Now we just need to see which weather we will have those coming days as the forecast is promising very mixed conditions.
Yonny Hernandez 111
It is my first time at the Slovakia ring and I like the track. It is really fast and I did feel very comfortable with the bike at our test session on Tuesday. We tried a lot with the Fireblade to make it faster and I think we can be strong for the weekend and for the race. Lets see what we can do in Qualifying. At the moment we don’t know where we stand in comparison to the other teams as there was no time keeping on Tuesday but I think we are quite good. I for myself feel okay.
Jonny Twelvetrees
Team Manager
It feels like we were in Le Mans yesterday. The guys have done a great job to turn everything round and get everything here, so not much time to have a stop. The first day of practice went well. The guys did put in some great times straight off and we started adjusting the settings. It is a lot of right handers here and not so many lefts, so it is about getting some confidence on the cold side of the tyre and that’s we are working on. Séb and Randy crashed in the same corner, same problem: it was a bit cold and we are working on that. We seem to have got to the end of the days to put in good times and just built some more confidence on the bikes, so, yeah, it is a good place and we are looking forward to the transponders going on the bikes and see in reality were we are in the rest of the field.
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
SUZUKI ENDURANCE ON TRACK FOR SLOVAKIA RING EWC
Suzuki Endurance Racing Team will be on track this weekend for the third round of the 2019 Endurance World Championship, the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring, near Bratislava in Slovakia.
The 15-time World Champions are currently second in the five-round championship, just 16 points from the top following a hard-earned podium at the previous round, the Le Mans 24 Hours, on April 20-21st.
GSX-R1000-mounted Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Gregg Black finished the race in third position and conducted a private test last week in preparation for the race at the 5.922km circuit which will also run in conjunction with an FIA World Touring Car (WTCR / OSCARO) race.
The 2018-2019 FIM EWC has already seen two different winners at two races. After two 24-hour races, at Castellet and Le Mans, the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring could once again shake up the world standings, with a total of 35 points available to the top finisher in Slovakia (30 for the win and 5 for pole position).
At the opening round, the Bol d’Or 24 Hour in France on September 15th-16th, SERT looked set for a victory after leading, until a technical issue forced them into the pits, losing several laps in the process. But after falling down the field, the team dug deep to claw back to fifth overall at the flag; and with extra bonus points for leading during the race, moved up to fourth in the rankings.
At the 42nd Le Mans 24 Hours, SERT led the race for several hours, but in the middle of the night, slipped back after some small issues that required an extra pit-stop, but once rectified, continued to fight through the night and into Sunday morning to finish the event in third after 25 well-calculated stops; one of the fastest and most efficient during the race.
The Story So Far:
Following their victory at Le Mans, Team SRC Kawasaki France arrive in Slovakia as series leader, although SERT is hot on their heels and wanting the top step of the podium. Top privateers Wepol Racing, and Bolliger Team Switzerland are in third and fourth.
In Superstock, GERT56 by GS Yuasa are still the top team but Moto Ain, BMRT 3D Maccio Racing, Team 33 Coyote Louit Moto, Junior Team Le Mans Sud Suzuki and No Limits Motor Team get to Slovakia with only a six-point gap. Suzuki-mounted Motors Events will unfortunately be missing the race due to lack of funds, despite their Superstock class victory at Le Mans.
After the private tests on Tuesday, official free practice and qualification will take place on Thursday May 9th, with the cars and motorcycles on track on alternate days.
The 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring will be flagged off at noon on Saturday May 11th.
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing:
YART Yamaha Return to Slovakia Ring Looking to Win Again
This weekend will see the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team back in action and returning to the scene of their triumph in 2018 at the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring. The team have bounced back from a disappointing end to the previous round’s DNF at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, determined to repeat their dominant form of last year’s Slovakian adventure. Riders Broc Parkes, Marvin fritz and Niccolò Canepa all carry good form at the circuit, Parkes and Fritz as part of last year’s winning team, and Canepa riding for GMT94 Yamaha in 2018 finishing a close second behind the YART.
YART are determined to repeat their stunning performance of last year where they ended a long drought of top podium honours with a decisive win at the Slovakia Ring. The weather for the 2019 edition of the 8 Hours looks to be less promising than the year before, but the team have proved strong in all conditions, and Marvin Fritz was able to break the lap record in testing there recently, set by Max Neukirchner in 2018.
The team go into the race sitting in seventh in the overall standings with 52 points, and with Yamaha leading the Manufacturers standings with 104 points.
Of Yamaha’s extended supported teams, WEPOL Racing will be looking to repeat their SST podium from Le Mans, 3ART – Moto Team 95, Moto AIN bike and VRD Igol Pierret Experiences Yamaha are determined to build on their Le Mans points haul and The Slovakian Maco Racing Team are focused on improving on their 32nd position finish at the last race to dip into the EWC points scores.
Located near the village of Orechová Potôn, 35 km south-east of the Slovakian capital Bratislava, near the Austrian border, the Slovakia Ring circuit opened in 2009 as a test track for car manufacturers. It was not long before the track began hosting international car racing events such as the FIA GT championship and the FIA WTCC. The track is 6km long and 12km wide, with 14 bends, and is therefore both fast and technical. The track hosted their first FIM EWC race in 2017.
Broc Parkes
YART Yamaha Official EWC Team
“This is a good track for us as we all have great pace. This year conditions are a lot different as it’s much cooler and the forecast for the weekend is not looking good. It’s the same for everyone and we can be good in all conditions. We want to win like last year and try claw back the points we lost in Le Mans.”
Marvin Fritz
YART Yamaha Official EWC Team
“Le Mans is behind us. We had a few sessions last week here at Slovakia Ring and I broke the lap record from Max Neukirchner from last year. A 2:03.118. Niccolò and myself tested few things and now we feel much better on our R1. We’ve really good memories here from our last year’s victory here at Slovakia Ring. We will try to get the most points as possible from this race weekend.”
Niccolò Canepa
YART Yamaha Official EWC Team
“After the difficult race in Le Mans we are really looking forward to Slovakia 8 hours. Last week we had a very good test here. Me and Marvin were really fast and under the track record. Last year the YART Team won this race, so the Yamaha fits perfectly to this circuit. We are ready to fight!”
Mandy Kainz
YART Yamaha Official EWC Team Manager
“We are coming here with full confidence in our riders, our bike and our performance. Le Mans was obviously disappointing, but this is behind us now, as we know anything can happen in endurance racing. We know we can be really strong here in Slovakia, we proved this last year. The conditions will not be the same this weekend, but they will be the same for all competitors so we will as always do our best, never give up and aim for the top of the podium.”