8 Hours of Sepang 2019: Yamaha on pole "at home" ahead of two Honda
The very first edition of the 8 Hours of Sepang takes place tomorrow Saturday. Best time in qualifying, the n ° 21 Yamaha Sepang Racing confirmed its speed with Franco Morbidelli by winning the "night" Superpole ahead of the n ° 88 and n ° 5 Hondas, the n ° 1 Kawasaki and the n ° 37 BMW. Report, times and videos…
For the first time in its history, the Motorcycle Endurance World Championship (EWC) is stopping off this weekend on the magnificent Sepang circuit (Malaysia). In addition to being the second competition of the 2019/2020 season, this new 8 hour event is also the qualifying round for the final at Suzuka. !
As in the Japanese 8 hours, some big names in motorcycle speed are lining up for this first edition of the Sepang 8H. With a lap average of 2’04.429, Franco Morbidelli, Hafizh Syahrin and Michael van der Mark were the fastest crew in qualifying.
- MNC special file :
- EWC Calendar 2019-2020 :
Thanks to its prestigious riders, the R1 n ° 21 of Yamaha Sepang Racing beat the Fireblade of the FCC TSR Honda France team at home, driven by Josh Hook, Freddy Foray and Mike di Meglio (2’05.146), the R1 n ° 7 of the YART led by the duo Broc Parkes and Niccolo Canepa (2’05.830), the S1000RR n ° 37 of the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team ridden by Ilya Mykhalchyk and Markus Reiterberger (2’05.944) and the R1 n ° 333 VRD Igol Pierret Experiences ridden by Florian Atl, Florian Marino and Xavier Simeon (2’06.102).
The ZX-10RR n ° 1 (reigning world champion!) Of Webike SRC Kawasaki France piloted by Jeremy Guarnoni, Erwan Nigon and David Checa failed a few hundredths of a second from the Top 5. But for the Kawa as for the first ten motorcycles of the timesheet, everything had to be redone on a single running lap…
Winner of the opening round of the 2019/2020 championship (a memorable and stormy Bol d’Or, remember!), The SERT did not get its ticket for the Superpole round. Vincent Philippe – who is playing his last competition in Malaysia – Etienne Masson and Gregg Black will start tomorrow from 11th place on the grid.
"Of course we would have loved to enter the Top 10, but we have to stay focused on the race", relativizes the new boss Damien Saulnier, delighted with his collaboration with Yoshimura and Dunlop. "We have worked hard to find a good base for the bike and that is reassuring". It is even the most important in endurance !
The SERT will be followed by the first extremely efficient Superstock crews: the Japanese of the Tone RT Syncedge 4413 BMW (!), First in the SST category at the 2019 Suzuka 8 Hours, and the Italian-Swiss-French of Moto Ain on Yamaha, winner of the FIM Endurance World Cup last season. Just that !
A great Superpole event
Short and intense, the "by night" Superpole saw the best rider of each Top 10 team take off in turn. The best performance undoubtedly goes to the Thai Somkiat Chantra, who managed to propel his Honda Asia Dream team. Racing with Showa from ninth to second on the grid !
The last rider to take to the track, the Italian star Franco Morbidelli did not have to force his talent to take pole position: at the helm of the official Yamaha, Fabio Quartararo’s teammate (in MotoGP) completed the 5.543 km of the route Malay in 2 ‘04.647. In qualifying, the colt of Valentino Rossi had dropped under 2 ’04.
"It’s always good to qualify on pole, but it’s also fun to do it as they do here in EWC, with a single lap, alone on the track, to achieve the best time", observes the n ° 21 in endurance as in Moto Grand Prix !
"The format clearly gets the adrenaline pumping when trying to get the maximum speed from the bike," describes the Italian-Brazilian rider. "Tomorrow, we will take advantage of the day off before returning to the track on Saturday".
Franco will then participate in his first endurance race but he will be able to count on the experience of his teammate "Magic Michael", winner of the Suzuka 8 Hours four times: in 2013 and 2014 on Honda Fireblade, in 2017 and 2018 on Yamaha R1.
Beaten with nothing (44 thousandths of a second!) By his Asian colleague, the F.C.C. TSR Honda France finally had to settle for third place on the grid. "Our goal for the race is to get a second place or a victory," warns boss Masakazu Fujii.
"Today thanks to our qualifying result we already score three points in the championship, which already allows us to climb up to ninth place in the world championship. It’s a good start," said the Japanese..
The SRC Kawasaki France champion can congratulate himself on the performance of Jeremy Guarnoni who won him two places on the grid! "We had never competed in a Superpole because the only other race which includes it in its regulations is Suzuka, an event which does not allow us to enter the Top 10", emphasizes Gilles Stafler.
The Greens team manager was satisfied with the collective sixth place of his drivers, "but the good surprise came from Jeremy who rewards all the work accomplished by the whole team since the start of the week. By the way, we are credited with 2 points thanks to this superb performance ".
Rain on Saturday’s program…
The Kawasaki team manager does not forget to thank "Pirelli whose quality tires will be very useful to us, especially in the event of a change in grip … Because we must especially not ignite, the heavy rains announced on Saturday are likely to play the spoilsport! ", warns Stafler.
The fifth place was hotly contested: only 2 tenths of a second separate the official BMW team, the YART and the ERC which makes its debut with the Ducati. Randy de Puniet’s fans were hoping for a little better from him, given that he knows the circuit like the back of his hand … but has to get used to his new bike !
"It’s normal that we weren’t able to spend so much time on the track, that didn’t surprise me", comments the French n ° 14. "But the base is there, as we have proven by entering the Top 10. We have good speed at this stage of the new project." The main thing now is to chain the turns !
Second in the Bol d’Or in September and eighth in qualifying, the Polish team will finally start from 10th place due to the fall of Gino Rea (see the video of the falls during the practice below). Fortunately, the English driver did not hurt himself and will be at the start tomorrow.
Kenny Foray was less fortunate: "I would have preferred to inform you that qualifying was going well, but unfortunately I crashed last night at night practice on a tricky track and I am not fit to continue the weekend" . For the first time in his career, the BMW official must forfeit: he leaves it to his teammates Markus and Ilya to lead the No. 37 BMW as high as possible..
The motorcycle endurance riders will take to the track tomorrow at 9 am (2 am in France) for the warm-up and the race will start at 1 pm (6 am French time): "the sun sets around 7 pm this season in Malaysia ", specify the organizers … So that" the end of the race will be contested at night under the spotlight of the Sepang International Circuit ". Which team will then shine the most and win? Stay connected !
8H of Sepang 2019: the starting grid
8H Sepang 2019: qualifying highlights
8H of Sepang 2019: falls during testing
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