Suzuka 8 Hours Qualifying Masked Rider Honda’s Tokudome Fastest Suzuki Castrol Through to Super Pole Special Stage Eighty teams have spent today fighting for seventy Suzuka 8 Hours grid positions, with the leading bikes also chasing a top-twenty position and entry into tomorrow’s Super Pole special stage. Kazuki Tokudome on the No.4 Masked Rider Honda CBR1000RR put in the fastest time of the day with a lap of 2:08.245 to take provisional pole. Shinichi Ito was second quickest on the No.778 FCC TSR CBR1000RR with a best time of 2:08.820. These two Group A riders were the only ones to dip into the 2:08 bracket. The quickest team in group B was third fastest overall, No.12 Yoshimura Suzuki’s Yukio Kagayama recording a time of 2:09.178. Fourth place overall went to the No.7 HRC Honda of Kiyonari and Ukawa (2:09.352), fifth overall to the No.55 FCC TSR Honda (2:09.547), sixth to the No.21 YSP Presto Yamaha (2:09.597) and seventh to the 044 Weider Honda(2:10.097). Suzuki Castrol were eighth overall with a time of 2:10.191 put in by Keichi Kitagawa, with team mate Vincent Philippe just a couple of tenths behind on 2:10.370. With ten qualifying sessions (three riders, two groups, two sessions per rider”¦) spread over nearly ten hours (qualifying started at 9:15am and finished at 18:45pm) the track and weather conditions have varied significantly over the course of the day. The top twenty starting grid positions will be decided by a double jeopardy two stage Super Pole contest tomorrow afternoon. For the rest of the permanent World Endurance Championship teams qualifying has been about finding a set-up which will work on the incredibly technical track, and for those here for the first time – simply learning the circuit. Qualifying Quotes: Chris Vermeulen, Seven Stars Honda 11: “There were a lot of backmarkers and I couldn’t get a clear lap. Japanese riders are very fast here, but if I can get a set of good tyres tomorrow I think I can get to the 2:09s during the Special stage.” Vincent Philippe, Suzuki Castrol: “I think today it has been okay. Kitagawa did a good time in first qualifying, and today is cool for me because yesterday I crashed twice. I’ve changed tyres, and in the first session I just rode for the race; I’m now confident because we can do consistent good lap times. The important thing is to be in Super Pole, so it’s ok, no problem!” Gwen Giabbani Yamaha Austria: “We are looking for some solutions, because we are still pretty far away on the lap times. At this moment I would say that we still have a lot of work to do. We had problems with the handling but now it’s okay and the grip is not a big problem”¦ Everything looks to be okay, but on the track the lap times are not there. This morning we tried something completely crazy and it worked; this is Suzuka.” Warwick Nowland, Yamaha Phase One Endurance: “It was good, but it’s just so hard here because I want to make the front all the time in the first three at least and we just don’t have a chance. We’re not going to get into Super Pole because there are so many fast bikes, so that’s horribly disappointing, but I think four hours into the race we’ll be a bit happier. We’re going forward all the time, and finding good tyres, so that’s good.” James Hutchins, Kawasaki Diablo 666: “Qualifying has been tough. I’m a bit shellshocked to realise quite how much machinery we’re up against. We haven’t really got the tyres here that we wanted to use, and it’s like fighting a never ending battle. We just want something nice to happen. I feel good about what we’ve done but there are still a few hurdles we’ve got to get over.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: YOSHIMURA TAKE PROVISIONAL THIRD Team Yoshimura’s Yukio Kagayama set the fastest time in his group go take provisional third overall during qualifying for Sunday’s World Endurance third round at Suzuka. The World Superbike rider posted a time of 2:09.178 on his GSX-R1000 under track temperatures of 55 degrees with series leaders Suzuki Castrol eighth overall on 2:10.191 put in by Keiichi Kitagawa. Team mate Vincent Philippe, who crashed uninjured during the opening practice session, was just a couple of tenths behind on 2:10.370. Said Kagayama: “If I have more time, I would like to set-up to bike more, although we have the perfect chassis and handling for the race. The most important thing is about tyre choice for high temperature track. We had a very good day today but we need some luck to win the race. Team mate Watanabe added: “Today I only aimed to make consistence lap times and I am now very confident for the race.” SERT rider Phillipe said: “I think today it has been good. Kitagawa did a good time in first qualifying and today is cool for me because yesterday I crashed twice. I’ve changed tyres and in the first session I just rode for the race; I’m now confident because we can do consistent good lap times. The important thing is to be in Super Pole.” Fastest overall was set by Kazuki Tokudome on the No.4 Masked Rider Honda CBR1000RR with a lap of 2:08.245 ahead of Shinichi Ito (Honda) on 2:08.820. Timed Practice Results: 1 T.Yamaguchi / K.Tokudome (Honda) 2min 08.245. 2 T.Tsujimura / S.Itoh (Honda) 2min 08.820. 3 Atsushi Watanabe/ Yukio Kagayama (Yoshimura Suzuki) 2min 09.178. 4 T.Ukawa / R.Kiyonari (Honda) 2min 09.352. 5 Y.Teshima / O.Deguchi (Honda) 2min 09.547. 6 W.Yoshikawa / S.Nakatomi (Yamaha) 2min 09.597. 7 T.Hamaguchi / S.Moriwaki (Honda) 2min 10.097. 8 Keiichi Kitagawa / Vincent Phillipe (Suzuki Castrol) 2min 10.191. 9 L.Camier / N.Matsudo (Honda) 2min 10.417. 10 H.Aoki / T.Yasuda (Honda) 2min 10.691.