Suzuka 8 Hours/FIM Endurance World Championship Suzuka Circuit Suzuka, Japan July 29, 2012 Overall Race Results: 1. F.C.C. (Jonathan. Rea/Kosuke Akiyoshi/Tadayuki Oakada), Hon CBR1000RR, 215 laps, 5:01.35.450 2. Toho Racing with Moriwaki (Tatsuya Yamaguchi/Yuki Takahashi/Yusuke Teshima), Hon CBR1000RR, 211 laps 3. Yamaha France GMT94 Michelin Yamalube (David Checa/Kenny Foray), Yam YZF-R1, 211 laps 4. Moto Map Supply (Yoshihiro Konno/Takuya Tsuda/Akira Tamitsuji), Suz GSX-R1000, 210 laps 5. Honda Suzuka Racing Team (Kazuki Tokudome/Takashi Yasuda/Koji Kitaguchi), 210 laps 6. Honda Dream RT Sakurai (Jamie Stauffer/Wayne Maxwell), Hon CBR1000RR, 209 laps 7. Teluru & Emobile Kohara RT (Takeshi Tsujimura/Hiroki Noda/Kazume Watanabe), Hon CBR1000RR, 209 laps 8. Team BMW Motorrad 39 (Koji Teramoto/Daisaku Sakai/K. Yagi), BMW S1000RR, 208 laps 9. BMW Motorrad France 99 Team Thevent (Sebastien Gimbert/Damian Cudlin/Erwan Nigon), BMW S1000RR, 208 laps 10. Honda TT Legends (Cameron Donald/John McGuinness/Jason O’Halloran), Hon CBR1000RR, 207 laps 43. Eva RT Test Type-01 Trick Star (Tamaki Serizawa/Ozamu Deguichi/Hitoyasu Izutsu), Kaw ZX-10R, 207 laps 44. Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team (Nobuatsu Aoki/Leon Camier/Josh Waters), Suz GSX-R1000, 185 laps 54. Monster Energy Yamaha YART (Katsuyuki Nakasuga/Tommy Hill/Noriyuki Haga), Yam YZF-R1, 48 laps, crash 56. Team 38 PS-K (Shohei Karita/Derek Keyes/Shigeru Yamashita), Kaw ZX-10R ABS, 34 laps More, from a press release issued by FIM Endurance World Championship: A great victory for FCC TSR Honda at Suzuka ahead of Toho with Moriwaki and Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin Yamalube FCC TSR Honda won the Suzuka 8 hours with a four-lap lead, followed by the Honda of Toho Racing with Moriwaki with Tatsuya Yamaguchi, Yuki Takahashi and Yusuke Teshima on board, and the Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin Yamalube ridden by David Checa et Kenny Foray. Winners here at Suzuka in 2011, the FCC TSR Honda, crewed by Jonathan Rea, Kosuke Akiyoshi and Tadayuki Okada, came out of the practice sessions behind three other favourites, Monster Energy Yamaha YART, Musashi RT Harc-Pro and the Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team. But this 35th edition proved tough for many of the pre-race favourites. Katsuyuki Nakusuga, who earned his team the pole position with a breath-taking lap in 2’06.845, crashed on the Monster Energy Yamaha YART just over half an hour into the race. And a crash by Ryuichi Kiyonari after five hours on the track also put paid to the victory hopes of Musashi RT Harc-Pro. The Suzukis too had their share of misfortune. The Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team were hit by an oil leak and failed to make it to the finish. In second place behind the FCC TSR Honda until then, the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team slipped down the field after a crash by Vincent Philippe. The World Champion Suzuki came in fifteenth at Suzuka. Fate also struck the BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent, another contender for the runner-up spot. A faulty electronic sensor on the S1000RR forced it back into ninth place at the finish, seven laps behind the winner and just ahead of the Honda TT Legends and the Kawasaki Bolliger Team Switzerland, who gave a good account of themselves at Suzuka. The competition was thrilling till the end. The most intense duel was the struggle for third place in the final half hour between David Checa on the Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin Yamalube and Ozamu Deguchi on the Kawasaki Eva RT Trick Star. Checa came through with brio before Deguchi was stymied by engine trouble on his ZX-10R. Another FIM World Endurance Championship permanent team made it to the finish at its first shot at the Suzuka 8 hours. The Suzuki of Team R2CL came in 24th with Jérôme Tangre, Amaury Baratin and Raphaël Chaussé at the helm. Two Hondas running on Bridgestone were today’s logical winners at Suzuka but Michelin made an impression in Japan this year with a pole position and a place on the podium. This Suzuka 8 hours has also given a new impetus to the FIM Endurance World Championship. The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team is still in front with a narrow 5-point lead over the Honda TT Legends. But Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin Yamalube has really improved its chances as it is now back in contention ahead of the BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent and just 11 points behind the SERT with two rounds still to go. The next round of the FIM Endurance World Championship is the Oschersleben 8 Hours that takes place in Germany on Saturday 11 August. What they said”¦ Jonathan Rea, rider, FCC TSR Honda, tired and happy at the finish “Suzuka is really an extraordinary race that is nothing like the other events. I am really glad it’s over because it was extremely tough. I didn’t do the practice here but my team mates Kosuke Akiyoshi and Tadayuki Okada helped me a lot, especially when I had to really push hard after my fuel problem at the start of the race.” David Checa, rider on Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin Yamalube “The end of the race was very intense. At every lap, my team kept me informed of the time gaps between me and the competition and I really had to fight for this 3rd place.” Christophe Guyot, team manager Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin Yamalube “David really is a fabulous rider. He is intelligent, he has the physical strength and he knows how to manage his races. In his first relay, he knew right away that we just need to change the rear tyre that had got torn by something on the track, without wasting time getting the bike into the pit box.” Nicolas Dussauge, team manager BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent “I am disappointed of course, but paradoxically I would say we were lucky to finish the race. It’s a very tough decision to take to send a rider on to the track with a motorcycle that could be dangerous. Because one of the sensors had gone, the engine couldn’t take more than 7 000 rpm.” A 52-minute summary of the Suzuka 8 Hours will be broadcast by many TV channels throughout the world on five continents. Click here for the list of broadcasters of the 2012 FIM Endurance World Championship: ~www.fim-live.com/en/sport/endurance/tv-broadcasters~ More, from a press release issued by Honda Europe: Honda’s Jonathan Rea wins Suzuka 8-hours Honda World Superbike Team rider Jonathan Rea has become the first British rider to win the coveted and prestigious Suzuka 8-hours race in Japan. Riding for the F.C.C. TSR Honda team, Rea and his team-mate, Kosuke Akiyoshi, won the race by four laps from TOHO Racing Honda, completing a one-two for Honda’s CBR1000RR Fireblade. The Yamaha France team finished third. Rea and Akiyoshi, who finished third together in the 8-hours race in 2010, were joined on the Suzuka podium by former Honda World Superbike rider, Tadayuki Okada, who was the team’s reserve rider. Today’s victory marked Honda’s 25th triumph in the Suzuka 8-hours race and the sixth win for the CBR1000RR machine in its 20th anniversary year. “I’m so happy to get a win in such a huge race as the Suzuka 8-hours,” said Rea after his gruelling endurance effort. “I really appreciate the efforts of Kosuke Akiyoshi, Tady Okada, Honda and all the F.C.C. TSR team staff. Kosuke was riding very, very fast, and Tady gave me a lot of really useful advice. I want to thank them both so much.” Rea’s Honda World Superbike colleague, Hiroshi Aoyama, rode for the MuSASHi RT Harc-Pro team, which was battling for the lead with just two hours to go when team-mate rider, Ryuichi Kiyonari, crashed out unhurt. Aoyama commented: “This has been a great experience for me, thanks to my team-mates and the efforts of the whole MuSASHi Honda team. It’s a shame that we could not fight until the end of the race but it felt good to be riding at the front. I’d like to challenge for the Suzuka 8-hours race again next year. The two Honda World Superbike Team riders now return to SBK action for round 10 of the 2012 series at Silverstone in the UK next weekend, 3-5 August. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent: Suzuka, Japan – 29 July 2012: BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent’s Sébastien Gimbert, Damian Cudlin and Erwan Nigon looked all set to claim an historic podium finish in today’s Suzuka 8 Hours race, until an electrical problem saw them drop from second to tenth in the last 40 minutes of the race. Starting from 11th on the grid, the #99 BMW S1000RR made steady progress during the first six hours, benefitting from consistency of pace and a number of retirements from the front of the race to eventually move up into third place. The team were promoted one more place when Vincent Philippe on the championship leading SERT bike crashed out of second place as the race entered the final hour. With just 50 minutes to go BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent looked certain to secure a first podium finish at Suzuka for a European manufacturer, and take the lead in the championship standings as a result. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. Just a few minutes after taking second place the #99 BMW S1000RR had to pit in with an electrical issue which the team didn’t have time to remedy in the time remaining. Instead, Gimbert was despatched to do the best job he could in the final 40 minutes, on a bike that was now 20 seconds off the pace of the leaders. The reigning French Superbike Champion fought as hard as possible, and was often well over the limit, but was unable to hold off challenges from behind and eventually had to settle for ninth place at the chequered flag. The riders and the team were obviously disappointed to miss out on a podium finish, but will take consolation from the fact that they have closed the gap to the leaders in the championship standings. BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent will return to action at round four of the Endurance World Championship, the 8 Hours of Oschersleben in Germany, which takes place from 9 – 12 August. Erwan Nigon: “Today I have experienced the biggest disappointment of my career so far. To finish second at Suzuka behind a full factory bike, ridden by the likes of Rea, Akiyoshi and Okada, would be like a victory for us, but it wasn’t to be. In racing you win some, like we did at Qatar, and you lose some, like we did here today, but knowing that doesn’t make it any easier to accept. The team did a great job and we rode a near perfect race for seven and a half hours, only to lose out to a minor electrical problem within sight of the chequered flag. Unbelievable. Sébastien did a brave ride at the end, to salvage ninth position and the all-important championship points.” Damian Cudlin: “A podium finish at Suzuka is something that you dream about as a rider, something that you’ll be boring your kids with for years, so I’m devastated to have got close enough to taste it only to miss out in the last 40 minutes. We rode a textbook race, made no mistakes and we were in sight of the podium when I came in to hand over to Seb for the final run. We knew there was something wrong as soon as he started the bike and, sure enough, he was straight back in after one lap. There wasn’t time to start pulling the bike apart, so he went back out on a bike around 100km/h down on top speed compared to the competition. It must have been scary for him out there, but he held it together and brought it home in the top ten, when I was convinced we weren’t even going to finish.” Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal “Once again we are reminded that racing has its highs, but it also has its lows. We came so close to a remarkable result today, but it just wasn’t to be. All three riders and everyone in the team did an outstanding job this weekend and, but for some bad luck right at the end of the race, we’d have been celebrating an historic podium here. So, I want to say thank you to every single one of the team, to BMW and to Michelin, for all their hard work and commitment this weekend. We have moved up to fourth in the championship standings and closed the gap on the leaders. Next time out at Oschersleben, I hope we can close the gap further with a win for BMW at home.” For more information and additional high resolution images please visit the BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent website at www.thevent.eu. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha France GMT94 Take Hard Fought Podium in Suzuka The Yamaha France GMT94 Michelin Yamalube Team took a hard fought third place on the podium this weekend in the 2012 Suzuka 8Hour race, the 35th anniversary of what is one of the toughest road racing endurance races in the world. After initially dropping down the field following an unexpected pit stop, the team made maximum use of the potential of the 2012 YZF-R1 to work steadily back up through the field, passing numerous back markers to reach the front runners. The achievement was doubly impressive for the gathered Japanese fans as the team had just two riders competing instead of the normal three as regular member Matthieu Lagrive was injured. It fell to David Checa and Kenny Foray to lead the charge, Checa impressing with a final double stint push at the end to take the podium. Monster Energy Yamaha YART made an impressive start to the race weekend with Japanese rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga taking his YZF-R1 to pole position, smashing the Endurance lap record in the process with an incredible 2’06.845 second run in the scorching heat. Joined by British Superbike Swan Yamaha riders Tommy Hill and Noriyuki Haga, the team made a strong start to the race. Nakasuga led initially and was working to increase the lead with an impressive pace until an unfortunate crash. After some time spent repairing the bike Hill and Haga were able to replicate Nakasuga’s potential race winning lap times but were unfortunately 27 laps behind the field by that point and so decided to retire. David Checa Yamaha France GMT 94 Yamalube Michelin “I’m so happy to achieve this result for Yamaha and for the team. A big thank you to them and also Michelin, we got third thanks to their efforts. They kept me so well informed, I knew exactly when I needed to push or not. So I could push for third when the time was right. Congratulations to Johnny and his team for their victory.” Kenny Foray Yamaha France GMT 94 Yamalube Michelin “Today is one of the best days of my life, our team mate Mattieu Lagrive was injured and I stepped up to do more stints than normally planned. I’m so happy. Thank you to the whole GMT team, Yamaha and all our sponsors for their great support and welcome in Japan. Merci beaucoup! It was a crazy day, thanks to David for pushing so hard at the end, I don’t know what to say more!” Katsuyuki Nakasuga YART Monster Energy Yamaha “I wanted to make a big gap before passing on the bike to Tommy. After the crash I was not really injured but I got a big impact on my body and the bike got damaged with a flat tyre. This is endurance racing so I pushed back the bike to the pit. Due to my crash I created a big challenge for Tommy, Nori and the team and I want to say sorry to them. Now I want to look forward to the next opportunity.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: Suzuka 8 Hours Race FIM Endurance World Championship, Round Three Suzuka, Japan, July 29, 2012 Weather conditions: Hot and humid HONDA WINS RECORD 25TH SUZUKA 8 HOURS Honda teams finished first and second in the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours, with F.C.C. TSR Racing winning for the second year in a row to give Honda their 25th win, while Toho Racing by Moriwaki finished a surprising second in the third round of the FIM World Endurance Championship at the venerable Suzuka Circuit south of Tokyo. Johnathan Rea became the first British rider to win the 8 Hours by teaming up with Kousuke Akiyoshi and Tady Okada on the F.C.C. TSR Racing Honda CBR1000RR for the victory. The win was the third for Akiyoshi, who was part of the winning team in 2011 and also won in 2007. Okada has two previous wins, first in 1995, 17 years ago, and most recently in 1999. The 13-year gap since his previous win is the longest between victories for an 8 Hours rider. The F.C.C. TSR Racing team completed 215 laps of the 5.807Km figure eight-shaped circuit to win the event by four laps over Yuki Takahashi, Tetsuya Yamaguchi and Yusuke Teshima, the Japanese trio who rode the Toho Racing by Moriwaki Honda CBR1000RR to second place. The Toho Racing by Moriwaki team beat the final podium finishers, Yamaha France GMT94, by 1m, 43s. Six of the top ten finishers were Honda-mounted, with the Honda TT Legends team finishing tenth. The MuSASHI RT HARC-PRO team of Ryuichi Kiyonari and Hiroshi Aoyama finished the first hour in front, ahead of F.C.C. TSR and the Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team. By the end of the second hour the order of the top two had swapped and would swap again after hour three, with the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) taking over third. Halfway into the mid-summer classic the Honda teams again traded places. With MuSASHI RT HARC-PRO back in front. The fifth and sixth hours would prove pivotal. F.C.C. TSR Honda was back at the point-ending hour five with SERT displacing MuSASHI RT HARC-PRO for second. Meanwhile, TOHO Racing with Moriwaki had climbed up to fifth. It was at the start of the sixth hour that the race ended prematurely for MuSASHI RT HARC-PRO. Kiyonari had a fiery crash, his dream of winning for a fifth time going up in flames. When hour six ended F.C.C. TSR Honda had a one lap lead that they would extend to four by the finish of the race. TOHO Racing with Moriwaki moved into third at the end of hour seven, then took over second when the BMW Motorrad France team was struck with mechanical issues in the final hour. The Honda TT Legends team who finished tenth maintained second in the World Endurance World Championship standings. Sharing the riding duties on the ABS-equipped Honda Fireblade, Isle of Man legend John McGuinness and Australians Cameron Donald and Jason O’Halloran rode a flawless and trouble-free race to complete 207 laps. The World Endurance Championship resumes in Oschersleben, Germany on August 11, 12. Honda Rider Quotes: F.C.C. TSR Honda rider Johnathan Rea says: “Being on top of the podium was impressive. I have never ran a 24-hour endurance race and this Suzuka 8 Hours is the toughest race in the world for me. It was a sprint race and an endurance race. It was a really tough race. Somehow, when I passed it to (Kousuke) Akiyoshi with 15-second margin early in the race, I was able to feel a sense of satisfaction. (Tady) Okada is a friend, a teacher, and a reassuring presence. And, Akiyoshi has been very grateful. To be able to win here, I am very happy.” F.C.C. TSR Honda rider Kosuke Akiyoshi says: “I was confined to my bed for one month after suffering a femoral fracture in late March at the opening race of the All Japan Superbike series. I made my race return here at the Suzuka 8 Hours. The rehabilitation and to be fit has been the goal here, and the road to recovery was very steep. Thanks to everyone on the team staff and my team- mate Johnathan, I could win.” F.C.C. TSR Honda rider Tadayuki Okada says: “I was asked from the team director to set up the machine, support pre-race testing and being the third rider. I was happy to finish on a machine that could win. It was a really tough race. I think of this as a sprint race of eight hours which is very severe for the riders. For the fans it’s something attractive. I think from now on, I want to be able to provide these races.” TOHO Racing with Moriwaki Honda rider Tatsuya Yamaguchi says: “Taking the second place in the Suzuka 8 hours, I would have said “No way,” to be honest. To aim for the podium of the Suzuka 8 Hours with a kit bike and a private team it might be unreasonable, but in the Suzuka 8 Hours anything can happen. We believed it was possible to realise a dream as the laps went on and we gained confidence.” TOHO Racing with Moriwaki Honda rider Yuki Takahashi says: “Honestly, I’m happy. Since I first heard I would not be the third rider for another team, the invitation from Mr. Yamaguchi was very attractive. There was also a feeling I was having a tough time in MotoGP Moto2 class now, so I wanted to prove my potential. For me, I was racing in the Suzuka 8 Hours for the first time in four years. I feel a sense of fulfillment and to come second is very important. By this victory, I want to change the mood in Moto2 racing.” TOHO Racing with Moriwaki Honda rider Yusuke Teshima says: ” There was no way that I thought I could come back and be on the podium of the Suzuka 8 Hours. Over time I had lost confidence, and thankfully I got invited. Today’s second place finish makes me very happy.” Honda TT Legends rider John McGuinness says: “Last year we didn’t get past the first hour, so to finish this year is a great achievement. To come here with no testing, race against some of the best endurance riders in the world and come tenth is great. It’s been a tough old day, but I’m pleased. I did three stints with no mistakes and I really enjoyed the race to be honest. It was red hot, but it was great. The team did a good job, the ABS and everything on the bike worked like a dream and overall it’s a fantastic package. We’ve scored some valuable points and with two rounds to go we’re in a good position.” Honda TT Legends rider Cameron Donald says: “Mission accomplished! I’m stoked with our result and it’s all the sweeter after coming here last year and not finishing. It was a long way to come to go home with no points. It’s been a massive effort from the whole team this week in unbelievably hot conditions. Everyone has worked so hard and the job we came to do is done.” Honda TT Legends rider Jason O’Halloran says: “Overall a good day on the bike. John and Cameron did a great job and I just tried to stay as consistent as I could. It’s a case of working your way through the traffic because there are a lot of bikes out there and as the stints go on everyone gets more tired and it gets a lot harder. The last stint was really hard while my best and most consistent was my second. The team have done a great job again, we turned up here without testing and I think we have done really well in the time we had available. Tenth is a great result.” HONDA WINNERS OF THE SUZUKA 8 HOURS 1979: Tony Hatton, AUS/Michael Cole, AUS – Honda CB900 1981: Mike Baldwin, USA/Dave Aldana USA – Honda RS1000 1982: Shigeo Iijima, J/Shinji Hagiwara, J – Honda CB900F 1984: Mike Baldwin, USA/Fred Merkel, USA – Honda RS750R 1985: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Masaki Tokano, J – Honda RVF750 1986: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Dominique Sarron F – Honda RVF750 1989: Dominique Sarron, F/Alex Vieira, Por – Honda RVF750 1991: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Mick Doohan, AUS – Honda RVF750 1992: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Daryl Beattie, AUS – Honda RVF750 1994: Doug Polen, USA/Aaron Slight, NZ – Honda RVF/RC45 1995: Aaron Slight, NZ/Tadayuki Okada, J – Honda RVF/RC45 1997: Shinichi Ito, J/Tohru Ukawa, J – Honda RVF/RC45 1998: Shinichi Ito, J/Tohru Ukawa, J – Honda RVF/RC45 1999: Tadayuki Okada, J/Alex Barros, Bra – Honda RVF/RC45 2000: Tohru Ukawa, J/Daijiro Kato, J – Honda VTR1000SPW 2001: Valentino Rossi, I/Colin Edwards, USA – Honda VTR1000SPW 2002: Daijiro Kato, J/Colin Edwards, USA – Honda VTR1000SPW 2003: Yukio Nukumi, J/Manubu Kamada, J – Honda VTR1000SPW 2004: Tohru Ukawa, J/Hitoyasu Izutsu, J – Honda CBR1000RRW 2005: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J/Tohru Ukawa, J – Honda CBR1000RRW 2006: Shinichi Ito, J/Takeshi Tsujimura, J – Honda CBR1000RR 2008: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J/Carlos Checa, E – Honda CBR1000RR 2010: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J/Takumi Takahashi, J – Honda CBR1000RR 2011: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J/Shinichi Ito, J/Kosuke Akiyoshi, J Honda CBR1000RR 2012: Johnathan Rea, GB/ Kosuke Akiyoshi,J/ Tady Okada,J Honda CBR1000RR POS. / TEAM/ RIDERS / BIKE / LAPS / TOTAL TIME 1 / F.C.C. TSR Honda / H-CBR1000RR / J.REA – K.AKIYOSHI – T.OKADA / 215 / 8:01’35.460 2 / TOHO Racing with MORIWAKI / H-CBR1000RR / T.YAMAGUCHI – Y.TAKAHASHI – Y.TESHIMA / 211 / 8:01’40.277 3 / YAMAHA FRANCE GMT94 MICHELIN YAMALUBE / Y-YZF-R1 / D.CHECA – K.FORAY – / 211 / 8:03’13.469 4 / Moto Map SUPPLY / S-GSX-R1000 / Y.KONNO – T.TSUDA – A.TAMITSUJI / 210 / 8:02’12.088 5 / Honda Suzuka Racing Team / H-CBR1000RR / K.TOKUDOME – T.YASUDA – K.KITAGUCHI / 210 / 8:02’45.878 6 / Honda DREAM RT SAKURAI HONDA / H-CBR1000RR / J.STAUFFER – W.MAXWELL – / 209 / 8:02’05.183 7 / Teluru& EMOBILE Kohara RT / H-CBR1000RR / T.TSUJIMURA – H.NODA – K.WATANABE / 209 / 8:03’83.897 8 / Team Motorrad 39 / B-S1000RR / K.TERAMOTO – D.SAKAI – K.YAGI / 208 / 8:01’48.201 9 / BMW MOTORRAD FRANCE 99 / B-S1000RR / S.GIMBERT – D.CUDLIN – E.NIGON / 208 / 8:02’33.089 10 / HONDA TT LEGENDS / H-CBR1000RR / C.DONALD – J.McGUINNESS – J.Mark O’HALLORAN / 207 / 8:01’54.712 11 / BOLLIGER TEAM SWITZERLAND / K-ZX-10R / H.SAIGER – R.STAMM – J.TANGRE / 206 / 8:02’02.177 12 / TEAMSUGAIRACINGJAPANwithHOKKAIDOSABEDER / D-1199Panigale / Y.SUGAI – S.TAKEISHI – / 206 / 8:03’40.058 13 / RS-ITOH&ASIA / K-ZX-10R / I.HIGASHIMURA – T.IWAZAKI – K.WATANABE / 206 / 8:03’44.534 14 / Honda Ryokuyoukai Kumamoto Racing / H-CBR1000RR / M.YOSHIDA – M.KITAORI – M.IIDA / 204 / 8:02’15.191 15 / SUZUKI ENDURANCE RACING TEAM / S-GSX-R1000 / V.PHILIPPE – A.DELHALLE – Y.KAGAYAMA / 204 / 8:02’35.235 16 / Team EBATA / H-CBR1000RR / A.IGARASHI – M.SATO – T.HURUKAWA / 203 / 8:07’10.649 17 / DOGFISH O-TEC Suzuka & Pleasing / H-CBR1000RR / M.OUCHIDA – K.SAIKI – / 203 / 8:03’13.061 18 / TEAM Tras BMW S1000RR / B-S1000RR / H.TAKADA – Y.MATSUSHITA – T.TODA / 203 / 8:09’32.981 19 / IWATA RACING FAMILY / Y-YZF-R1 / Y.KITAJIMA – K.NISHIMURA – K.OKUMURA / 202 / 8:02’00.399 20 / TEAM DDD NOI:Z & CLEVER WOLF / Y-YZF-R1 / T.NAKAI – Y.USAMI – K.MINAMIKAWA / 201 / 8:01’37.494 21 / Honda EG Racing / H-CBR1000RR / T.KURIBAYASHI – K.HONDA – / 201 / 8:02’48.894 22 / FOC CLAYMORE / S-GSX-R1000 / H.YOSHII – T.NAKAMURA – H.SHIOBARA / 201 / 8:03’15.050 23 / Honda DREAM RT WAKAYAMA / H-CBR1000RR / T.NISHINAKA – R.GONZUI – A.MIKI / 200 / 8:02’89.019 24 / TEAM R2CL / S-GSX-R1000 / C.TANGRE – A.BARATIN – R.CHAUSSE / 199 / 8:03’40.136 25 / Honda Team Asia / H-CBR1000RR / C.KAMEYA – A.SHAH B.KAMARUZAMAN – M.TAMADA / 196 / 8:03’01.238 26 / T.MOTOKIDS NAC NERGAL KAWAUSO RT / Y-YZF-R1 / K.KOJIMA – S.NARUMORI – Y.HIGUCHI / 194 / 8:02’37.991 27 / LA BELLEZZA SPEED / D-1098R / N.TAKASUGI – H.KAWAHARA – T.ITAMI / 194 / 8:03’08.247 28 / BANNER RACING / D-1098R / T.KANEDA – K.DAN – T.ASAHINA / 194 / 8:03’85.519 29 / WINNER Z-TECH / S-GSX-R1000 / T.NAMEKATA – T.KUNIMATSU – / 192 / 8:03’00.707 30 / RS GARAGE HARADA HIMEJI / K-ZX-10R / H.HARADA – A.INOUE – / 192 / 8:03’21.131 31 / CONFIA HMF LUNASOL Japan Like a wind / A-RSV4-Factory / Y.TAKAMIYA – S.KAWABATA – N.HASEGAWA / 191 / 8:07’40.800 32 / Honda QCT Meiwa Racing / H-CBR1000RR / M.ANDO – S.NISHIYAMA – / 191 / 8:03’56.832 33 / T.MOTOKIDS NAC NERGAL KAWAUSO RT / Y-YZF-R1 / K.KOJIMA – S.NARUMORI – Y.HIGUCHI / 185 / 8:03’10.992 34 / Team Etching Factory / Y-YZF-R1 / S.TAKEMI – T.FUKAMI – T.BITO / 183 / 8:0255.671 35 / BullDocker TAGOS*HALUMOTO SHOWHEI RIDE / A-RSV4 Factory / M.MOGI – S.OKAJIMA – K.TAJIMA / 182 / 8:01’43.423 36 / Honda Hamamatsu ESCARGOT&PGR&H-TEC(E) / H-CBR1000RR / M.KUBOYAMA – T.NAKATSUHARA – S.NOYORI / 182 / 8:03’37.782 37 / CONFIA H.M.F Verity / S-GSX-R1000 / S.SUMA – Y.TAKEDA – Y.TAKAHASHI / 177 / 8:01’49.631 38 / DOG HOUSE with Higuchi legal office / S-GSX-R1000 / K.IWATANI – K.HIGUCHI – / 174 / 8:01’63.376 39 / Honda Kouyoukai DREAM Racing Team / H-CBR1000RR / H.NAKAMURA – T.EBINUMA – H.KURAYAMA / 174 / 8:03’37.385 40 / YAMASHINAKAWASAKI&BisinessRalliart.inc / K-ZX-10R / T.MIZUSAWA – S.YAMASAKI – A.FUKUYAMA / 173 / 8:03’24.324 41 / MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO. / H-CBR1000RR / R.KIYONARI – H.AOYAMA – T.TAKAHASHI / 165 / 8:02’19.080 42 / ASO RIDERS BASE & KUMAMON / Y-YZF-R1 / Y.HORI – K.SHUTOU – T.FUKUSHIMA / 163 / 8:02’58.399 Fastest Lap: MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO Lap 162 2’07.943 163.79Km/h WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS POSITIONS TO DATE 1 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team 60, 2 Honda TT Legends 55, 3 Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin Yamalube 49, 4 BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent 47, 5 Team SRC Kawasaki 40, 6 Bolliger Team Switzerland 39, 7 Yamalube Folch Endurance 37, 8 FCC TSR Honda 35, 9 Toho Racing with Moriwaki 29, 10 Monster Energy Yamaha YART 28, 11 Team R2CL 27, 12 Moto Map Supply 21, 13 Team Flembbo Djimiant Serbia 19, 14 Honda Suzuka Racing Team 18, 15 Maco Racing Team 18 NEXT EVENT: ROUND04 AUGUST 11/12 OSCHERSLEBEN, GERMANY More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: The Yoshimura Suzuki and Suzuki Endurance Racing Team were both plagued with bad luck and hopes of victory dashed at today’s 35th-Anniversary Suzuka 8-Hour World Endurance Championship third round in Japan; although SERT came away with its series lead intact. Early leaders and third-fastest qualifiers – Yoshimura Suzuki’s Josh Waters, Leon Camier and Nobuatsu Aoki – lost eight laps when they were forced to make an extra pit stop due to a mystery engine issue with the factory GSX-R1000; and defending World Champions SERT – Yukio Kagayama, Vincent Philippe and Anthony Delhalle – lost its bid to catch and pass the leaders in the final one-and-a-half hours when Philippe crashed the French team’s GSX-R1000. The Yoshimura squad suffered a further and terminal setback in the closing stages when the 2011 Suzuka 8-Hour runners-up and six-time event winners were forced to retire after seven hours with the on-going problem, but it wasn’t all bad news for Suzuki; after pushing back to the pits for repairs, SERT mounted a comeback, despite dropping from second and losing 11 laps, to finish 15th with 204 laps and keeping its World Championship hopes alive; although the lead over Honda TT Legends has been cut from 10 points to just five. In a drama-packed event, many of the pre-race challengers were side-lined including Monster Energy Yamaha’s pole-setter Katsuyuki Nakusuga – teamed with British Superbike riders Tommy Hill and Noriyuki Haga – who crashed just 30 minutes into the race. Another crash by Ryuichi Kiyonari after five hours also ended the Musashi RT Harc-Pro team’s bid for the podium. There was cause for celebration in the Suzuki camp for the local Moto Map SUPPLY Suzuki team who finished a very creditable fourth place overall on their GSX-R1000 just one lap from a podium position, and in doing so, outperformed many of Japan’s and World Endurance’s top teams. Overall victory in the Suzuka 8-Hour – which also celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Suzuka Circuit – went to the FCC TSR Honda team of Jonathan Rea, Kosuke Akiyoshi and Tadayuki Okada, who clocked-up 215 laps, four ahead of both second-placed Toho Racing with Moriwaki (Honda) and top permanent World Endurance Championship team home, Yamaha France GMT94 in third. Josh Waters: “After qualifying, to be on provisional Pole and then third in Superpole with a great lap time was an achievement. The race started off great and we did some really quick lap times and settled-in behind ‘Kiyo,’ then we got caught-up with some lapped traffic but we were still only around three seconds behind. Unfortunately in Leon’s stint he passed a rider under a yellow flag and got penalised, but we were still there and going strong until around four hours when we had the engine issue and then spent a lot of time in the pits. “Although we dropped way down, we got back up into the top 10 from around 18th with some really fast lap times, until we had the problem. But despite the obvious disappointment for all of us, it’s been great to be part of the team again and we’ve got a lot of positives to take from it.” Waters flies home to Australia tomorrow (Monday) and will start gearing-up for the penultimate round of the Australian Superbike Championship on August 17-19th at Phillip Island in Victoria where the former Champion goes into the round holding a commanding 30.5-point series lead. Leon Camier: “Everyone’s disappointed but that’s endurance racing. It’s just one of those things… It’s like short-sprint racing but for eight hours. I’ve got to say Josh has done an amazing job all weekend, through testing and qualifying and he’s just been so fast. I had a bit of a problem as I didn’t feel comfortable on my Superpole lap. We’d changed something on the bike and wanted to try it, but it gave us a lot of chatter. It was a one-off to see if it worked, but I didn’t feel comfortable. “The thing was with the tyres – although the Bridgestone rears were really good with lots of grip, we were getting a lot of movement with the front end and that’s what was really killing me. I had big crash on the first day and didn’t feel confident after that, but in the race I felt really good and was getting more-and-more confident as the race went on. I caught and passed Akiyoshi at one stage, then he got me back on the next lap because I pitted. “I didn’t realise the yellow flag incident and thought it was a different situation, but I did what I had to do, slowed down; and let him pass me back, but unfortunately we got penalised. The thing is, once you come down pit lane and then zoom back out, you’ve lost far more than 30 seconds. It’s difficult to say if we had the pace to win or not, but we would have definitely been an easy second, but we can’t count that now – it’s the way it goes. I can honestly say that the team and everyone has done an awesome job to get the bike sorted for us so a big thanks to everyone; and if I get the opportunity, I’d definitely love to do it again if it fits in with my race schedule.” Camier flies back to the UK first thing tomorrow and resumes World Superbike Championship duties with FIXI Crescent Suzuki team at the British round of Championship at Silverstone, where he and team mate John Hopkins hope for a great performance in front of the home fans.