Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
Seven Stars Honda 11’s Nicky Hayden earned the provisional pole position Friday for the 26th running of the Suzuka 8-Hours at Suzuka Circuit, in Suzuka, Japan.
Hayden used a new set of Michelin race tires to record a 2:07.312 on his third lap of official qualifying Friday morning and the time held up to earn provisional pole for Sunday’s endurance race.
“The condition was better in the morning than it was in the afternoon,” Hayden was quoted as saying in a press release from Honda. “I was riding with full loaded fuel tank in the afternoon and that’s why I was slower. It was difficult for us to get a good compromise concerning the front suspension set-up, but finally we got it.”
“Overall, I think it’s better we run his setting,” Hayden told Roadracingworld.com, refering to the overall set-up developed by his teammate, Ruuichi Kiyonari. “With his setting, I was having a little bit of a problem finishing the corner. I like a lot of rebound. Tip in and really finish the corner good. (But he didn’t like the extra rebound,) so we went back to his setting, and he liked it a lot better. Overall, it’s what’s better for the team.
“Lap-time-wise he made a bigger improvement by making the change than I did. It didn’t hurt me lap-time-wise, just feel-wise. This thing, for me, I haven’t hardly changed anything. Coming from the V5, which is such a handful at times, this thing here, the Superbike, it doesn’t have the feel. So I haven’t wanted to change anything. I guess that’s good and bad.”
“Although I am not satisfied with my lap time, I tried my best,” Hayden’s teammate Kiyonari said. “Till this afternoon, we had different front suspension set-up, but Nicky made a compromise to my set-up. We cannot talk directly (due to language) but Nicky is very nice and relaxing.”
“Nicky’s lap time was more than we had expected. We had a little trouble sorting out the front suspension set-up and we asked Nicky to make a compromise. Now the set-up is OK. However, I will tell both riders not to push too much tomorrow,” said Seven Stars Honda 11 Team Manager Katsunori Suzuki.
Hayden’s mark fell short of Alex Barros’ provisional pole time of 2:06.660 from 2002, but the Suzuka Circuit has been changed twice during 2003.
Second-fastest overall and first among JSB1000 entries was the Yoshimura Suzuki GP1 Daxim pairing of Atsushi Watanabe and Yukio Kagayama, with Watanabe recording a lap of 2:07.540 on the team’s Dunlop-equipped GSX-R1000.
The second Michelin-sponsored Seven Stars Honda RC51, the number 7 machine ridden by Tohru Ukawa and Hitoyasu Izutsu, was third-fastest with a 2:08.178.
Takeshi Tsujimura and two-time 8-Hours winner Shinichi Itoh qualified fifth overall and first in X-Formula Division One on their Bridgestone-tired F.C.C. TSR Zip-FM Racing Honda CBR954RR.
Corona Extra TiForce Endurance’s Adam Fergusson used a new set of race-compound Dunlops to record a lap of 2:09.688 Friday afternoon for the 13th-fastest overall and third-fastest XF1 time.
“That was making sure we get in Superpole (Special Stage),” said an excited Fergusson. “The whole day today was working up to that. The set of tires I was supposed to use went off after two laps. We thought it was going to rain, so I went out on Anthony’s new set to make sure we got a good time. Hopefully with that, Dunlop will give us something special for Superpole, maybe a proper qualifying tire. I reckon I’ll be able to do a 2:08 on a Q.”
Fergusson said the set-up he and teammate Anthony Gobert have developed isn’t “lightning fast” but is “comfortable.” Fergusson also said he believes they have the fastest motorcycle in a straight line at Suzuka. Gobert, meanwhile, reminded the Corona team to not get too excited over qualifying on Friday.
The Corona Light TiForce Endurance Suzuki GSX-R1000 ridden by Jordan Szoke and Paul Young was 31st overall in qualifying but fifth among Super Production machines with a 2:11.888. (Sport Production bikes run with engines that have less tuning allowed than an AMA Supersport engine.)
Fastest Super Production qualifiers were Zongshen Suzuki 1 (Stephane Mertens/ Warwick Nowland), the reigning World Endurance Champions, with a 2:10.941 on their Dunlop-fitted Suzuki GSX-R1000. Mertens felt their position among the teams eligible to receive World Endurance Championship points was very good and is looking forward to a good race with the other Super Production teams.
Zongshen Suzuki 2 (B. Bonhuil/I. Jerman/P. Bontempi) qualified 23rd with a 2:10.954.
Doug Polen and Yoshiyuki Sugai qualified 24th overall on the Moto Liberty Arata-EX & Kiss-FM Honda CBR954RR. Polen was fined 1000 Swiss Francs “for non-respect of the Black Flag with the orange disc” during Group B Session 1 Friday morning.
Jason Pridmore, James Ellison and Jimmy Lindstrom will start the Suzuki GB Phase One from the 25th position on Sunday after Pridmore posted a 2:11.180. Both Pridmore’s teammates’ best times are in the 2:14s.
Although they were all inside of the 115 percent cut-off time, none of the six X-Formula Division 2 entries were inside the top 66 qualifiers. This included former AMA 750cc Supersport regular Daigoro Suzuki on the Team Surf Jaja Suzuki SV1000S, which he called “very slow,” and 19-year-old American Mickey Lane on the Spec-A Yamamoto Racing Honda CB1300SF, which he called a “big, heavy, wobbling thing.”
Friday’s Unofficial Qualifying Results:
1. Seven Stars Honda 11 (N. Hayden/R. Kyonari), Honda RC51, SB, 2:07.312
2. Yoshimura Suzuki GP1 Daxim (A. Watanabe/Y. Kagayama), Suzuki GSX-R1000, JSB, 2:07.540
3. Seven Stars Honda 7 (T. Ukawa/H. Izutsu), Honda RC51, SB, 2:08.178
4.Team Cha-llenger (N. Fujiwara/T. Kayo), Yamaha YZF-R1, JSB, 2:08.864
5. F.C.C. TSR Zip-FM Racing Team (T. Tsujimura/S. Itoh), Honda CBR954RR, XF1, 2:08.919
6. YSP & Presto Racing (S. Nakatomi/W. Yoshikawa), Yamaha YZF-R1, JSB, 2:09.107
7. F.C.C. TSR (Y. Konishi/T. Mori), Honda CBR954RR, JSB, 2:09.189
8. Team Sakurai Honda 74 (C.Kameya/T. Okada), Honda RC51, SB, 2:09.229
9. Kenz JTrust Mojo Suzuki (K. Kitagawa/K. Fujiwara), Suzuki GSX-R100, JSB, 2:09.254
10.Masked Rider 555 Honda (T. Yamaguchi/Y. Takahashi), Honda CBR954RR, JSB, 2:09.255
11.Garfield RSK (H. Kobayashi/H. Ogata), Suzuki GSX-R1000, XF1, 2:09.471
12. Weider Honda ATS DDBoys (O. Deguchi/H. Aoki), Honda CBR954RR, JSB, 2:09.650
13. Corona Extra TiForce Endurance (A. Fergusson/A. Gobert), Suzuki GSX-R1000, XF1, 2:09.688
14. Alpha OMC Racing Supply (A. Tamitsuji/Y. Konno), Suzuki GSX-R1000, JSB, 2:09.996
15. Team Sakurai Honda 71 (Y. Nukumi/G. Kamada), Honda RC51, SB, 2:10.118
16. Wins Factory & Vega Sports (H. Kawase/K. Teramoto), Suzuki GSX-R1000, JSB, 2:10.258
17. Moriwaki Motul Racing (M. Okuno/R. Tsuruta), Honda CBR954RR, XF1, 2:10.303
18. Team Etching Factory 15 (S. Takemi/K. Hasegawa), Yamaha YZF-R1, XF1, 2:10.492
19.Club Yamaha Motorcycle Racing (M. Tokinaga/A. Morita), Yamaha YZF-R1/7, 2:10.512
20.RS-Itoh & Kaze (I. Higashimura/S. Karita), Kawasaki ZX-7RR, SB, 2:10.553
21. Heat Magic by Wins Factory (T. Onishi/T. Yoshida), Suzuki GSX-R1000, JSB, 2:10.743
22.Zongshen Suzuki 1 (W. Nowland/S. Mertens), Suzuki GSX-R1000, SP, 2:10.941
23. Zongshen Suzuki 2 (I. Jerman/B. Bonhuil/P. Bontempi), Suzuki GSX-R1000, SP, 2:10.954
24. Moto Liberty Arata-EX & Kiss-FM (D. Polen/Y. Sugai), Honda CBR954RR, XF1, 2:11.030
25. Suzuki GB Phase One (J. Pridmore/J. Ellison/J. Lindstrom), Suzuki GSX-R1000, SP, 2:11.180
27. Team 22 & Tsukigi Racing (G. Giabbani/T. Kishida), Suzuki GSX-R1000, SP, 2:11.250
31. Corona Light TiForce Endurance (J. Szoke/P. Young), Suzuki GSX-R1000, SP, 2:11.888
56. Driver Stand R.T. (T. Nakamura/T. Shimizu), Suzuki GSX-R1000, ST, 2:14.464
71. Team Surf Jaja (D. Suzuki/E. Samura), Suzuki SV1000S, XF2, 2:17.317
75. Spec-A Yamamoto Racing (T. Tuda/M. Lane), Honda CB1300SF, XF2, 2:17.725
More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group:
Honda Take Provisional Pole
Hayden Makes His Mark on the Suzuka 8 Hour
Provisional pole position has gone to the No.11 Seven Stars Honda SP-W of Nicky Hayden and Riuchi Kiyonari. Hayden’s fastest lap of 2:07.312 was put in during this morning’s first session, when track conditions were ideal. MotoGP rookie Hayden is having a great time this weekend: “This is a race we hear a lot about in the states; all my heroes have raced at the Suzuka 8 Hour so I’m just happy to be here. I hope we can put on a good show for the race on Sunday.”
Second fastest is the only other team to break into the 2:07s, the Daxim Yoshimura Suzuki of Atushi Watanabe and Yukio Kagayama with a best lap of 2:07.540.
The full-time championship teams are all having tyre problems. Suzuki Police Nationale’s Gwen Giabbani seems to be having the most trouble: “It’s still no good. The bike won’t grip, it won’t turn. It’s just no good today. We are trying to find the solution, but…”
The situation is similar for Suzuki GB Phase One in the adjoining pit garage. Rider Jason Pridmore explains: “The rear is just spin, spin, spin… and with this tyre rule we can’t try different compounds.”
Suzuki Zonshen No.2’s Igor Jerman seems disappointed with his performance today, convincing himself that performance on Sunday is more important: “I think we can do 2:12s in the race; I did that last year with no problems.”
Zongshen No.1’s Warwick Nowland is the fastest of the permanent riders, but is always convinced there is more to come: “I could have gone quicker if we’d had qualifying tyres – the ten tyre rule has caused us lots of problems. We need nine sets of tyres for the race which means Stephane and I are sharing a qualifier.”
The X-One Mondial team are enjoying their first visit to Suzuka, and are confident of qualifying for the oversubscribed grid. Their main competition for the race comes in the shape of the Formula Xtreme Kawasaki Z1, the two BMW R1100Ss and the pair of Honda CB1300s, a popular class with both racers and spectators.
A sizeable crowd has gathered in the grandstand opposite pitlane, displaying banners supporting everyone from old-hand Shinichi Itoh to Suzuka novice Nicky Hayden. Today’s pitlane walkabout opened with a sprint as those fans clamoured – in an orderly and polite Japanese way – for riders’ autographs and the chance to be photographed with the “Race Queen” promo girls.
As ever at Suzuka the weather is hot and humid, but the temperatures are not as high as expected.
The first 20 places on the grid will be decided by a series of Superpole “Special Stage – Attack / Jump-Up” sessions to be held tomorrow after the Supersport Suzuka 4 Hour support race. Special tyres can be used for Superpole, so times are expected to fall further when the special qualifiers come out.