8-Hours of Oschersleben
FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC)
Motorsport Arena Oschersleben
Oschersleben, Germany
August 26, 2016
Final Combined Qualifying Results (listed according to average of riders’ best lap times):
1. YART Yamaha (Broc Parkes 1:26.279/Marvin Fritz 1:26.365/Bradley Smith no time recorded in qualifying), Yam YZF-R1, Superbike, 1:26.322
2. GMT94 Yamaha (David Checa 1:26.743/Niccolo Canepa 1:26.829/Lucas Mahias 1:27.130), Yam YZF-R1, Superbike, 1:26.900
3. Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (Vincent Philippe 1:26.942/Anthony Delhalle 1:26.789/Etienne Masson 1:27.385), Suz GSX-R1000, Superbike, 1:27.038
4. F.C.C. TSR Honda (PJ Jacobsen 1:26.676/Damian Cudlin 1:27.572/Kazuma Watanabe 1:27.573), Hon CBR1000RR, Superbike, 1:27.307
5. SRC Kawasaki (Gregory Leblanc 1:27.611/Matthieu Lagrive 1:28.039/Fabien Foret 1:26.738), Kaw ZX-10R, Superbike, 1:27.462
6. Penz13.com – BMW Motorrad Team (Kenny Foray 1:26.854/Lukas Pesek 1:27.929/Matthieau Lussiana 1:28.149), BMW S1000RR, Superbike, 1:27.644
7. Team Bolliger Switzerland (Roman Stamm 1:27.163/Michael Savary 1:29.281/Gianluca Vizziello 1:27.717), Kaw ZX-10R, Superbike, 1:28.053
8. Voelpker NRT48 by Shubert-Motors (Bastien Mackels 1:27.220/Dominik Vincon 1:28.701/Stefan Kerschbaumer 1:28.264), BMW S1000RR, Superstock, 1:28.061
9. Honda Endurance Racing (Julien Da Costa 1:28.083/Sebastien Gimbert 1:27.927/Freddy Foray 1:28.181), Hon CBR1000RR SP, Superbike, 1:28.063
10. Team April Moto Motors Events (Gregg Black 1:27.217/Gregory Fastre 1:28.932/Alex Cudlin 1:28.205), Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 1:28.118
11. Maco Racing Team (Gregory Junod 1:28.035/Anthony Dos Santos 1:28.658/Marko Jerman 1:27.877), Yam YZF-R1, Superbike, 1:28.190
12. Yamaha Viltais Experience (Nicolas Salchaud 1:27.680/Axel Maurin 1:28.623/Olivier Depoorter 1:28.576), Yam YZF-R1, Superstock, 1:28.293
13. Team 3ART Yam-Avenue (Louis Bulle 1:28.739/Alex Plancassagne 1:28.993/Lukas Trautmann 1:27.288), Yam YZF-R1, Superstock, 1:28.340
14. Junior Team LMS Suzuki (Baptiste Guittet 1:28.032/Romain Maitre 1:28.668/Robin Camus 1:28.867), Suz GSX-R1000, Superstock, 1:28.522
15. Lukoil BMW Motorrad CSEU (Fabrizio Lai 1:27.909/Julian Mayer 1:28.762/Roland Resch 1:29.169), BMW S1000RR, Superbike, 1:28.613
16. AM Moto Racing Competition (Jonathan Goetschy 1:29.862/Jimmy Maccio 1:29.199/Kevin Denis 1:28.481), Kaw ZX-10R, Superstock, 1:29.180
17. Ecurie Chrono Sport (Stephane Egea 1:28.622/Julien Pilot 1:29.176/Stephane Pagani 1:29.983), Kaw ZX-10R, Superstock, 1:29.250
18. GERT 56 HMT by rs speedbikes (Sascha Hommel 1:28.343/Didier Grams 1:29.732/Rico Lowe 1:29.786), BMW S1000RR, Superstock, 1:29.287
19. Team Rapid Transit (Sheridan Morais 1:26.400/Ivan Silva 1:27.904/Brandon Cretu 1:33.823), Yam YZF-R1, Superbike, 1:29.375
20. Jackson Racing (Stephen Mercer 1:28.731/Nigel Walraven 1:29.446/David Drieghe 1:30.471), Hon CBR1000RR, Superstock, 1:29.549
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing:
Yamaha Qualify First and Second for Endurance Showdown
The YART Yamaha Official EWC Team and GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team have kicked off the final round of the 2016 FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in style, flying to first and second place on the grid for Saturday’s race after completing yesterday’s and today’s qualifying practice sessions.
After going all out in the first qualifying session yesterday, and with the title in their sights, the YART and GMT94 teams made the decision to focus on their race set-up during today’s three 20-minute sessions instead of setting a fast lap during the time attack. The YART team members rode an average time of 1’26.322s and scored first place in the combined qualifying sessions classification. GMT94 is not far behind, in second position, having ridden an average time of 1’26.900, 0.578s behind their fellow Yamaha EWC team.
Broc Parkes set a 1’26.279s lap yesterday and was feeling confident to work on the race set-up. He was the first YART rider to head out on track aboard the number 7 YZF-R1 and was quick to set a low 1’30s lap. Midway into the twenty-minute session, when he found some clear space on track, he gradually upped his pace again to a best lap of 1’27.998s, for twelfth place, 1.598s from the rider in first.
It was then Marvin Fritz’s turn to head out and deliver a mature performance. Yesterday he set a personal best time of 1’26.365s in Q1 and today he dropped a 1’28.173s to take eighth place. He held on to this position for the remainder of the session, whilst focusing on the balance of his YZF-R1 and ended the session 1.384s from the front.
Due to a leg injury sustained during an on-track incident yesterday, Bradley Smith was unable to take part in yesterday’s and today’s qualifying sessions. Further updates on his condition will follow.
GMT94 Yamaha followed the same successful strategy as YART and focused solely on the race set-up during the second qualifying practice and were able to make another big step today.
First rider David Checa was quick to drop under the two-minute barrier, but struggled to find some clear track space to push out a hot lap. Despite the traffic he rode a solid session to set a 1’26.743s for third place, 0.343s off the lead in the classification, and shaved almost 0.6s off his best time of Q1.
Second rider Niccolò Canepa was next and quickly rose to the top when he dropped a 1’27.653s lap. He held on to provisional pole for most of the session, whilst continuously improving his times as the pace quickened. He ended the session with a best lap of 1’26.829s, more than 0,8s faster than yesterday, with a 0.040s margin to the rider in first place.
Lucas Mahias took over the number 94 YZF-R1 and kept the momentum going during the third rider session. He ended the day on a high by posting a 1’27.130s, bettering his time from yesterday by more than 0.4s, to take second place, 0.392s from first.
Fellow Yamaha EWC team, Team Rabid Transit, had only six minutes left when they joined the session. However, experienced rider Sheridan Morais didn’t need any more time than that to leave his mark on today’s qualifying proceedings. His first flying lap of 1’27.103 saw him storm from thirty-fifth to fifth place in the rankings, before he dropped a 1’26.400s, the fastest time of the day, in the very next lap to take over first place in the first rider qualifying session. Second rider Ivàn Silva made his 20-minute session count by securing fourth place and third rider Brandon Cretu took 35th place, giving them an average of 1’29.375 for 19th place, 3.053s from first.
Yamaha’s SST class teams also showed a strong pace today. Yamaha Viltaïs Experience and Team 3’ART Yam’Avenue secured 12th and 13th place respectively, closely behind Yamaha’s EWC team MACO Racing Team in 11th place. They were the second and third fastest Superstock teams in the overall qualifying standings.
After today’s positive results, the Yamaha teams look forward to tomorrow when the eight hours of non-stop racing action will start at 2pm local track time.
Mandy Kainz – YART Yamaha Official EWC Team, Team Manager
“Today we deliberately didn’t focus on setting a time, because from which place you start an endurance race is not as important as having a good setting to race with. Our times from yesterday were so strong that we felt quite confident that we could still be at the front of the field even if we didn’t do a time attack today, and it worked. This season our bike is incredible, it’s so fast and it shows in the results. To take pole by half a second over your closest rivals shows how great the team and the riders have worked together to make the YZF-R1 run perfectly here. After such an unlucky day yesterday, with Bradley getting injured, this positive result is exactly what we needed to boost the team’s morale and focus on the task ahead. Oschersleben is quite particular in that it’s small, but a very demanding track for the riders – its layout doesn’t allow the riders to rest. For endurance riders an 8 hour race is like a sprint-race, so tomorrow we will be on 100% attack mode with the goal to end this endurance season in the best way possible.”
Broc Parkes – YART Yamaha Official EWC Team, Rider
“I’ve have been really fast here all weekend and Marvin is really fast here as well. We always do a good qualifying, but this time I think we also have a much better race pace and we have been focusing all weekend on the race and the fuel consumption and the tyre wear of the race tyres. I think we have good speed over the laps. It’s really good to have Marvin in the team, he’s really quick, young and fit. It was very unlucky on the second day for Bradley to get injured.”
Marvin Fritz – YART Yamaha Official EWC Team, Rider
“I’ve been feeling really great so far! It’s an honour for me to be a part of this team and fight for the EWC world title and I’m giving it my best effort because we are here to win, which has worked out well for me so far. We have worked really hard on our race pace and we will see what will happen tomorrow.”
Christophe Guyot – GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team, Team Manager
“Today was very good because the race pace was good, during all sessions we are fast. For the race, we are in a good position, but we have to take care because endurance races are very specific, but the bike is working very well and the riders are feeling good. At the start we have to let the tyres warm up during the ten first laps and keep an eye on our rivals. We again focused on our race set-up today and on paper we are in the top-two in terms of race pace as well. If you compare our times, we are 1.1 second faster compared to last year, when we had the same tyres and the same bike, so we look forward to ride a strong race.”
David Checa – GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team, Rider
“At first, after my qualifying two runs, I was a bit disappointed because I thought I was able to do a 1’26.3 if it hadn’t been for the traffic I came across when I started my second flying lap. At the start of the session I had a clear track in front of me, but the lap after, two bikes entered the track in front of me and I lost that lap. I tried again and did a 30.6 in the first section, so it’s a shame. However, even without qualifying tyres it was possible to place this high in the ranking, so it looks like we are OK for the race.”
Niccolò Canepa – GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team, Rider
“I’m very satisfied about the Qualifying Practice session today. A p2 is perfect for the race, especially taking into the account that it’s the first time for me to ride here in Oschersleben and I’m already fast! I’m very confident about tomorrow’s race because our pace is very consistent.”
Lucas Mahias – GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team, Rider
“I did a 1’27.1s and decided to stop before the end of the session because I was pushing a lot already and didn’t want to overdo it and crash. I preferred to stop and take a breather, because we’re a team and share a bike, that naturally adds a bit of pressure. I didn’t go all out because I didn’t want to make a mistake, but I think I can still be satisfied about today’s performance. I will start as the third rider and I’m looking forward to start the race.”
More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing:
Ninth place start for Honda Endurance Racing at the 8 Hours of Oschersleben
8 Hours of Oschersleben
Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Germany
This weekend the final round of the 2016 FIM Endurance World Championship takes place with the 8 Hours of Oschersleben in Germany and all eyes are on the world title as the season concludes. Honda Endurance Racing will start the race from ninth place after completing today’s final qualifying aboard the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP.
Yesterday’s first qualifying session saw Honda’s endurance specialists 11th overall and they knew some work had to be done in today’s final session. First out for the team was Julien Da Costa who posted a 1:28.083 lap, which brought him home 15th.
Working throughout to optimise the settings of the Fireblade to suit the 3.66km German track, next out for the squad was Sébastien Gimbert. Struggling slightly with rib pain after a small crash in practice earlier this week, Gimbert pushed hard finishing his stint sixth overall.
Last out for the squad was Freddy Foray on the CBR, who completed the top-ten in tenth place with a best lap of 1:28.181. The combined times from both sessions see Honda Endurance Racing line up ninth ahead of tomorrow’s eight-hour race.
The 8 Hours of Oschersleben takes place tomorrow (Saturday 27August) at 1400 local time (GMT+1). For all the latest news on the team follow @HondaRacingCBR on Twitter.
Freddy Foray
Ninth is OK for the race tomorrow, we will have some work to do, but we have done before so we know that we can do this. It will be important to get a good start to the race and stay consistent for the eight hours. But from practice to today’s qualifying we have improved each time the feeling with the Fireblade, so I think we can push and make our way through the group. Tomorrow the race will be hard and long, it’s very hot here, but we do have a good opportunity to progress tomorrow and I’m looking forward to getting out there.
Julien Da Costa
We improved a lot today from yesterday and lap after lap we’re gaining more confidence with the CBR. All of us have similar lap times, which is good for tomorrow’s race pace. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow and I’m sure we can work our way through the pack and get closer to the front. I have a lot of confidence in the team and know that we’re quick in the pit stops, so we need to make sure we’re quick on track. A podium at the end of tomorrow will be good and that’s what we’re aiming for.
Sébastien Gimbert
I have been struggling a little after a small crash in practice earlier this week; I have some pain in my ribs so it’s a little difficult. The position for me isn’t good, as a rider you always want to be higher placed and of course first! But we now know that after Portimao the race can be better. I want to finish this year in the best possible position and it’s important here as there are so many teams who are out to also win the championship. I want to win the race and also become World Champions with Freddy, Julien and also the team.
Jonny Twelvetrees
Assistant team manager
We sacrificed some time in yesterday’s session to work more on the race set up and also testing a few different bits. We found out quite a lot from this, what could work and most importantly what does not work, but it was important to do as it has now confirmed our direction. The guys went out this morning and the good thing is that they have all come back in complete harmony with their comments and feedback, and are within two-tenths of each other, which is good to see as we know it will come through in the race. We have qualified ninth, of course we’d like to be higher but it puts us in a position were we can still attack. I have no doubt that our guys can fight their way to the front, I think we’re in for a good battle tomorrow and I’m looking forward to seeing how we get on.
More, from a press release issued by Eurosport Events:
YART PIPS GMT94 AND SERT TO POLE
Nearly all the teams in the running for the world title have snapped up prime spots on the starting grid of the Oschersleben 8 Hours, the FIM EWC 2016 final. Two Yamahas – YART Yamaha Official EWC Team and GMT94 Yamaha – are neck and neck, just ahead of 2015 champion Suzuki Endurance Racing Team.
Despite rivals significantly upping their performance in qualifications today, Broc Parkes and Marvin Fritz held on to their pole position for the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team.
After posting the fastest individual laps yesterday, Broc Parkes and Marvin Fritz (leader of IDM, the German Superbike), will take on the Oschersleben 8 Hours as a two-man team after Bradley Smith was knocked out by a thigh injury during free practice yesterday. Meanwhile, GMT94 Yamaha upped its performance in the second leg of qualifying. David Checa, Niccolò Canepa and Lucas Mahias steered the French team’s Yamaha to second place on the grid, ahead of Suzuki Endurance Racing Team’s Vincent Philippe, Anthony Delhalle and Etienne Masson.
F.C.C. TSR Honda also improved significantly to capture fourth place on the grid. The team comprising Patrick Jacobsen, Damian Cudlin and Kazuma Watanabe will start the race ahead of Team SRC Kawasaki’s Gregory Leblanc, Matthieu Lagrive and Fabien Foret.
Penz13.com BMW Motorrad too fared better in the second qualifying. The team is in sixth place ahead of Team Bolliger Switzerland, who were thrown off-kilter by Michael Savary’s crash.
Two teams with a chance at the world title are missing from the top spots on the grid. Honda Endurance Racing will start the race from ninth place, and privateer Team April Moto Motors Events, which is fighting hard to hold on to its current position as leader of the FIM EWC championship, picked up tenth place on the grid.
Völpker NRT48 Schubert Motors on several fronts
In Superstock, Völpker NRT48 Schubert Motors suffered the same mishap as YART and will field a two-man team composed of Bastien Mackels and Stefan Kerschbaumer, after Dominik Vincon crashed in qualifying yesterday. Eighth on the starting grid, the German team on BMW is fighting on several fronts as it is chasing a win at Oschersleben plus the FIM EWC Superstock World Cup and the EWC Dunlop Independent Trophy.
Three other Superstock teams will form a tight group among the Top 15 on the Oschersleben starting grid. Yamaha Viltaïs Experiences, Team 3Art Yam’Avenue (Völpker NRT48 Schubert Motors’s rival for the Superstock World Cup) and Junior Team Le Mans Sud Suzuki are 12th to 14th, in that order.
The Oschersleben 8 Hours will be flagged off tomorrow, Saturday 27 August, at 2pm CEST.
More, from a press release issued by Penz13.com BMW Motorrad Team:
Penz13.com BMW Motorrad Team to start the 2016 FIM Endurance World Championship finals from sixth on the Oschersleben grid
Oschersleben, Germany. Penz13.com BMW Motorrad Team has qualified in sixth spot for tomorrow’s final race of the 2016 FIM Endurance World Championship season at Oschersleben.
As expected, all three riders – Kenny Foray (FRA), Lukas Pesek (CZE) and Matthieu Lussiana (FRA) were able to improve their pace in today’s second qualifying session in the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben.
Foray almost went a second quicker than yesterday, lapping in 1:26.854 Minutes, as did Pesek with a 1:27.929. Lussiana improved also almost a second and arrived at 1:28.149.
The team’s average fastest lap was a 1:27,644, handing the squad sixth place on the grid.
The 8 hours of Germany are set to start tomorrow, Saturday, 27. of August, at 14:00 local time. Finish will be at 22:00 o’clock.
Kenny Foray
Rider
“As expected we were able to up the pace today with a new set of tires. It was not cooler as we thought it could be, it was even more hot than yesterday afternoon. But sill I was able to shave of almost one second, so that’s good. Its all looking very promising for tomorrows race and we will give our all to better the position were are holding now even further.”
Lukas Pesek
Rider
“Today has been a good session, as we all were able to get quicker and we had planned that yesterday already. I am happy with the bike and also my team mates are quick. I think we can aim high tomorrow. It will be a long 8 hours considering the temperatures here – not only for us riders, but also for our BMW S 1000 RR baby.”
Matthieu Lussiana
Rider
“I am happy with today’s improvement and our final starting position doesn’t look too bad. It is very hot here in Germany, but I am used to race in such conditions, not at least from my time in the Brazilian Superbike Championship. I am looking forward to tomorrow and we will push as hard as we can, to get a strong result .”
Rico Penzkofer
Team Principal
“It’s all running according to plan. First of all we have to thank Pirelli for supplying us with some new spec tires which are working very good – and the improvement of around one second by each rider shows that. We are set for tomorrow’s home race of our team and we will give our all, to do our fans proud!“
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
SUZUKI ENDURANCE STRONG IN FINAL QUALIFYING
After the final qualifying sessions today, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team will start from third position in tomorrow’s final World Endurance Championship round, the Oschersleben 8-Hours in Germany.
Throughout yesterday’s initial practice and first qualifying, 14-time and defending World Endurance Champions SERT were always within the top teams, and today, riders Vincent Philippe, Anthony Delhalle and Etienne Masson put their GSX-R1000 to a combined-time just 0.716-seconds from Pole Position.
Philippe was the fastest of the Suzuki riders, posting a 1.26.942 lap, but Delhalle and Masson completed a 1.27.541 and 1.27.385 lap-time respectively.
Tomorrow’s race gets underway at 10:30hrs (local time).