From a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

CASTROL SUZUKI ON CHINA POLE

Vincent Philippe put the Suzuki Castrol GSX-R1000 onto pole position for tomorrow’s World Endurance Championship second round, the Zhuhai 6 Hour race in China, ahead of Yamaha GMT94. And the SERT Suzuki team thinks that tomorrow’s race will be very fast. Said Philippe: “It will be a big fight with Yamaha GMT94. I don’t think the temperature will be a problem for the riders or the bike as we have tested for two days now without problems. The Chinese riders are very good and if they had a bike as good as our Suzuki, they would be just as fast.”

Team mate Olivier Four said: “Warwick Nowland has won a race on our bike and so we know that Zongshen Suzuki will be a good opponent.”

Most riders set their best times in the first qualifying session in the morning when track temperatures were slightly cooler and grip was better. This afternoon’s session times were slower, but are probably more representative of the race tomorrow.

Yamaha GMT94 were very slightly faster than Suzuki Castrol in the afternoon but the Suzuki team are expected to need fewer fuel stops. The race is also expected to be tough on riders and machines, with a combination of heavy braking and hard acceleration likely to take its toll.

Provisional Top Ten Qualifying Positions:

1st : Suzuki Castrol, FRA (Suzuki GSX-R1000) – V.Phillipe – 1:35.067.

2nd: Yamaha GMT94, FRA (Yamaha YZF-R1) – D.Checa – 1:36.299.

3rd: Yamaha Endurance Moto 38, FRA (Yamaha YZF-R1) – G.Giabbani – 1:36.522.

4th: Suzuki Zongshen 81, CHN (Suzuki GSX-R1000) – Stephane Mertens – 1:36.635.

5th: WRT Honda Austria , AUT (Honda CBR1000RR) – Robert Ulm – 1:37.162.

6th: Suzuki Zongshen 19, CHN (Suzuki GSX-R1000) – Piergiorgio Bontempi – 1:37.224.

7th: Yamaha Phase One Endurance, GBR (Yamaha YZF-R1) – Steve Brogan – 1:37.801.

8th: Yamaha Austria Racing Team, AUT (Yamaha YZF-R1) – T. Hinterreiter – 1:38.071.

9th: Kawasaki Bolliger, SUI (Kawasaki ZX10R) – Laurent Brian – 1:38.283.

10th: Kawasaki Diablo, GBR (Kawasaki ZX10R) – Mike Edwards – 1:38.879.


More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group:

Vincent Philippe has put the Suzuki Castrol GSX-R1000 onto pole position for tomorrow’s Zhuhai 6 Hour race. He did not improve on his time set in this morning’s session. Yamaha GMT94 are second, and Yamaha Endurance Moto38 are third. Suzuki Castrol’s riders think that tomorrow’s race will be very fast. Vincent Philippe: “It will be a big fight with Yamaha GMT94. I don’t think the temperature will be a problem for the riders or the bike – we have tested for two days now without problems. The Chinese riders are very good – if they had a bike as good as our Suzuki they would be just as fast.” Olivier Four continues: “Warwick Nowland has won a race on our bike, and so we know that Zongshen will be a good opponent.”

Most riders set their best times in the first qualifying session, when track temperatures were slightly cooler and grip was better. This afternoon’s session times were slower, but are probably more representative of the race tomorrow. Yamaha GMT94 were very slightly faster than Suzuki Castrol in the afternoon, but the Suzuki team are expected to need fewer fuel stops. The race is also expected to be tough on riders and machines, with a combination of heavy braking and hard acceleration likely to take its toll.

Kawasaki Bolliger had a suspected main or big-end bearing failure this afternoon which has forced them to remove and strip the engine on their ZX10R; they managed to hold onto their ninth place on the grid as very few riders were able to improve on their first session times. Two of those who did improve were Thomas Hinterreiter for Yamaha Austria and Steve Brogan for Yamaha Phase One.

Provisional Top Ten Qualifying Positions

1st 3: Suzuki Castrol – FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – V.Phillipe – 1:35.067

2nd 94: Yamaha GMT94 – FRA – Yamaha YZF-R1 – D.Checa – 1:36.299

3rd 38: Yamaha Endurance Moto 38 – FRA – Yamaha YZF-R1 – G.Giabbani 1:36.522

4th 81: Suzuki Zongshen 81 – CHN – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Stephane Mertens – 1:36.635

5th 5: WRT Honda Austria – AUT – Honda CBR1000RR – Robert Ulm – 1:37.162

6th 19: Suzuki Zongshen 19 – CHN – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Piergiorgio Bontempi – 1:37.224

7th 1: Yamaha Phase One Endurance – GBR – Yamaha YZF-R1 – Steve Brogan – 1:37.801

8th 7: Yamaha Austria Racing Team – AUT– Yamaha YZF-R1 – T. Hinterreiter – 1:38.071

9th 8: Kawasaki Bolliger – SUI – Kawasaki ZX10R – Laurent Brian – 1:38.283

10th 666: Kawasaki Diablo – GBR – Kawasaki ZX10R – Mike Edwards – 1:38.879