The winningest team in the FIM Endurance World Championship, the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team is the standard by which other endurance teams are measured…and that is a measuring stick that has seen a lot of use in recent seasons.
This is because the FIM EWC is a hot bed for competition right now, with a bevy of factory-backed teams capable of winning on any race weekend.
This has made it tough for SERT, and its riders Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson, and Gregg Black, who currently sit sixth in the 2018 FIM Endurance World Championship standings.
For this season, SERT hopes that a new racing platform will make the difference, as the French team has finally jumped onboard with the current-generation Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Last year, SERT was still using the old GSX-R1000, despite the superbike being replaced with a new model for consumers in 2017.
Like with any new model, there is a teething process, and it perhaps shouldn’t surprise us to see that SERT is still coming to terms with such a radically new superbike at their disposal.
As such, SERT has posted mixed results so far for the 2018 season. At the season-opener at the Bol d’Or, SERT finished seventh, which was a respectable result for the 24-hour race.
At the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans however, SERT’s luck wasn’t so good, with the team finishing 24th overall.
54 points behind the championship leaders (F.C.C. TSR Honda) at this point in time, SERT has a tough climb ahead of them. But, there are three more rounds still to go in the season, and anything can happen in endurance racing.
We’ll see if SERT can get the job done in 2018, and make it 15 titles in the FIM Endurance World Championship. Until then, we can drool over what has to be the finest looking Suzuki GSX-R1000 on the planet. This bike is truly amazing to look at.
Photos: Suzuki Racing
