Suzuki weekend round up

Suzuki weekend round up

YOSHIMURA SUZUKI’S ELIAS AND HAYDEN 1-2 AT MILLVILLE SBK

A day after clinching the 2017 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing's Toni Elias made a last-lap pass on teammate Roger Hayden to take victory in Sunday’s second race at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, marking his 10th victory of the season.

Hayden sprinted to the front on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike and led the race for 22 of the 23 laps. Elias, who fell back to seventh after debris hit him in the foot, rallied back and pulled up to Hayden in the closing laps. On the final lap, he dove underneath Hayden in turn one and pulled away to victory. The close pass forced Hayden wide and he ran off into the grass, costing him a shot at the win in process. He managed to keep the bike on two wheels and held on to a podium finish of third.

"I am happy for my team to take another victory," Elias said. "I think my pass on Roger was too close and I did not want it to happen that way, but he braked very late and so did I. I thought I had room. It was fantastic to win the championship and I just want to keep going like this through the end of the season."

Hayden was masterful in keeping his machine upright after running off the track.

"I had a good start and I put my head down and tried to get away," Hayden explained. "Kyle (Wyman) ran a great race today. On the last lap when Toni passed me I had nowhere to go but the grass. Fortunately, I was able to get back on the track and still put it on the box."

COOPER & GSX-R1000 WIN SUPERSTOCK – GUINTOLI 4TH IN BSB


Richard Cooper closed in on the lead of the National Superstock 1000 Championship, taking victory  at Silverstone onboard his Bennetts Suzuki GSX-R1000, as Sylvain Guintoli put-in his best result of season with fourth in the opening BSB race.

Cooper qualified on pole for today's race, but given the competitive nature of the class and the close racing the Silverstone circuit creates, he knew it would be difficult to break away from the chasing pack. Instead, the Nottinghamshire rider used his experience to manage his position and the front and secure another win for him, the Bennetts Suzuki team, and the new GSX-R1000.

Richard Cooper:

"It went to plan really. With such little dry track time - maybe only seven or eight laps all weekend - our setup probably wasn't perfect, but I felt I had an answer every time I was passed. Obviously I would have liked to have pulled away, but I always knew it was going to be a fight. In terms of the championship, we're now 15 points behind, three races to, so it's all to play for."

Guintoli took a season-best result of fourth in today's opening MCE British Superbike race after leading the opening stages onboard his GSX-R1000. The Frenchman started the second of three races that made up this weekend's triple-header from the front row, before taking the lead to control the race from the front until the halfway stage.

He dropped to fourth place, before the race was red-flagged under safety car conditions for two separate incidents. However, it still gave Guintoli and the team their best result of the season as they continue to develop the new GSX-R1000 in Superbike trim. Unfortunately, he crashed out of race three that was eventually red-flagged due to the conditions.

Sylvain Guintoli:

"It was good to lead for a few laps today and fight at the front. Everyone has worked hard and today we showed that we can race at the front when things are working for us. I'm happy to get our best result of the season today and fourth is a strong finish. In the wet in race three we struggled. We hadn't had a good feeling in the wet all weekend really, but also a lot of others struggled, too. Hopefully we can push on from here and have a strong end to the season and be at the front again."


BRILLIANT RACE FOR THE ROOKIE RINS - 8TH IN MISANO GP


Alex Rins: 8th / +34.662
Andrea Iannone: DNF

The rain arrived in Misano Adriatico at the beginning of race day, making a mess of the whole situation. The wet conditions rewarded an effective and mature Alex Rins, who took 8th place. This is also his best result of the season so far. Andrea Iannone suffered a problem with his arm which forced him to retire before the end of the race.

Starting from 20th place, Alex Rins did not have a perfect jump at the start. He found himself in last place after the first corner. However, the excellent pace he set from lap 2 on was as fast as the riders at the head of the race. This allowed him to advance many positions. The wise management of the race in the second half was crucial to make his way into ninth place and then go for the eighth in the very last corners.

Despite a positive warm up, where he was feeling good with the GSX-RR in wet, the race proved to be a hard one for Iannone. Immediately after the early laps he started to have problems with an arm pump that made his forearms too stiff to maintain mobility. In these conditions he was not able to safely ride his machine and decided to retire before the end of the race.

ELIAS AND NEW GSX-R1000 CLINCH MOTOAMERICA SBK TITLE

Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing's Toni Elias clinched the 2017 Motul MotoAmerica Superbike Championship aboard the new 2017 GSX-R1000 in Saturday’s opening race in Millville, New Jersey.

The 34-year-old Spaniard moved to the front eight laps into the 23-lap race and held off Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing teammate Roger Hayden at the finish line by 0.039 seconds to win his ninth race of the season and the series victory with three races remaining.
The victory marked a record 14th MotoAmerica/ AMA Superbike Championship for Suzuki.

Additionally, Hayden secured second in the championship, giving the new 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000 a 1-2 result in the machine’s debut season.

Elias, a former Moto2 World Champion, now adds a MotoAmerica Superbike title to his already impressive résumé. He was ecstatic with his victory and championship. He graciously thanked everyone who helped make it possible for him to race in America.

“I am so happy,” said Elias, who becomes the first rider from Spain in the 41-year history of the series to win MotoAmerica/ AMA Superbike title. “It was amazing to take the championship by winning. That was the way I wanted to do it, but Roger and Josh (Hayes) were riding so strong it was not easy. I am so thankful to my crew, to Yoshimura and Suzuki for giving me this amazing opportunity.”

 


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