The first timed sessions of the 2006 Suzuka 8 Hour round of the FIM World Endurance Championship took place this afternoon. Although today’s times do not count towards qualifying, they give a good idea of the performance of the teams entered for the race. The entry is split into two groups A and B for practice and qualifying, in order to reduce the amount of traffic on the circuit. The group A session was dogged by a series of interruptions; the session was red flagged at one point and then the safety cars were called out shortly after the track reopened, to clear another incident. The fastest bike in group A was the No.48 FCC TSR Honda (2:09.637) ahead of the No.101 Toy Story Honda (2:09.997). Suzuki Castrol were the highest placed permanent team, in 7th place with a time of 2:12.178. Yamaha Phase One’s best lap was 2:17.270, in front of Yamaha Acropolis Zone Rouge’s 2:19.101, Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se’s 2:19.743 and Kawasaki Diablo’s 2:20.995. Group B also saw the pace cars out on the track although there were fewer incidents in the second session. The fastest group B bike was also an FCC TSR Honda, the No.778 bike with a time of 2:10.354, in front of the No.7 Seven Stars Honda on 2:10.673. Yamaha Austria (2:16.994) were the quickest permanent team in the group, ahead of Bolliger Kawasaki (2:18.712). Suzuki Endurance Moto 45 lapped in 2:22.583, the Shell Endurance Academy in 2:22.885 and Suzuki No Limits in 2:23.405. Today’s track sessions were really about finding a suspension set-up, tyre and gearing combination that works round Suzuka’s combinations of fast sweeping corners and that also suits all the riders in a team. Timed qualifying to decide the starting grid positions takes place tomorrow, with two sessions for each rider in each team. The fastest ten teams will also go through to the ‘Top Ten Trial’ SuperPole style special stage on Saturday afternoon.