Team KAGAYAMA SUZUKI Asia’s Noriyuki Haga raced to the team’s first podium of the season at round three of the Asia Road Race Championship on the team’s home ground at Suzuka Circuit in Japan at the weekend.
Haga put his GSX-R600 onto the third-step of the podium in tough, wet conditions as team-mate Rafid Topan Sucipto, in his first visit to the famous circuit, suffered a crash in practice, injured his left hand, but continued to race; and scored points in Sunday’s second race.
The team – racing for the first time in front of its home crowd aboard the new GSX-R600s – showed strong progress on the first day when track conditions were dry. However, Qualifying took place in full wet conditions and Haga marked a 2’27.618-lap to qualify fourth, as Topan scored a 2’30.099 lap-time, putting him 14th on the grid despite his injury.
Saturday’s opening race took place in full wet conditions and Haga made a strong start from the second row and took the holeshot. He dropped-back to third in the early stages of the race, but race leader Yuki Takahashi (Honda) crashed-out, moving Haga up to second. The former World Superbike, Japanese and British Superbike race winner fought with Tomoyoshi Koyama (Honda) until the very last lap, but was overtaken on the back straight, finally taking the chequered flag in third position as Topan struggled with the pain, but still managed to bring his GSX-R600 home in 16th position.
Noriyuki Haga – #41:
“The Suzuki GSX-R600 has improved so much since the test in March we had here. I changed the settings too many times in the last two races, so this week I concentrated on not doing that. This was the first wet race of the season, but I was able to make a good start and achieve a podium finish. I will try to do the same in Race 2.”
Rafid Topan Sucipto – #25:
“The two chicanes at Suzuka are very difficult, but the feeling of my SUZUKI GSX-R600 is great and I am happy with the progress and the result considering that this is my first time here. I injured myself on day 1 and I regret that I couldn’t push 100% at the race. The setting was a little off also, so I will change the setting for race 2 and hope to get points for the team”
Yukio Kagayama – General Manager:
“My hat goes off for Haga. With that magnificent start and his riding during the race, he proved to the fans and his rivals how fast he can be. I still haven’t yet been able to provide him with a machine that can win in dry conditions, but I thank him for getting the podium; which was the team’s first aim. He did all of this on his own and I hope I can provide him with a machine that can win soon.
“Topan finished the race for us, despite his injury, and the team was able to gather important data which will be a plus for the next race. We have another race tomorrow, and lot of fans and sponsors are here at Suzuka. I hope we can show them what they want to see and I plan to support the team in every way I can to achieve that.”