Team Suzuki Press Office – May 11.
Suzuki Endurance Racing Team will start the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring third round of the 2019 EWC from third position of the grid aboard their #2 GSX-R1000 following Saturday’s final qualifying sessions.
With 32 teams on the line after difficult sessions due to inclement weather over the past two days, 15-time World Champions SERT worked hard on the settings of the GSX-R1000 to be able to fight for the best position; which was rewarding from the first sessions, when the SERT riders – Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Gregg Black – were consistent and ranked between third and sixth throughout.
During the second session, which took place on a drying track, Dominique Méliand’s team continued improving, and confirmed their comeback with first positions in the rider categories: Philippe set his best time of 2.20.309, and he could have done better if he was not hindered by two red flags during his session. Masson scored a time of 2.19.144 as the sun came back out on the Slovakian circuit; and Black took advantage of an almost-dry track to set a great time of 2.09.450; the second-best time of his rider session.
Dominique Méliand – Team Manager:
“We have seen some good performances today, but we can improve. The qualifying sessions have showed that we were more competitive on a dry track than on a wet one. As the weather should be good for the race, we will do the maximum we can on Saturday. We found our way back to the podium at the last Le Mans 24 Hours race, which is a position I like!”
The 28 qualified teams (18 in Formula EWC and 10 in Superstock) will start the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring on Saturday, May 11th at 12:00hrs (local time).
