YART Yamaha on pole at the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring

Bruno Gomes

May 9, 2019

The Austrian Yamaha team wrestled on the last minutes of qualifying to grab pole position for the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring endurance race.

The return of sunshine and a nearly dry track towards the end of the session resulted in a thrilling second qualifying session. Broc Parkes and Marvin Fritz gave it everything they had on the YART Yamaha. Niccolò Canepa seized on the improved track conditions to wind things up with a 2:10.146.

But he wasn’t this afternoon’s fastest rider. The one who set a personal best lap (a 2:07.823) was Mike Di Meglio for F.C.C. TSR Honda France. Di Meglio and teammates Josh Hook and Freddy Foray will start from 2nd place on the grid. The second-best performance of the day came from Gregg Black: a 2:09.450 lap for Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (Dunlop), who will start from 3rd.

Honda Endurance Racing (Dunlop) and Team SRC Kawasaki France (Pirelli) will line up behind the three leaders. The highest-placed privateer team is Fany Gastro BMW Motorrad by Mercury Racing, who will start from 6th place. The first Superstock squad of the grid line-up are Team 33 Coyote Louit Moto, in 11th place.

The 8 Hours of the Slovakia Ring will start at 12 noon this next Saturday.