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2011
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2010 SUZUKA 8 Hours - Japan 25th July
2010 SUZUKA 8 HOURS RESULTS The Honda MuSashi Harc Pro determination to win defied all bets! The Honda ridden by Riyuichi Kiyonari, Takaaki Nakagami and Takumi Takahashi took victory after 8 hours of racing under the heat of a sunny Suzuka, ahead of two other Honda, which were considerate as favourites for success, the Keihin Kohara of Shinichi Itoh and Makoto Tamada, and the FCC TSR of Kosuke Akiyoshi, Jonathan Rea and Yuki Takahashi. After a 2009 edition won by Yoshimura Suzuki, Honda puts their hands back on Suzuka with three machines on the podium. If Keihin Kohara did a faultless race being constantly in the top-3, that was a great comeback for FCC TSR.
At the very beginning of the
race, Kosuke Akiyoshi overtook twice under the yellow flag. Penalised by two
stops and go, the Honda FCC TSR then crashed with Jonathan Rea. They got back on
track in 42nd position, four laps behind the leaders, before achieving a
fantastic come-back with the best race lap, in 2’08.705. Once again, Suzuka 8
Hours confirms their reputation of being an incredibly exciting round, full of
suspense and drama. The Yoshimura Suzuki with Eneos of Daisaku Sakai and Yukio
Kagayama can testify for sure: being the favourite after clinching the pole
position, the leading Suzuki was delayed by two Current Qtel FIM Endurance World
Championship leader, Bolliger Switzerland is the best permanent team placed.
Scoring the eight points of the ninth place, the Swiss team on Kawasaki
increased to ten points Next round is scheduled for September, 11th-12th, with the Bol d’Or at Magny-Cours (France). WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 3 2010
MOTOR RACING JAPAN - SUZUKA
2010 ENGLISH
LINK QUALIFYING - Jonathan Rea put the hammer down by clocking an incredible 2’08.553 on the Honda FCC TSR during the second qualifying session of Suzuka 8 Hours. Winner of the 2006 edition and regular contender of the Japanese classic, FCC TSR takes then a serious option for the pole position, as the second rider Kosuke Akiyoshi also did a great 2’08.363. There is a special rule at Suzuka since, unlike all the other rounds of the Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship, the qualifications rely on the best individual lap rather than the average time of the team’s three riders. Tomorrow afternoon at Suzuka will take place the Superpole sessions, which will reallocate the twentieth first slots on the starting grid. FCC TSR leads another contender for victory, Yoshimura Team with Eneos, winner of the 2009 Suzuka 8 Hours. Yoshimura is second on the provisional starting grid with Daisaku Sakai’s best lap in 2’08.397. The Honda Keihin Kohara did not hide their ambitions for victory and took the third place with Shinichi Itoh (2’08.539). Itoh is pairing with Makoto Tamada (2’08.996). Two more Hondas are completing the top-5, the Honda Team MuSashi Harc Pro with Riyuichi Kiyonari (2’08.817) and the Honda Crown Keibihosyou with Toshiyuki Hamaguchi (2’09’813). The Honda Dream Sakurai was certainly expecting to do better than a seventh place. Wayne Maxwell, their fastest rider, did a 2’11.217 and put the Honda Sakurai just behind the Suzuki pilot Faro Panthera with Osamu Degucchi (2’10.550). Amongst the permanent teams, Yamaha Austria Racing Team did the best as Gwen Giabbani improved significantly during the second session with a best lap in 2’11.458. Although YART suffered from a tyre choice inappropriate for the track conditions (60 °C), they managed to take the tenth place on the starting grid. YART leads the Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone, 12th on the starting grid, with David Checa’s best lap in 2’11.835 during the first qualifying session. Those two European teams will enter the Superpole sessions. Bolliger Switzerland also improved their lap times during the second qualifying session with Patric Muff’s best in 2’13.617. The Swiss Kawasaki will start in 22nd position. SUPERPOLE - At the very end of the Superpole session, Yoshimura Suzuki with Eneos took the pole position of the Suzuka 8 Hours. Winner of the 2009 edition, Yoshimura Suzuki is proving to the Honda clan that they are still determined for another victory. There is no doubt that the race will be intense between this Suzuki and the best two Honda Teams’, the FCC TSR and the Keihin Kohara. However, FCC TSR was leading the Superpole’s on the first two sessions. Kosuke Akiyoshi made an impression by reaching an impressive 2’07.683 lap during Superpole 2, which was fastest than his own 2009 pole position. Hence, Yoshimura Suzuki with Eneos was ready to fight back, Daisaku Sakai was already doing very well in Superpole 2, and made the best from Superpole 3. He finally placed the Yoshimura Suzuki in pole position with a 2’07.905 lap, as Kosuke Akiyoshi did a 2’07.963 in Superpole 3. With Shinichi Itoh, the Honda Keihin Kohara took the third place on the starting grid with a best lap in 2’08.268. Behind them are the Honda MuSashi Harc Pro of Takumi Takahashi, the Suzuki Plot Faro Teluru Honey Bee of Hiroki Noda. Qualified for Superpole 3, Gwen Giabbani took the eighth and last place of that session on the Yamaha Austria Racing Team. He crashed as he was entering in his best lap. Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone will start from the 14th place. After having suffered from some overheating problems during the qualifications, the French team seems more confident for the race.
The Suzuka 8 Hours, third round
of the 2010 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship mark the 2010 midseason. This
round does not count for the FIM Superstock World Cup and is not compulsory for
the teams
In Suzuka, the official French Yamaha will try to score big points after two difficult races in Le Mans (4th place) and in Albacete (retired after a crash). David Checa and Kenny Foray will team with Damian Cudlin, since Gregorio Lavilla, the third official rider, is still recovering from a broken pelvis following his Spanish crash. Damian Cudlin is an Endurance regular rider and was seen this year on the Honda BMP Elf 99, but in the end the Belgian Honda team did not enter the Suzuka 8 Hours due to financial reasons. Another big absence in Suzuka is the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, which is now under great pressure to do their best at the Bol d’Or and the 8 Hours of Doha to clinch the 2010 title. These three permanent teams will have to battle against the highly prepared Japanese competition, which benefits from the support of the official factories and are entering with Moto2, World Superbike, Australian SBK and British SBK riders. Amongst the favourites for victory are the Yoshimura Suzuki (Yukio Kagayama, Daisaku Sakai, Nobuatsu Aoki), winners of the 2009 8 Hours and the 2010 300 km of Suzuka, FCC TSR Honda (Kosuke Akiyoshi, Jonathan Rea, Yuki Takahashi), 3rd in the 300 km in June, Honda Dream Sakurai (Chojun Kameya, Wayne Maxwell), 3rd in the 2009 8 Hours, but also the Honda Keihin Kohara (Shinichi Itoh, Makoto Tamada). The first practice will start in Suzuka on Friday 23 July and the start of the race is scheduled for Sunday 25 July at 11:30 local time (GMT + 9).
SUZUKA FREE PRACTICE
The two free practice sessions of Suzuka 8 Hours
was dominated by FCC TSR Honda. Kosuke Akiyoshi, Jonathan Rea and Yuki Takahashi
are the only ones to have completed a lap under 2’09 for the first As for the European teams, the Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone of David Checa, Kenny Foray and Damian Cudlin are the most successful with a lap time in 2’12.431 seconds. They lead the Yamaha Austria Racing Team of Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Gwen Giabbani who did their best lap in 2’12.878. The Kawasaki Bolliger Switzerland finishes further down the grid with a lap time of 2’15.535. The first qualifying sessions will begin tomorrow, Friday, at 11h in Suzuka (GMT + 9 h). It is sunny and very hot (37° C) in Suzuka at the moment. DAMIAN CUDLIN TO RACE AT SUZUKA WITH YAMAHA 94-IPONE-BRIDGESTONE The Suzuka Eight Hours, third round of the World Endurance Championship, will be held on July 25 in Japan. Damian Cudlin will be replacing Gregorio Lavilla, who is still recovering from injuries sustained during a multi-bike incident caused by an oil spill at the eight hours of Albacete. The young Australian racer joins us with a solid experience in both endurance racing and on the Yamaha R1. He has indeed been on the podium multiple times with the Phase One Endurance Team and YART between 2005 and 2009. He is also very familiar with the challenging Suzuka racetrack. In 2010, Damian earned a pole position at Albacete and is currently leading the very competitive German Supersport championship on a Yamaha R6. He has a passion for endurance racing and is known for his personal qualities. Christophe Guyot: "First of all, I would like to wish Gregorio Lavilla a fast and complete recovery. I know Damian Cudlin well. As his team will not participate in the Japanese round, I am very happy that he accepted to be David Checa and Kenny Foray's teammate. After Anthony Gobert and Garry McCoy, GMT 94 is excited to work yet again with a talented Australian racer." Damian Cudlin:
"I have always dreamed of riding for GMT 94 which I
consider to be one of the two best endurance teams in the world. I'm in great
form at the moment and I love Suzuka. The Yamaha R1 is a great motorcycle and I
can't wait to ride the GMT 94 R1. I will do my best to help Christophe score
some points to help his team in the championship. I understand that this is my
mission"
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