Incredible Yamaha Battle Moves on to Slovakia

2017-06-21 09:06
The YART Yamaha Official EWC Team and the GMT94 Yamaha Official Team are ready to do battle once more at the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring for round four of the 2016/2017 FIM Endurance World Championship this weekend. After completing a Yamaha 1-2 at both Le Mans and Oschersleben, both teams have been locked together in an epic duel over the last two races that has seen less than 50 seconds separate the two teams after 1, 178 laps. The GMT94 team are now second in the championship standings, just seven points behind the leaders with 30 points up for grabs in Slovakia, while the YART team will be out for victory after finishing as runner-up on the last two occasions and are now within 22 points of the leaders.

This will be the first time the Slovakia Ring has hosted an EWC event and therefore teams were allowed to test earlier in the week to allow them to adapt to the all-new track. The race follows on from an incredibly dramatic 8 Hours of Oschersleben that saw a Yamaha 1-2-3 as GMT94 secured the victory by just 30.587s ahead of the YART team, with MACO Racing third. There was also intense drama at round 2, the Le Mans 24 Heures Motos, that amazingly saw the GMT94 team take the victory by a margin of just 19.819s over the YART team after 24 hours of racing and 860 laps. The team's friendly rivalry is made even more exciting due to the fact they are on almost identical machinery, the only difference between being tyre suppliers.

The YART Official EWC Team of Broc Parkes, Kohta Nozane and Marvin Fritz use Bridgestone tyres and are looking forward to getting back in action at what is effectively another home race for the team. They are determined to return to the top step of the podium for the first time since Le Mans in 2009 after having come so close to victory at the last two rounds. The new track provides a level playing field for all teams, with YART arriving confident after finding a good setup with their R1 during the test earlier in the week. The team are currently fourth in the championship standings with 86 points, 22 behind the overall leaders SERT.

The GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team of David Checa, Mike de Meglio and Niccoló Canepa run on Dunlop tyres and will be out to make it three wins in three races at Slovakia. After a disappointing first round of the season at the Bol D'or where they finished in ninth, they have managed to close the gap to championship leaders SERT to just seven points after winning the last two races and currently occupy second in the standings with 101 points. Therefore, the team will not just be out for victory in Slovakia, but also keeping one eye on the championship in what could be a crucial race with 30 points up for grabs.

The Maco Racing Team of Marko Jerman, Gregory Junod and Athony Dos Santos secured a Yamaha lockout of the podium last time out in Oschersleben after finishing third, and will be hoping for more of the same at their home round. The team will also be running an extra bike for their home race, with local riders Tomas Svitok, Radoslav Dulik, David Ourednicek competing. It is also the final round of the Superstock class, with Yamaha's Moto Ain CRT, who took victory in Oschersleben, currently leading the championship by six points and aiming to lift the title.

The Slovakia Ring is located about 30km away from Bratislava airport in the West of the country, and provides a rather unique challenge for teams with fast and flowing sections alongside slow and technical parts, as well as a number of elevation changes. Completed in 2009 this is the first time it has been used for an EWC race and it is 5.992km long, plus it has a longest straight of 900m.

The track action kicks off with free practice on Thursday morning at 10am local time in Slovakia, with qualifying on Friday starting at 10:30am and Saturday's 8-hour race scheduled for a 14:00pm start.v

Broc Parkes Broc Parkes
YART Yamaha Official EWC Team

"The track is kind of unique - its very fast flowing, technical with lots of elevation changes, it's a really nice track to ride. We conducted a test here earlier in the week, and focused a lot on working in the hot conditions, and it also gets tricky in the dark. You get some pretty big bugs too which make it interesting! It is really hot here too, that will make it a challenge. In the dark, with all the blind corners it can be tricky! The tyres here could make a difference, we have come here and felt pretty good straight away. I feel confident that we can be quicker here than at Oschersleben, I feel the main threat once again will be the GMT94 Team, but this time we think we can take the fight to them."
David Checa David Checa
GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team

"We did a one-and-a-half-day test before the race and we worked hard to make sure we would enter the race with a good setup. It is a strange track, one part is very fast, one part is slow, and also it is a bit bumpy, plus it has some big elevation changes which makes it unique to ride. To be fast here you need to find a good rhythm. The weather is very hot and this will be a real test of our physical fitness as well as many other things, as endurance racing always is. We know that the YART team are our strongest rivals as we have been fighting so hard in the last two races. After the Bol D'or we thought the championship was over for us, so we just went out to win the last two races, but with the SERT team crashing out of the race in Oschersleben we are now only seven points behind them. The strategy is always to go out to win the race, but endurance is never easy so, obviously, the championship is the main priority. We have a great atmosphere in our team at the moment, my teammates are really good and I feel we have the best overall package. We are looking forward to resuming our great rivalry with the YART team and fighting for the victory once more."


Mandy Kainz
YART Yamaha Official EWC Team Manager

"It is technically our home race, but we have no experience of the circuit as it is the first time we have ridden here. We will be learning like everyone else, we tested for two days here with Kohta and Broc, plus Marvin came last weekend for a few hours too. We are confident, people like us here and we like the place. The test went well so we know we have the pace, but these 8 hours here will be very, very long, because it is hot here, it will be torture, for man, machine and tyres! It is going to be hard to predict anything as there are so many variables, including how dark it gets. It is a track where, even if you have a big lead, you can't relax, because anything can happen at any point, and the end in the dark will be crucial. We are looking to close the gap to GMT94 and it will not be so easy, but I am pretty sure they will be our main rivals. After 1,178 laps, and almost 5000km - which is the same as 50 WorldSBK races - there have been less than 50 seconds between us. That's pretty close and we look forward to another close race at Slovakia."
Christophe Guyot
GMT94 Official Yamaha EWC Team Manager

"It is a new track, everything is new here, but we are very excited as everything is very nice. YART will be very strong, and the level here will be very high, so, we have to be very fast and we are looking forward to resuming our rivalry with the YART. Before this event, we have just been out to win each race, not even thinking about the title. Now we have to be clever, as our strategy during the race has to take into account the SERT team as they are still leading the championship. With 30 points up for grabs, we will do our best to win, but we need to think of the championship, which is our priority. Before, all we had to do was focus on winning, now we have the chance to leave Slovakia leading the championship. The pace at Le Mans and Oschersleben was so fast and it will be here too, and we need to avoid any mistakes so that we can work towards the title. It is a new track to us so every setting has changed and the temperatures are very hot, but we have found a good solution during testing, which has allowed us to keep the engine cool even when the temperature rises, meaning we do not lose any power. Overall we are feeling confident and cannot wait for the action to get underway."

Source: Yamaha Motor Europe N.V.

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