Preview Suzuka 8 Hours – Suzuka Japan, July 31, 2005. Ukawa and Kiyonari chasing repeat Suzuka 8 Hours victory for Seven Stars Honda Team Team HRC Honda will run two factory prepared CBR1000RR four-cylinder machines in Sundays Suzuka 8 Hours race. The Seven Stars liveried machines will be in the hands of rider combinations that have both the experience and the speed to give Honda their 9th consecutive victory in the most prestigious two-wheel event on the Japanese racing schedule. The vastly experienced former grand prix rider Tohru Ukawa, now 32, will be partnered by 22 year old Ryuichi Kiyonari. The two men will race with the fabled number 7 that has carried Honda riders to victory on several occasions, including last year when Ukawa, racing with the now retired Hitoyasu Izutsu, gave their Seven Stars CBR1000RR a debut win. Ukawa, who has won grands prix in both the 250cc and MotoGP classes, has retired from full-time racing but the race has additional significance for him this time round. The long term HRC team rider is chasing a record breaking fifth win in the Japanese classic. Ukawa currently shares the record with Australia’s former 500cc World Champion Wayne Gardner. Contrastingly Kiyonari, currently contesting the British Superbike Championship (BSB), has yet to make a name for himself in the race. Despite brilliant qualifying performances at the last two 8-hour races that put him among the pre-race favourites Kiyonari did not ride in either race after his team mate on the day crashed out during the first hour. The team will run the CBR1000RR with Kiyonari’s race set up, Ukawa calling upon his track knowledge and experience to adjust his style to compensate. “This year I am teaming up with Ryuichi Kiyonari and as he is young and I have more experience than him, I would ride the machine with his set-up. If you try to find a compromised solution, both riders cannot use their performance fully. If one of them gives away, the other can ride 100%.” Ukawa said. Kiyonari, a graduate of the Suzuka Racing School Junior, was an ‘8-Hour’ race fan long before he first contested the event and he is determined to win the race and erase the dismal memories of his last two attempts. He said: “I am riding with Ukawa san this time. My parent loves watching 8-hour races and they brought me to Suzuka every year when I was kid and once I got an autograph from Ukawa san. So it is a great pleasure to ride with him. As I am riding the same machine in the BSB, I cannot ride fast without my set-up so Ukawa san said ‘I can ride with your set-up Ryuichi.’ Of course I want to win this race desperately because I was a mere spectator for the past two years.” Team manager Katunori Suzuki believes the CBR1000RR is the machine to beat on Sunday. However, at the recent Suzuka 300km race the team saw a comfortable lead wiped out when a race incident brought out the pace car destroying the teams race strategy and allowing their rivals back into the race. “So far, everything is going well. We have tested seven days at Suzuka. However, this year’s race will be tough and there are many strong rivals such as Yoshimura Suzuki, the TSR of Ito and Tsujimura, Yamaha and Masked riders.” Said Suzuki. “We have our basic plan but we must also have flexible tactics to cope with any accident or pace cars. During the Suzuka 300km race in June, pace cars were introduced and our advantage became nothing. We lost the race to Yoshimura but it was a good lesson for us, as we have learned how to reorganize the race when pace cars are introduced. Anyway, our target is to win the race.” HRC have drafted in two high profile riders from world championship to race the second Seven Stars CBR1000RR in the race. Katsuaki Fujiwara from World Supersport racing and World Superbike rider Chris Vermeulen will ride with race number 11. Fujiwara is a seasoned 8-hour campaigner who has born the brunt of pre-race testing but for Australian Vermeulen the race is a completely new experience. The two men are in good form. Racing Ten Kate Hondas in the world championship both hold second place in their respective race series Fujiwara aboard a CBR600RR, Vermeulen with his CBR1000RR. Fujiwara, Kats to his friends, is suffering the after effects of a July 6 crash while testing the Honda at Suzuka. Daily hospital visits for treatment in an oxygen tent have speeded his recovery and Kats is confident he will be completely fit to race on Sunday. Team Manager for number 11, Kazuhiko Yamano said: ” Fujiwara will be OK for the race. He is not having any problem with the machine, although the machine and tyres are different from the ones he is using for the World Supersport series. In case of Chris, he had to learn Suzuka track so there were more new things, which he had to get accustomed to. However, he got used to all of them very quickly. His adaptability is amazingly high.” The experienced Fujiwara, now 30, said: “I crashed at the Dunlop curve during the 8 hour test at Suzuka on July 6, and suffered a crack in a small side bone of spinal column. I am almost OK now although I had to cancel my World Super Sports race at Brno last weekend. Still, I have not ridden motorcycle since the accident so I will see how it goes during the first free practice on next Thursday. Feeling of the machine is perfect and I don’t feel any awkwardness switching from 600cc to 1000cc. Engine of the CBR1000RRW revs from the bottom so smoothly. Chris and I have almost identical set-up so there is no problem for us. I can ride 2’11″s constantly and this is very good.” Team mate Vermeulen cant wait to get to grips with the Seven Stars Honda: The Australian said: “I’m really looking forward to Suzuka and, although it’s my first time doing the 8-hour, I know it’s going to be a very long and hard race. The biggest things for me have been trying to learn the circuit during the tests we’ve had there, and riding with different tyres and suspension to my World Superbike CBR1000RR. It’s such a long lap and I was still learning things from other riders right at the end of our last test. But I like the circuit a lot – it’s very technical and has a bit of everything so I think I’ll enjoy the ride.” He went on to say: “The HRC factory bike just feels very different to my CBR1000RR but I’m with a very experienced HRC team. Some of the mechanics have been around since the Gardner and Doohan days so they know what it takes to win at Suzuka. I’ve really enjoyed working with all the technicians who really show their appreciation when you’re doing your job well. Working with Kats (Fujiwara) has been good, too. He knows the track like a lot of the Japanese riders, so I spent some time following him and Ukawa. Kats is fast there and we can ride using similar settings and the same, road-bike gear-shift pattern so it’s only natural that we should team up.” The race, officially part of the World Endurance Championship, is a high-speed eight-hour dash run at near grand prix pace around the technically challenging 5.821km circuit. Speed is not enough to win the Suzuka 8 hours riders have to possess an array of talents. He has to find a fast and smooth rhythm to get the very best from his tyres while grinding out consistent fast lap times. Track craft and patience is essential for dealing with a host of lapped riders and oily circuit conditions. Tactical awareness and the ability to adapt race strategy when the weather changes, or accidents bring out the pace care are priceless qualities. Like all top flight endurance events, two and four wheel classics, competitors in the twilight of their racing careers are in high demand and some of the very best among the two wheel exponents of the art will race for Honda supported teams. Dream Team Sakurai Honda has entered Tadayuki Okada the 38 years old near veteran as team leader. Okada is currently Team Manager of the BSB team that runs Kiyonari, is making his first race appearance since the corresponding event last year. The team will race with number 74 in honour of Okada’s late friend Daijiro Kato. He will be partnered by Kato’s cousin Chojun Kameya, the partnership hoping to better their ninth place finish in last years race. Another 38 year-old evergreen campaigning a CBR1000RR is Shinichi Ito who set a new Superbike record of 2m 09.211s at the Suzuka 2&4 race last April. Ito is paired with former five-time 125cc GP winner Takeshi Tsujimura yet another thirty-plusser. “Everything is going so smoothly at the moment. I marked low 2’09″s during the testing and my partner Tsujimura is also in good shape.” Said Ito. “So we are looking forward to the race. I have marked the best time during the Superpole for the past two years and I am really aiming for that again this year but I guess I have to mark 2’08″s to get the pole this year.” Former double 125cc World Champion Haruchika Aoki returns to the 8-hour after a two-year absence during which he has raced in the Autorace series held on oval tracks. Aoki will share the Team Harc Pro Honda with Tsuyoshi Yasuda who finished seventh for the team in 2004. The Anglo-Japanese partnership of Naoki Matsudo and Leon Camier race for Moriwaki Motul Tiger Racing. Moriwaki inevitably provides his riders with fast competitive motorcycles and Matsudo and Camier are a formidable combination. Team Masked Rider Hibiki Honda RT field Tatsuya Yamaguchi and Kazuki Tokudome for the second consecutive year. They finished fourth last year and but for Yamaguchi suffering an arm pump-up problem the team might have taken a podium place. They are determined to finish in the top three this time round. Tokudome has his sights set firmly on the top step of the podium. He said: “This year we are really aiming to win the race. During the Suzuka 300km race in June, I was chasing Ukawa san. He was faster than me at the straights but I could catch up at the turns. But our machine broke down three laps to go and I had to come in to the pit. It was disappointing but the race itself gave me confidence for the 8-hour race.” Competition among the Honda teams is intense no quarter asked or given but they will not have the race to themselves they face formidable opposition from strong teams entered by rival marks. Chief among them will be the Yoshimura Suzuki of Atsushi Watanabe and Yukio Kagayama who finished second in 2004. They will be backed up by the Castrol Suzuki of Keiichi Kitagawa, Vincent Philippe and Matthieu Lagrive. Yamaha look to the talented pairing of Shinichi Nakatomi and Wataru Yoshikawa to deliver the big prize while Kawasaki place their faith in tried and trusted campaigners Ryuji Tsuruta and Katsunori Hasegawa backed up by Osamu Nishijima and team mate Kazuki Shimizu.