Tyler Scott (70) Qualified on pole for the 82nd running of the Daytona 200.
Brea, CA, March 9, 2024 — Suzuki Motor USA (Suzuki) and Team Hammer enter Saturday’s 82nd Daytona 200 with a full complement of potential race winners, a crew spearheaded by Vision Wheel M4 Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, who earned pole position for the prestigious race in Friday’s Time Attack. The day also saw the all-new Suzuki GSX-8R make a promising race debut in Twins Cup competition.
Race Highlights:
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Tyler Scott (70) races the GSX-R750 to the 2024 Daytona 200’s pole position.
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Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott (70) left Daytona International Speedway on Friday with pole position after the fastest time in the day’s decisive Time Attack session. Scott showed remarkable promise for Saturday’s 82nd Daytona 200. The Supersport ace led the way with a pole-winning time of 1:48.047 aboard his Suzuki GSX-R750. “I crashed in Q1 and dislocated my shoulder,” said Scott. “I rode in Q2 to make sure everything was OK. For Time Attack, the team and all the riders decided on a strategy. I wanted to go alone and see what I could do by myself rather than try to organize a good draft, and I was able to get a low ’48. I am feeling better after the crash and I’m ready to go. I’m excited and looking forward to a strong race with a strong team.”
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Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante (54) will start the Daytona 200 in ninth.
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Two-time Daytona 200 winner Brandon Paasch (96) will line up his GSX-R750 11th on the grid for Daytona’s 200-miler.
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Teagg Hobbs (79) at speed on the high banks of Daytona, and will start 22nd in the 82nd running of the Daytona 200.
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Scott’s Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki teammates, Richie Escalante (54) starting 9th, qualifying at 1:49.053, Brandon Paasch (96) starting 11th, 1:49.439, and Teagg Hobbs (79) starting 22nd, 1:50.348 expect to be major factors in Saturday’s 200-miler on their GSX-R750s as well. Escalante was fastest in the pre-Time Attack combined qualifying sessions, while Paasch is a two-time winner of the fabled Daytona event.
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Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Rossi Moor (92) putting the new GSX-8R through its paces, to earn seventh in the bike’s and rider’s Twins Cup racing debut.
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Meanwhile, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Rossi Moor (92) demonstrated the vast potential of the all-new Suzuki GSX-8R sportbike’s parallel-twin platform in the Twins Cup season opener.
Moor was in the podium fight early in the contest. Ultimately the 16-year-old Twins Cup rookie Moor finished fractions of a second away from a top-5 in seventh.
“It’s my first race at Daytona and my first time racing at a track with banking. It’s also the first time we have raced this new Suzuki, so we wanted to find out where we stood,” said Moor. “We struggled some at the beginning of the weekend, but we made a lot of progress and took a bit of a risk with more changes for the race. It paid off and we made a big step forward. We have some more room to improve our race pace to get to the front. I made it up to fourth but couldn’t move forward or hold the other guys behind me. That’s what it is going to take but we are steadily heading in the right direction. It was fun finishing my first race at Daytona, and will go out there with guns blazing tomorrow.”
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Suzuki and Team Hammer now turn all their combined attention to this year’s edition of the arduous, unpredictable, and thrilling Daytona 200, which will race Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.
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