STEVE PLATER SCORES POINTS IN JAPAN Steve Plater and his two teammates Steve Martin and Igor Jerman scored a fine 11th place for Yamaha Austria (YART) in the Japanese round of the World Endurance series at Suzuka on Sunday to move to 12th in the points after three rounds. The event was made more challenging this year with the inclusion of the Japanese teams who previously had been excluded from the points. This made for a more interesting race in which the permanent world championship teams had to fight even harder to score points against the well-prepared factory and semi-official Japanese teams. Even within the strict technical regulations of the Formula EWC class, the local teams had more than sufficient resources to score big points for the World Championship. Qualifying went relatively well for the Woodhall Spa race ace who was making his racing debut at the near on four-mile super fast circuit. “It is unbelievably tiring to be on the bike for an hour at a time here in Japan. The temperature is around 40 degrees with 70% humidity. We have qualified 24th overall, which is pretty good as we are the third fastest permanent team on the grid,” said Plater. “There are some very, very good bikes out there that are really fast, much quicker than the normal endurance bikes but there have been many crashes in qualifying. There are so many entries this year (over 80) that they had to split the qualifying into two groups and in the B group there were 17 crashes in just one session. “The circuit is quite dangerous and as it is nearly four miles round, it is quite hard to learn. But on saying that it is very good to ride and I am more than happy with my lap times as I am on the same pace as my teammates on race rubber.” The Suzuka race is run over eight hours with the three team members taking turn to ride the bike. Plater started the race and immediately pushed forward into the top 20. But his race was nearly over before it began as a rider just ahead suffered an engine failure as they exited a fast right turn. Plater was quick to respond and sat the bike up, banging into the side of the stricken machine and being shot across the grass losing six places before making it back onto the circuit. He then got his head down passing many riders in an attempt to get back on terms with the leaders but made a mistake at the chicane slipping off into the gravel and again losing ground. But, undeterred, the Lincolnshire rider remounted and finished his session in 38th place. “By the time I got back on the bike after Steve and Igor’s sessions we were progressing nicely. I continued to make ground with good lap times but in the distance I could see lightening and sure enough ten minutes later the heavens opened on some parts of the circuit.” At one point the whole track was damp but the heavy rain was in just one sector. Steve decided to carry on and complete his last six laps on slicks, as it was obvious the rain was soon to stop and the track dry. He made up many places as other teams crashed out or pitted for a change of tyre. At the end of his session on the bike he handed over the Steve Martin with instructions to fit a set of new slicks, as at that point the team had moved back into the top 20. With just 1½ hours remaining they made it into the top 10 and then to ninth but Leon Haslam on the factory Honda demoted them and YART eventually crossed the finish line for 11th place. “We are pretty happy with that result,” said the ever-smiling Steve Plater. “We were 11th and the first permanent team over the line. Considering we had to race with a completely standard engine after suffering a few problems during practice I am well pleased, especially as it was my first time here in Japan.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Yoshimura Suzuki with Denso’s Daisaku Sakai and Atsushi Watanabe raced their GSX-R1000 to second place at the Suzuka 8 Hour World Endurance third round in Japan as last years winners Yoshimura Suzuki with Jomo’s Yukio Kagayama and Kousuke Akiyoshi finished fourth after recovering from a crash. The event was led from start to finish by Dream Honda Racing’s Ryuichi Kiyonari and Carlos Checa who finished with 214 laps, the same number as the Yoshimura team as third place went to Team HARC. Pro Honda four laps behind. After three hours Honda led the #34 Yoshimura Suzuki of Kagayama and Akiyoshi by a minute but the Suzuki men took a brief lead following a sudden rainfall; Kagayama pulling a 10-second lead on Checa. But disaster stuck on the 91st lap when Kagayama hit a pool of water in heavy rain and crashed heavily, ruining their chance of victory. Reigning World Champions SERT had a difficult race, but still remain in the World Endurance Championship lead: In a team knocked down to just two – after fastest rider Vincent Philippe was injured in qualifying, Mathieu Lagrive and Julien Da Costa finished in 14th place on 202 laps. In the SST class, young Japanese rider Masahiro Sinjo was drafted into the Qatar Endurance Racing Team, finished second in class, and kept the team’s championship lead intact. Yukio Kagayama: “I really thought we had a realistic chance to beat Honda but then heavy rain began to fall. I was pushing hard but within the safety margins and then I hit a large pool of water and crashed. I feel sorry for my team mate and all the Yoshimura and SMC staff that we didn’t win.” Atsushi Watanabe: We were fast and strong for 214 laps but could not quite catch Honda. We had a good plan for the race but winning and finishing is a big difference, but I’d like to win next year.” Suzuka 8 Hour Results: 1.DREAM Honda Racing Team 11 – R.KIYONARI/ C.CHECA – 214 laps 2.YOSHIMURA SUZUKI with DENSO – D.SAKAI/ A.WATANABE – 214 laps 3.Team HARC. pro Honda – Y.KONISHI/ T.TAKAHASHI – 210 laps 4.YOSHIMURA SUZUKI with JOMO – Y.KAGAYAMA/ K.AKIYOSHI – 209 laps 5.YAMAHA Racing – Y.SATO/ K.NAKASUGA/ Y.TAKEDA – 209 laps 6.MORIWAKI MOTUL Racing HONDA – T.YAMAGUCHI/ C.CRUTCHLOW/ J.OHALLORAN – 208 laps 7.PLOT FARO PANTHERA SUZUKI – Y.KONNO/ K.TERAMOTO – 207 laps 8.MotoMap SUPPLY SUZUKI – Y.HATANO/ H.OGATA/ T.NAMEKATA – 205 laps 9.Team SAKURAI HONDA 10 – C.KAMEYA/ L.HASLAM – 205 laps 10.Team SAKURAI HONDA 71 – K.TSUDA/ J.BROOKES – 204 laps 14. SUZUKI ENDURANCE RACING TEAM – J.DA COSTA /M.LAGRIVE – 202 laps 32.(2nd for STT Class) QATAR ENDURANCE RACING TEAM – ITJ MAL NAIMI/ A.DELHALLE/ M.SHINJO – 194 laps More, from a press release issued by Honda: Kiyonari and Checa win Suzuka 8 Hours for Dream Honda Racing Team The DREAM Honda Racing Team duo of Ryuichi Kiyonari and Carlos Checa raced their CBR1000RR Honda to a superbly judged victory in the 31st running of the Suzuka 8 Hours held today at the classic Japanese circuit of the same name. The race win restored damaged pride following defeat at the hands of the Yoshimura #34 in the race last year that ended Honda 10 year winning streak. The 2008 race saw the two teams start the grueling 8 hour race as joint favourites along with the TSR FCC CBR1000RR of Shinichi Ito and Takeshi Tsujimura. Ryuichi Kiyonari was the lead off rider for #11 and, as he promised, the reigning British Superbike Champion made a good start from third on the grid his CBR1000RR glued to the rear wheel of Kagayama on the #34 Yoshimura machine. The two swapped place twice on the opening lap but Kiyo surged into the lead along the start finish straight at the end of the lap. Daisaku Sakai held third place aboard the #12 Yoshimura he was sharing with Atsushi Watanabe. From that point on Kiyo raced to the first rider change over unchallenged handing team mate Carlos Checa a clear lead. The Spaniard kept the pressure on his rivals with a fast consistent pace leading by 30 seconds from the TSR FCC CBR1000RR #2 machine of pole sitters Ito and Tsujimura, at the second refueling stop. The #2 team had fought their way into contention after a bad start left them down in sixth place at the end of lap one. Akiyoshi on the #34 held third place a further 30 seconds adrift. The #33 in the hands of Johnny Rae went down at the Degner Curve on lap 21 when Rae clipped the rear end of a back-marker. He remounted to limp back to the pits for repairs and team mate Yuki Takahashi took to the track and quickly settled into a fast rhythm the #33 regaining much of the ground lost. Ito crashed the #2 in the third hour but managed to get back to the pits but the machine was too badly damaged to continue. His demise leaving Kiyonari well clear of the two Yoshimura machines and the #33 Dream Honda of Rae and Yuki Takahashi. Kameya crashed the Sakurai Honda and limped back to the pits for repairs. The fourth hour provided real drama as a heavy rain shower soaked a part of the circuit making conditions very difficult to judge for 20 long minutes. Kagayama put in a big charge and caught and passed Checa but two laps later crashed the #34 at the first turn. He remounted still holding second place and completed his stint. The DREAM team pit crew signaled Checa and Takahashi to come into the pits for rain tyres but both riders stayed out on track as conditions improved. The #11 pairing was now almost one lap ahead of the two Yoshimura machines with the #33 DREAM Honda fourth having inherited the place following Ito’s crash. While Kiyo and Carlos steamed away at the front in the fifth hour Akiyoshi crashed the #34 trying to close the ever increasing gap to the race leaders. The race ended for the #33 DREAM Honda when Rae crashed at the Spoon Curve demolishing the CBR1000RR. The accidents promoted the hard charging Harc Pro Honda pairing of Yoshiteru Konishi and Takumi Takahashi up to third place where they would remain until the finish. Kiyonari and Checa continued to build on their one lap lead as the raced to victory despite Checa being handed a stop and go penalty for speeding in the pit lane that cost them 30 seconds. The last hour gave the team cause for concern when Kiyo suffered a front brake problem which gave Checa a few anxious moments on his way to securing a superb victory for the DREAM Honda CBR1000RR. The team had hoped to run 217 laps but the rain put that beyond them finishing with 214 laps in 8 hours 20.726 seconds. The #12 Yoshimura machine of Sakai and Watanabe finished second one minute 20 seconds behind the Honda with Konishi and Takuma Takahashi third for Harc Pro Honda four laps adrift of the victorious #11. The victory was sweet revenge for both Checa and Kiyonari as both men had previously suffered the pain of defeat in the grueling race, Checa finished second last year with Kiyonari the victim of cruel circumstances while front running on two previous attempts. Akiyoshi and Kagayama battled home in fourth place five laps down just ahead of the Yamaha of Sato, Nakasuga and Takeda. The Moriwaki CBR1000RRof Yamaguchi, Crutchlow and O’Halloran finished sixth. Chojun Kameya and Leon Haslam staged a rapid comeback from Kameya’s crash and were rewarded with a fine ninth place for Sakurai Honda one lap ahead of team mates Kazuma Tsuda and Josh Brookes in tenth. Quotes from Honda riders and team staff: Ryuichi Kiyonari, DREAM Honda: Race winner. “I was really nervous during the last hour watching Carlos riding. Already front brake problem was there during my last stint. I was scared to watch sparks when Carlos braked. I am so happy that I won today. From last year’s lesson, I was in the lead when back markers appeared. I was so happy because my machine was so fast. When I passed Yoshimura at the main straight, I was saying “Sorry!”. When it started to rain, Carlos was cautious so I was not worried at all.” Carlos Checa, DREAM Honda: Race winner. ” Usually, when you have a big margin like today, you can relax more. But today, I had no front brake during my last stint. I only had engine brake and rear brake so I was really nervous. When it started to rain, the team showed me “Pit In” signal, but I decided not to come in. When Kagayama passed me, I thought “He is going too fast”. I decided to ride with my own rhythm. One of the reasons for our win was this and also Kiyo did a good job during his first stint. I am now thirty five years old so I don’t know whether I have another chance or not, but if I can race again next year, I want to win again.” Norihisa Matsuura – #11 Team Manager “I let Checa to decide whether to come in and change the tyres or not, when it was raining. We were prepared to every situation. Checa’s decision was correct. Both the riders did a good job. But I was surprised by the pit lane speed limit violation.” Teruaki Matsubara Suzuka 8 hrs Project Leader. :”Both riders did superb job. Checa rode consistently in the rain and Kiyonari was riding very aggressive throughout. I want to thank Kiyonari and Checa.” Jonathan Rea, DREAM Honda: Dnf 134 laps. ” I crashed just before I was coming into the pit. I was pushing hard at the spoon curve and suddenly front wheel tucked. I am very disappointed and it was bad for the team. Today, both Yuki and I crashed during the first ride. Yuki was riding very good under the difficult rainy condition. We were third and I wanted to get on the podium desperately. The team and I worked so hard for this race so I am very much disappointed not to finish it.” Yuki Takahashi, DREAM Honda: Dnf 134 laps. “We worked very hard during the weekend to get the best set-up and we were feeling good for the race. Today, first Johnny crashed and I crashed during my first stint because I wanted to make up for it. We tried very hard to reach the third place so I was shocked to see Johnny’s crash. Still Johnny didn’t get hurt so that is the best thing. I experienced that kind of rainy condition many times this year in GPs so I knew I was OK. I had good influence from Johnny and also I got good experience riding a factory endurance machine. If I have a chance again next year, I will use this experience.” Tetsuo Kinoe – #33 Team Manager “Both the riders have high skill and did a good job although we didn’t have much preparation time. Yuki did a good job in the rain and made up to the third place. Johnny was trying so hard to keep the podium position. I wanted them to be on the podium so I feel sorry for them. Anyway, I want to make revenge next year. Teruaki Matsubara Suzuka 8 hrs Project Leader #33 riders were riding aggressively. They were trying to make up for the crashes which occurred during the early stages and that was the reason Johnny had crashed. Yoshiteru Konishi, Kyubo.com team HARC-PRO: 3rd “Yasuda crashed on Friday so Takahashi replaced him. Yasuda did all the set-up of the machine. This year, top teams were so fast that we thought it was difficult for us to get on the podium. Takahashi did a good job riding consistently in the rain. The reason why I rode during the night is Takahashi had never ridden in night race. We also tried to reduce pit stop time. I am quite satisfied about finishing third.” Takumi Takahashi, Kyubo.com team HARC-PRO: 3rd “I thought I would have no chance this year as I was the third rider. I tried not to hurt the team’s effort. I passed the bike to Konishi san while I was lying third. This was my first 8 hr race but it was very exciting and I would like to try again in the future if I have a chance.” Tatsuya Yamaguchi, MORIWAKI MOTUL Racing: 6th “We had some tyre troubles and made eleven pit stops. If we didn’t have any trouble, we could have finished third. I really feel sorry about it. My team is doing so well so I want to win races for the All Japan Championship rounds.” Chojun Kameya, TEAM SAKURAI Honda: 9th My bike stole at the start so I had to catch up from 22nd. Then I crashed during my second stint. Track temperature was higher than we though and was tough for the tyres. I will make revenge during the All Japan Championship races.” Leon Haslam, TEAM SAKURAI Honda: 9th “We were almost there to challenge for the podium till the middle of the race. But unfortunately Kameya san crashed. But he rode very hard to make up and that was the main reason we could finish 9th. This was my first 8 hr race and it was a great experience. If I have a chance again, I want to try next year.” Kazuma Tsuda, TEAM SAKURAI Honda: 10th. “I was riding very good during this weekend but crashed during the TOP 10 TRIAL and broke right leg so I couldn’t ride smoothly today. Josh tried very hard today. I hope I can get better by the next All Japan Championship race.” Josh Brookes, TEAM SAKURAI Honda: 10th. “Today I made two mistakes but we were eighth place when we had exhaust problem. So we finished tenth. I want to take part in this race riding a factory bike.” Shinichi Ito, F.C.C. TSR Honda: Dnf. ” I was trying to pass a slow rider from outside and made a mistake. Today was very hot and tough. #11 was very fast and I tried to follow them but today they were faster. I feel sorry for the team because I couldn’t use this opportunity. I will concentrate on the All Japan Championship races from now on.” Takeshi Tsujimura, F.C.C. TSR Honda: Dnf. “I couldn’t get a perfect set-up during the pre-event testing and that may have given pressure to Ito san. I thought I can ride well today but was sorry to see Ito san crashing. I will try my best during the All Japan Championship races using the experiences I gained during this weekend.” Results: Pos. / Team / Type / Laps / Total Time / Delay / Best / Riders 1 / DREAM Honda Racing Team 11 / H-CBR1000RR / 214 / 8:00’20.726 / 155.60km / h / 2’08.428 / R.KIYONARI / C.CHECA 2 / YOSHIMURA SUZUKI with DENSO IRIDIUM POWER / S-GSX-R1000 / 214 / 8:01’39.626 / 1’18.900 / 2’08.416 / D.SAKAI / A.WATANABE 3 / Kyubo.com team HARC-PRO. / H-CBR1000RR / 210 / 8:02’16.360 / 4Laps / 2’11.265 / Y.KONISHI / T.TAKAHASHI 4 / YOSHIMURA SUZUKI with JOMO / S-GSX-R1000 / 209 / 8:00’26.157 / 5Laps / 2’08.417 / K.AKIYOSHI / Y.KAGAYAMA 5 / YAMAHA RACING / Y-YZF-R1 / 209 / 8:00’56.222 / 5Laps / 2’10.937 / Y.SATO / K.NAKASUGA / Y.TAKEDA 6 / MORIWAKI MOTUL RACING / H-CBR1000RR / 208 / 8:00’21.168 / 6Laps / 2’11.523 / T.YAMAGUCHI / C.CRUTCHLOW / J.OHALLORAN 7 / PLOT FARO PANTHERA / S-GSX-R1000 / 207 / 8:01’54.467 / 7Laps / 2’12.652 / Y.KONNO / K.TERAMOTO 8 / MotoMap SUPPLY / S-GSX-R1000 / 205 / 8:02’19.802 / 9Laps / 2’12.816 / Y.HATANO / H.OGATA / T.NAMEKATA 9 / Team SAKURAI HONDA 10 / H-CBR1000RR / 205 / 8:02’30.445 / 9Laps / 2’11.670 / C.KAMEYA / L.HASLAM 10 / Team SAKURAI HONDA 71 / H-CBR1000RR / 204 / 8:00’36.960 / 10Laps / 2’12.778 / K.TSUDA / J.BROOKES 11 / YAMAHA AUSTRIA RACING TEAM #7 / Y-YZF-R1 / 204 / 8:00’51.676 / 10Laps / 2’14.630 / I.JERMAN / S.MARTIN / S.PLATER 12 / YMES FOLCH ENDURANCE / Y-YZF-R1 / 204 / 8:01’53.811 / 10Laps / 2’14.914 / D.RIBALTA / P.LUIS VALLCANERAS 13 / PHASE ONE ENDURANCE / Y-YZF-R1 / 204 / 8:02’04.025 / 10Laps / 2’14.676 / R.PENZKOFER / S.PAUL SMART / D.CUDLIN 14 / SUZUKI ENDURANCE RACING TEAM / S-GSX-R1000 / 202 / 8:00’30.962 / 12Laps / 2’12.117 / / J.DA COSTA / M.LAGRIVE 15 / TRICK STAR RACING / K-ZX-10R / 202 / 8:01’01.932 / 12Laps / 2’13.546 / S.TAKEISHI / R.TSURUTA / K.EGUCHI