41st Coca-Cola Suzuka 8-Hours Endurance Race
FIM Endurance World Championship
Suzuka Circuit, Japan
July 27, 2018
Combined Qualifying Results (based on average of each team’s riders’ best laps, top 10 advance to Special Stage):
1. Kawasaki Team Green (Kazuma Watanabe 2:07.541/Jonathan Rea 2:05.168 new lap record/Leon Haslam 2:06.636), Kaw ZX-10R, SBK, Bridgestone, 2:06.448
2. Yamaha Factory Racing Team (Katsuyuki Nakasuga 2:06.263/Alex Lowes 2:06.620/Michael van der Mark 2:07.428), Yam YZF-R1, SBK, Bridgestone, 2:06.770
3. Red Bull Honda With Japan Post (Takumi Takahashi 2:06.775/Takaaki Nakagami 2:07.195/PJ Jacobsen 2:08.150), Hon CBR1000RR, SBK, Bridgestone, 2:07.373
4. Yoshimura Suzuki Motul Racing (Takuya Tsuda 2:07.204/Sylvain Guintoli 2:07.981/Bradley Ray 2:07.580), Suz GSX-R1000, SBK, Bridgestone, 2:07.588
5. MuSashi RT Harc-Pro Honda (Dominique Aegerter 2:07.390/Ryo Mizuno 2:09.079/Randy de Puniet 2:07.219), Hon CBR1000RR, SBK, Bridgestone, 2:07.896
6. S-Pulse Dream Racing – IAI (Hideyuki Ogata 2:08.966/Tommy Bridewell 2:07.939/Kazuki Watanabe 2:07.556), Suz GSX-R1000, SBK, Bridgestone, 2:08.153
7. au.Teluru MotoUP Racing Team (Kosuke Akiyoshi 2:08.006/Tetsuta Nagashima 2:08.068/Isaac Vinales 2:08.479), Hon CBR1000RR, SBK, Bridgestone, 2:08.184
8. YART – Yamaha (Broc Parkes 2:08.208/Marvin Fritz 2:08.160/Takuya Fujita 2:08.350), Yam YZF-R1, SBK, Bridgestone, 2:08.239
9. KYB Moriwaki Motul Racing (Ryuichi Kiyonari 2:08.450/Yuki Takahashi 2:08.344), Hon CBR1000RR, SBK, Pirelli, 2:08.397
10. Team SuP Dream Honda (Tatsuya Yamaguchi 2:08.605/Ryosuke Iwato 2:08.684/Kosuke Sakumoto 2:09.008), Hon CBR1000RR, SBK, Bridgestone, 2:08.765
11. Honda Asia Dream Racing (Mohammad Zaqhwan Zaidi 2:08.519/Troy Herfoss 2:08.951/Andi Farid Izdihar 2:09.293), Hon CBR1000RR, SBK, 2:08.921
12. F.C.C. TSR Honda France (Josh Hook 2:08.511/Freddy Foray 2:08.704/Alan Techer 2:10.062), Hon CBR1000RR, SBK, Bridgestone, 2:09.092
13. Team Kagayama USA (Yukio Kagayama 2:09.206/Naomichi Uramoto 2:09.664/Joe Roberts 2:08.843), Suz GSX-R1000, SBK, Dunlop, 2:09.237
14. GMT94 Yamaha (David Checa 2:09.179/ Niccolo Canepa 2:09.474/Mike Di Meglio 2:09.237), Yam YZF-R1, SBK, Dunlop, 2:09.296
15. BMW Motorrad 39 (Alex Cudlin 2:10.915/Damian Cudlin 2:09.787/Daisaku Sakai 2:09.688), BMW S1000RR, SBK, 2:10.130
16. Honda Suzuka Racing Team (Dajiro Hiura 2:08.140/Yudai Kamei 2:11.132/Takashi Yasuda 2:11.131), Hon CBR1000RR, SBK, Bridgestone, 2:10.167
17. Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (Vincent Philippe 2:10.338/Etienne Masson 2:10.305/Gregg Black 2:09.967), Suz GSX-R1000, SBK, Dunlop, 2:10.203
18. Honda Endurance Racing Team (Erwan Nigon 2:10.289/Sebastien Gimbert 2:10.735/Yonny Hernandez 2:10.210), Hon CBR1000RR, SBK, Dunlop, 2:10.411
19. NRT48 (Kenny Foray 2:09.676/Peter Hickman 2:10.777/Julien Da Costa 2:11.040), BMW S1000RR, SBK, 2:10.497
20. Tone RT Syncedge 4413 (Tomoya Hoshino 2:09.892/Soushi Mihara 2:11.584/Kocoro Atsumi 2:10.099), BMW S1000RR, STK, 2:10.525
33. Army Girl Team MF & Kawasaki (Kyosuke Okuda 2:13.202/Andrew Lee 2:12.619/Hikari Okubu 2:11.425), Kaw ZX-10R, STK, 2:12.415
More, from a press release issued by FIM/Eurosport Events:
KAWASAKI TEAM GREEN PULLS OFF DOUBLE COUP
Kawasaki Team Green has picked up provisional pole at the Suzuka 8 Hours and Jonathan Rea has set a new Endurance lap record with a 2:05.168.
Kawasaki Team Green rider Jonathan Rea has smashed the lap record in qualifying set by Pol Espargaró (a 2:06.000) in the 2015 Top 10 Trial. The FIM Superbike triple champion posted a 2:05.168 lap to once again etch his name into the Suzuka 8 Hours annals following his 2012 win.
Rea’s blistering lap, teammate Leon Haslam seriously upping his performance and strong back-up from Kazuma Watanabe took Kawasaki Team Green to provisional pole ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing Team’s seemingly unbeatable Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark.
Red Bull Honda with Japan Post (Takumi Takahashi, Takaaki Nakagami and PJ Jacobsen) held on to 3rd place on the provisional grid, ahead of Yoshimura Suzuki Motul Racing (Takuya Tsuda, Sylvain Guintoli and Bradley Ray), Musashi RT Harc-Pro Honda (Dominique Aegerter, Ryo Mizuno and Randy de Puniet), S-Pulse Dream Racing IAI (Hideyuki Ogata, Thomas Bridewell and Kazuki Watanabe) and au.Teluru MotoUP Racing Team (Kosuke Akiyoshi, Tetsuta Nagashima and Isaac Viñales).
YART Yamaha (Broc Parkes, Marvin Fritz and Takuya Fujita) once again proved the quickest of the full-season FIM EWC squads, placing 8th ahead of KYB Moriwaki Motul Racing and Team Sup Dream Honda.
These teams – the 10 fastest in qualifying – will toss their hats back into the ring tomorrow afternoon at the Top 10 Trial, a superpole unique to the Suzuka 8 Hours during which riders run an individual flying lap. The first 10 spots on the starting grid are then reassigned based on the superpole results.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France will start from 12th place on the grid, ahead of GMT94 Yamaha (14th), their 2017-2018 FIM EWC title challenger, and Suzuki Endurance Racing Team which will start from 17th, with NRT48 in 19th place.
The 41st Suzuka 8 Hours will be flagged off at 11.30am local time (GMT+9) this Sunday, with a night-time finish scheduled for 7.30pm.
Follow the race on the website fimewc.com, via the livetiming www.fimewc.com/live-timing, on Facebook, on Twitter and the new FIM EWC mobile app for iOS and Android.
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:
Yamaha Factory Racing Scores Second in Disrupted Suzuka Qualifying
Qualifying got underway today in Suzuka ahead of Sunday’s 2018 “Coca-Cola” Suzuka 8 Hours in relatively cooler temperatures than Japan has experienced with the intense heat earlier this week. The Yamaha Factory Racing Team continued their highly competitive form of the last three years, wrapping up the day with 2nd overall. The YART Yamaha Official EWC Team worked hard during their sessions to end the day of qualifying in 8th and Championship hopefuls, the GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team, completed a qualifying day that was plagued by red flags in 14th place. All three teams made a big impact on track riding in the special red and white livery to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the iconic Yamaha YZF-R1.
The Yamaha Factory Racing Team’s Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark hit the track with purpose in their first QP sessions, with Nakasuga the first out. The Japanese ace was immediately on the pace and under the 2’07 mark. As with all sessions his was interrupted by a red flag, but he was still able to calmly deliver a 2’06.854 lap to take 2nd in his heat, 0.079s from the top. Next up was World Superbike rider Lowes, who took little time to echo Nakasuga’s performance, delivering a blistering 2’06.620 lap before the next red flag came out, completing his session in 2nd, 0.249s from the top. Van der Mark completed the team’s outing in the third heat, finding space between more red flag incidents to lay down a 2’07.428 lap and take 3rd. The combined times of the team put them on top in the Overall 1st Qualifying Classification with an average lap of 2’06.967s, 0.129s ahead of 2nd place.
The second QP sessions saw Nakasuga straight to business again, putting down his fastest time of the weekend, a 2’06’236 lap to sign off his session. Both Lowes and van der Mark were able to keep up their pace from the earlier sessions, scoring a 2’06.620 lap and a 2’07.428 lap, respectively. The overall combined QP classification puts the Yamaha Factory Racing Team in 2nd, 0.322s from the top.
The YART Yamaha Official EWC Team’s Broc Parkes, Marvin Fritz and Takuya Fujita also made the best of the broken-up QP sessions, with Australian Parkes the first man out. Parkes was able to keep focus to deliver a best lap of 2’08.208 for 7th place on the #7 YZF-R1. German teammate Fritz upped the pace a little, securing a 2’08.160 for 5th and local rider Fujita worked his hardest to deliver a 2’09.178s lap. YART’s combined time for the first sessions was 2’08.515s, putting the #7 bike in 7th on the time sheet.
Both Parkes and Fritz opted to sit out the second QP session to allow Fujita the opportunity to get more track time in on new tyres. The gamble paid off, the team dropping to a 2’08.239 average lap time to secure 8th and a spot in the Top 10 Trial tomorrow.
The GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team’s David Checa, Niccolò Canepa and Mike Di Meglio experienced a day of mixed fortunes in their Suzuka qualifying efforts. Both Checa and Di Meglio were able to record their fastest-ever lap times around Suzuka Circuit, however third teammate Canepa’s efforts to deliver a fast time were constantly troubled either by heavy traffic, red flags or chatter resulting from tyre issues. As a result a potential Top 10 Trial entry was finally not possible, placing the team in 14th overall with a best combined lap time of 2’09.296.
Katsuyuki Nakasuga
Yamaha Factory Racing Team
“I did a 2’06.263 in the second qualifying session, but that was on tyres I’d used for four laps or so in the first session. Alex and Michael also used these tyres in their second sessions and all three of us were able to clock similar average lap times so we’re ready. One of our rivals set an incredible lap time but what’s important for winning the 8 Hours is the team’s overall performance, the solid teamwork between the team staff and the riders. Our team has done everything we need to do so all that’s left for us is to block out the noise and go racing.”
Alex Lowes
Yamaha Factory Racing Team
“It was a good day today, obviously it’s a long race, but it’s nice for all the riders to have been pretty quick over one lap. We just need to continue working together to make sure we do good pit stops, good out-laps and in-laps, basically doing all the endurance stuff right to maximise our results on Sunday. I think we are a bit quicker than we were last year, but it looks like some of the other teams have made a big step forward so we have to focus on what we are doing.”
Michael van der Mark
Yamaha Factory Racing Team
“I think we had quite a good day qualifying. Of course, with the rules you have to play a bit with the tyres but I think Nakasuga-san and Alex made really good lap times and I think for myself it was also quite good. I think we can be happy going into the Top 10 Trial tomorrow because the race pace from our team seems to be really good which is what matters most in the Suzuka 8 Hours. I’m really looking forward to the race.”
Wataru Yoshikawa
Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
“I wanted to have our guys focus only on their riding during the qualifying sessions, but there were still some things we had to make sure of, so we switched to checking off those items during the second qualifying runs. Of course, we were able to take care of everything and our riders, team and bike are ready for the race. The weather is the only thing on our minds but I’d like to be able to set a strong time in the Top 10 Trial so we can be in the best possible shape for the race.”
Broc Parkes
YART Yamaha Official EWC Team
“It went pretty well today, Marvin and I only took part in the first QP session so we could save some tyres for the race and we saved another set of tyres for Takuya to try and bump him up a bit with his lap times and confidence in his second QP session. My qualifying session was OK. I didn’t put one complete lap together, it was a little bit up and down with the splits and I was hoping for a little bit better, but in general I think we are in a good position and the main thing is that we got into the top ten so hopefully we can lay a good lap down in the Top 10 Trial superpole shootout.”
Marvin Fritz
YART Yamaha Official EWC Team
“Qualifying was OK, I had two red flags so I came in once and as I came out into the pit lane it was red again. Then we waited and eventually I came out and had two really good laps and made my best lap time ever here with a 2’08.1. For me it was really good so I’m glad Fujita was also quick enough for us to to be in the Top 10 Trial tomorrow.”
Takuya Fujita
YART Yamaha Official EWC Team
“In both qualifying sessions, I got caught up behind some backmarkers and slower bikes and wasn’t able to get in a clear lap, so I wasn’t able to lower my times. That left me a bit disappointed, so halfway through the second session I got a set of new tyres put on and went out again aiming for a 2’07.5. I had a clear track for just one lap but I set my best time of 2’08.3. My teammate Marvin hit a 2’08.1 and Broc clocked a 2’08.2, so with all three of us so close with our times, I think that really shows YART’s strength as a team.”
Mandy Kainz
YART Yamaha Official EWC Team Manager
“We made the decision for Broc and Marvin to sit out their second qualifying sessions to save the tyres for Fujita because the conditions were much better in the afternoon so they both stayed in the box. They all were able to make good, similar lap times in the end to give us a strong average and secure us a place in the Top 10 Trial for tomorrow. Let’s see what happens in that. The weather could be interesting also! Then of course we are also focused on the race, that is the most important thing.”
David Checa
GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team
“Today I was quite surprised because I’ve never ridden in the 2’10s and today I was always in the 2’09s! I’m quite happy because I missed the tests before this weekend, but you know sometimes you can do the test and then be slower at the race weekend. I’m also happy because my teammates worked well for the settings of our R1 and for sure the bike was good. My tyres were able to give me an improvement over a couple of laps, so I need to see if they will do the same for race distance with consistent feeling. I’m happy for my fast lap time but I’m a bit disappointed for my teammates as there were some issues with tyres for them that created chatter on the bike.”
Mike Di Meglio
GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team
“Today was quite good I think, compared to last year I was able to improve my lap time. Last year was my first year and so to make that step was good. We were quite close to the Top 10 Trial; I think we missed it only by a little! I think my base is good, but of course here at Suzuka you need more experience to go faster. For the race we are not so bad if it is dry because we have a good rhythm, but if it’s wet we should be faster like always. I hope we have a good race, it would be good for us for the championship.”
Niccolo Canepa
GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team
“I’m quite satisfied with the team performance, my teammates and myself. We tried hard to stay in the top ten, and when you give 100% there is nothing to regret. Unfortunately in my second qualifying, I couldn’t improve my lap time. I had a tyre problem so that was unfortunate. We are confident with our race pace, it’s going to be a difficult race but we are playing for the championship so we have to try hard and stay positive and see what will happen after the chequered flag.”
Christophe Guyot
GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team Manager
“David made his best lap time with the race tyre because we unfortunately didn’t have enough qualifying tyres from Dunlop. Niccolò and Mike were not able to improve their lap times with the qualifying tyres because of a number of reasons, including traffic, red flags and so on, so the conditions were difficult. The good news is we have a very good pace with the race tyre, and it is okay to be a little disappointed because we expected to be in the Top 10 Trial and it was possible, so we expect to make a very strong race. Now we are focused on the race, we are happy with the race tyre so we are looking forward.”
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
YOSHIMURA SUZUKI MOTUL RACING 4TH IN SUZUKA 8 HOURS QUALIFYING
YOSHIMURA SUZUKI MOTUL RACING – 4th
S-PULSE DREAM RACING IAI – 6th
Team KAGAYAMA U.S.A. – 13th
Suzuki Endurance Racing Team – 17th
MotoMap SUPPLY – 28th
YOSHIMURA SUZUKI MOTUL RACING riders Takuya Tsuda, Sylvain Guintoli and Bradley Ray finished fourth in today’s qualifying for Sunday’s Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance World Championship final event at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie, Japan and enter tomorrow’s Top-10 Shootout to decide final positions on the grid for the 41st Coca-Cola event.
Also, through to the Top-10 is the S-PULSE DREAM RACING IAI team of Hideyuki Ogata, Tommy Bridewell and Kazuki Watanabe, who put their GSX-R1000 into sixth position today as a typhoon hangs over the event.
The weather has been a big concern although all sessions up until qualifying have been in dry conditions and all three riders, first rider in blue, second in yellow, third in red put in two 20 minute sessions fighting for a higher position on the grid. Modern Suzuka 8 Hours qualifying regulations require not only one rider to be fast but all riders to be equally fast and the final qualifying time determined by the average time of all three riders.
The blue riders started their first session at 12:20. The ground temperature started at 49 degrees and rose to 53 degrees, while the air temperature stayed moderately low compared to the intense heatwave that has struck Japan recently. However, the first session of the qualifying turned out to be a rough one with multiple red flags.
The top of the Suzuki squad was YOSHIMURA SUZUKI MOTUL RACING, showing a constant pace with all riders clocking in at under 2 minutes 7 seconds resulting in a high average. S-PULSE DREAM RACING·IAI achieved ninth, while Team KAGAYAMA U.S.A. (Yukio Kagayama, Naomichi Uramoto and Joe Roberts) 14th, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Gregg Black) 15th and MotoMap SUPPLY (Yoshihiro Konno, Nobuatsu Aoki and Josh Waters) 28th (2nd in the SST class). HAMAMATSU TEAM TITAN were 57th.
Followed by the Pit-walk and the 4 Hour Endurance race, the second qualifying session for the Suzuka 8 Hours started at 16:15 with a slightly cooler ground temperature of 41 degrees. Although the air temperature was still over 30 degrees, the teams fought hard hoping for better grip conditions and improved lap times.
At the end of the session, YOSHIMURA SUZUKI MOTUL RACING wasn’t able to improve its lap times but still scored fourth position from the average lap-time of 2 minutes 7 seconds .588.
S-PULSE DREAM RACING·IAI suffered a spill by Tommy Bridewell but both he and Kazuki Watanabe clocked-in at under 2 minutes 7 seconds and finished in sixth at an average time of 2 minutes 8 seconds .153
Due to the approaching typhoon (#12), all events scheduled tomorrow in the GP Square have been cancelled.
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Team Green Kawasaki trio work for Suzuka 8Hr win
Team Green Kawasaki Riders, Jonathan Rea, Leon Haslam and Kazuma Watanabe ended day two of track action at Suzuka with the second fastest combined time, ahead of Sunday’s 8Hr Endurance Race.
Current FIM Superbike World Champion Jonathan Rea has been on stunning form, posting fastest times on both days. It was capped off today when he recorded a circuit best lap time of 2m 05.156 in the second Qualifying Practice session.
Frustratingly Friday saw most of the track sessions punctuated by red flag delays meaning none of the riders were able to put together a full session until night practice at the end of the day. Leon Haslam backed up a strong performance from day one by topping the time sheets in his QP2 session while Kazuma Watanabe used most of the sessions to get comfortable with the set up of the Ninja ZX-10RR race machine. By the second qualifying session he looked comfortable and was posting his fastest times of the event so far.
Team Green – sponsored by Kawasaki Motors Japan – will go into the Top Ten Qualifying shoot out on Saturday confident of claiming a good grid position for Sunday’s race. However, after the remarkably hot temperatures at the start of the week there is the potential for a typhoon to hit the Mie Prefecture of Japan where the Suzuka circuit is located. With that in mind the schedule for track activities on Saturday is under review.
The 41st running of the Suzuka 8Hr race will take place at 15:30 on Sunday (local time) with Team Green Kawasaki pushing hard for the win.
Quotes from riders
Rea – fastest lap:
“The lap felt good. Honestly speaking it just came sort of automatic. There was nothing, no big warnings… as soon as I got through Degner One the brake was in a good position, the engine braking was working well, then I realised I could really race the bike to the end of the lap. In time split 2 and 3 is where I profited from the new tyre. When I saw the lap time I was really happy, I could not really believe it because my expectation was to do that in Superpole – to try for a 2 minute 5 in Superpole – but to do it in official practice makes me really happy”.
Haslam – fastest in group:
“We’ve just done qualifying and gone through quickest as a team. It felt pretty good. My first run was on used tyres so I am happy with the times we did in the end. I got a reasonably new tyre for the second session and I ended up quickest in my group so I am pretty happy. As a team we are working well together and the bike balance is quite good. Now really looking forward to tomorrow and seeing what this predicted tornado is going to do. It may cancel tomorrow’s proceedings but looking like the weather will clear by Sunday”.
Watanabe – up to speed:
“We are getting better and better. I did a long run today and found the optimal setting in the morning. In qualifying practice I was not able to enjoy the new tyre because of a red flag. After that the dense traffic blocked me. It is a shame as I wanted to achieve a better lap time. But thanks to both Jonathan and Leon the team got pole position and we all contributed towards the team’s average lap time. I have no idea how the approaching typhoon will affect us tomorrow but I must overcome all difficulty to catch up with Jonathan and Leon.