TY SCOTT PUTS VISION WHEEL M4 ECSTAR SUZUKI ON POLE FOR 82ND DAYTONA 200

Suzuki GSX-8R Finishes Strong In Twins Cup Racing Debut

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:

• Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki
  
  • Supersport
    • Tyler Scott posted the fastest time in the 12-rider Time Attack to secure pole position for the 82nd Daytona 200. 
    • Richie Escalante qualified ninth in Time Attack despite setting the pace during the Combined Qualifying sessions.
    • Brandon Paasch joins Escalante on Row 3 after clocking the 11th fastest time in Time Attack.
    • Teagg Hobbs will look to battle through the field after qualifying 22nd.

     

  • Twins Cup
    • Rossi Moor finished seventh in his Twins Cup debut.

• RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki
  
  • Twins Cup
    • Rocco Landers grabbed the holeshot on the GSX-8R before claiming a top-five finish in the GSX-8R’s maiden race effort.
  
  
  

Tyler Scott (70) races the GSX-R750 to the 2024 Daytona 200’s pole position.

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante (54) will start the Daytona 200 in ninth.

Two-time Daytona 200 winner Brandon Paasch (96) will line up his GSX-R750 11th on the grid for Daytona’s 200-miler.

Teagg Hobbs (79) at speed on the high banks of Daytona, and will start 22nd in the 82nd running of the Daytona 200.

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.

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.

Meanwhile, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Rossi Moor (92) and RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines’s Rocco Landers (97) demonstrated the vast potential of the all-new Suzuki GSX-8R sportbike’s parallel-twin platform in the Twins Cup season opener.

Landers grabbed the holeshot before settling in with a pack that also included Moor disputing the podium positions early in the contest. Ultimately former class champion Landers won a battle for fifth while 16-year-old Twins Cup rookie Moor finished fractions of a second back 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.”

RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines' Rocco Landers (97) raced the new Suzuki GSX-8R to fifth place in the 2024 Twins Cup’s inaugural race.

RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines’ Rocco Landers said, “It is always good to lead the first turn of the first race. We have made strong progress but we’re not at the point where we know we can be. I made a few mistakes and lost the lead pack, plus this is a brand-new bike for us. The GSX-8R is an awesome platform. We’ve been focusing on the handling this weekend, and everything has been going in one direction for us, and that is forward.”

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.

For Suzuki road racing news, results, and team updates, visit suzukicycles.com/racing/road-racing. For more information and updates on Team Hammer, visit teamhammer.com.

Photos By Brian J. Nelson


ABOUT TEAM HAMMER

The 2024 season marks Team Hammer's 44th consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Race bikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 133 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 361 times, and have won 11 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships (in Superbike and Supersport). The team has also won 137 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles, and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running "Methanol Monster" GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won four F-USA Championships.

ABOUT VISION WHEEL

Founded in 1976, Vision Wheel is one of the nation’s leading providers of custom wheels for cars and trucks, and one of the first manufacturers of custom wheels and tires for ATVs, UTVs, and golf carts. Vision Wheel looks beyond the current trends and to the future in developing, manufacturing, and distributing its wheels. Vision’s lines of street, race, off-road, American Muscle, and Milanni wheels are distributed nationally and internationally through a trusted network of distributors. Vision Wheel also produces the Vision It AR app to allow users to see how their wheels of choice will look on their vehicle before purchase and installation. For more information on Vision Wheel, visit www.visionwheel.com.