The tone has been set at the qualifying rounds at Oschersleben. On the German track the struggle began on Thursday afternoon in the first qualifying session between the two favourites Suzuki Endurance Racing Team and Team Kawasaki France.
A close-fought battle for the front of the grid saw Kawasaki France and SERT separated by only a tenth of a second. In the second session this morning Kawasaki France took pole position just ahead of SERT, who had initially taken a very small lead from the first qualifying session on Thursday afternoon.
On Saturday at 15:00 the battle will recommence between the Kawasaki France riders Steve Plater, Gwen Giabbani and Julian Mazeucos, and those on the Suzuki of SERT – Vincent Philippe, Matthieu Lagrive and Julien Da Costa. Baring falls or mechanical failure, it looks likely that the winner will be come from either the green of Kawasaki or the blue of Suzuki.
Making the most of the hazards of the 24 Hours track, Yamaha Austria Racing Team is also in a good position to challenge for victory. YART took an impressive third place in qualifying, less than a second behind the two leaders. The Austrian team was forced to call on Australian Steve Martin to replace Frenchman Sébastien Scarnato, who is still recovering and will be a replacement rider at Oschersleben. The recall for Martin saw the Australian impress and record the fastest time for his team of Igor Jerman and Damian Cudlin.
The leading machine in the Superproduction class, the Yamaha Moto Endurance 38 of Erwan Nigon, Julien Millet, Hugo Marchand and Joao Contente, recorded a superb fourth fastest time. The Kawasakis of Qatar Endurance Racing Team and Bolliger Switzerland took fifth and sixth places respectively, just ahead of the Yamahas of Phase One Endurance, Zone Rouge Belgique and Amadeus X-One.
One of the two R1200Ss entered in the Open category by BMW Motorrad finished inside the top 15 during the qualifiers. Both machines will also be racing at the forthcoming Bol d’Or.
The most unpredictable element of this tenth edition of the Oschersleben 24 Hours is the weather. On Friday morning the second qualifying session took place under a light drizzle which has often short-circuited the timers. The local weather forecast is predicting thunderstorms for the weekend at Oschersleben.
The tenth edition of the Oschersleben 24 Hours will start at 15:00 on Saturday.
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