Coca-Cola Zero Suzuka 8 Hours/FIM Endurance World Championship
Suzuka Circuit, Japan
July 25, 2015
Time Attack Qualifying Results (only two riders from each of the top 10 teams participate):
1. Yamaha Factory Racing Team (Pol Espargaro 2:06.000/Katsuyuki Nakasuga 2:06.059), Yam YZF-R1, 2:06.000
2. Team GREEN (Akira Yanagawa 2:09.006/Kazuki Watanabe 2:06.287), Kaw ZX-10R, 2:06.287
3. MuSASHI RT HARC-PRO (Takumi Takahashi 2:07.697/Casey Stoner 2:06.335), Hon CBR1000RR, 2:06.335
4. Yoshimura Suzuki Shell Advance (Alex Lowes 2:07.144/Takuya Tsuda 2:06.516), Suz GSX-R1000, 2:06.516
5. Team Kagayama (Ryuichi Kiyonari 2:08.806/Yukio Kagayama 2:07.990), Suz GSX-R1000, 2:07.990
6. F.C.C. TSR Honda (Josh Hook 2:08.472/Dominique Aegerter 2:08.076), Hon CBR1000RR, 2:08.076
7. TOHO Racing with Moriwaki (Ratthapark Wilairot 2:09.877/Tatsuya Yamaguichi 2:08.382), Hon CBR1000RR, 2:08.382
8. EVA RT Test Type-01 Trick Star (Osamu Deguichi 2:10.771/Erwan Nigon 2:08.950), Kaw ZX-10R, 2:08.950
9. Honda Dream RT Sakurai Honda (Jason O’Halloran 2:10.391/Naomichi Uramoto 2:09.409), Hon CBR1000RR, 2:09.409
10. MotoMap Supply (Nobuatsu Aoki 2:11.681/Hideyuki Ogata 2:11.019), Suz GSX-R1000, 2:11.019
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Motor Racing:
Suzuka (Japan), 25th July 2015
Round 2 of the 2015 FIM Endurance World Championship
The 38th “Coca-Cola Zero” Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Road Race
Saturday – 8H Top10 Trial
The Yamaha Factory Racing Team blew away the competition today with a stunning 2‘06.000 lap on the YZF-R1 around the 5807m long Suzuka Circuit to claim a superb pole position for the 38th “Coca-Cola Zero” Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Road Race.
Hot and sweaty weather and a slippery track set the scene for the third day of action at the legendary eight hours endurance race weekend. Riders Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Pol Espargaró and Bradley Smith looked competitive during the morning Free Practice session, setting the second fastest time with a 2’08.074s, but didn‘t take any risks as the real challenge was yet to come.
The chosen riders for the pole position shoot-out Nakasuga and Espargaró stunned the Suzuka crowd in the afternoon‘s 8H Top10 Trial. During this session two riders per team are allowed to ride one flying lap each around the technically challenging Suzuka Circuit to fight for pole position.
Espargaró was the first YFRT rider to hit the clear track and set a hot lap. The Spaniard pushed to the absolute limit, using all his MotoGP experience to set a stunning 2‘06.000 lap for provisional pole, which at the time was 1.697s faster than anyone so far.
Then it was local Yamaha hero Nakasuga‘s turn to step aboard the YZF-R1. The experienced Japanese rider rode smoothly and aggressively through the twisty section, taking full advantage of the performance of Yamaha‘s class leading Superbike to finish with an impressive lap just 0.059s off his teammate.
As none of the competitors were able to drop under the 2‘06.2 mark, Espargaró‘s incredible 2‘06.000 becomes the new Endurance fastest lap at Suzuka, more than six-tenths of a second faster than the previous Endurance Pole Record.
Today‘s results see the Yamaha Factory Racing Team on pole position for tomorrow‘s race, which will start at 11:30AM, local time.
Katsuyuki Nakasuga
“I‘m really happy, but at the same time I wish my lap time had been faster. I‘m very happy for my teammate [Espargarò], he did so well, but I wished I could have gone faster too, but I did my best. I‘m not satisfied that Pol was faster than me, I tried to beat his time but I couldn‘t and that was unfortunate for me, but this is a good result for tomorrow and we are all going to try to do our best. I learned a lot today and I will use the experience I gained today, and perhaps tomorrow, in the Japan Championship, which I race in.”
Pol Espargarò
“I feel very happy, because this was a challenge for me and I did not expect this result. We did just one test with Bradley and Nakasuga in the preseason on the dry and we didn‘t ride a lot on this track. Bradley was also fast this weekend, his pace was very similar and the same with Nakasuga, he was also very fast. Tomorrow we have the big show and it will be difficult, because anything can happen, but we are confident. When I saw my lap time I was a bit surprised because I never tested the softer rear tyre during the tests or this weekend and I never rode in Superpole before with only one lap. Here today we had just one shot and in your mind you‘re always checking the lap and thinking of where you could improve something. Maybe I could have improved in the last sector, because I relaxed a little bit and was wary of making a mistake in the chicane. When I saw the time I said “come on!”, because it would be difficult for someone to beat it, but when I saw the lap time of Nakasuga-san I was a bit scared, he was also very fast, but I was lucky that I was fast in T1 and this gave me a chance, but Nagasuga was very strong in T4 and I was worried again. I‘m happy because I did a good lap time, but Nakasuga was also under the record and Bradley showed good potential over the whole weekend. Our pace is really similar and this is more important than the pole.”
Bradley Smith
“First of all a big congratulations to my teammate, at the end of the day our team management made the right call with who they chose for the Superpole, both guys were riding extremely fast. I‘m happy to be starting the race from first position tomorrow for the team, but it‘s a bit different to do one lap compared to more than 200 in tomorrow‘s race. I hope we get a good night sleep, calm down from the excitement and be ready to do it all again tomorrow.”
Wataru Yoshikawa
Team Manager
“Pol and [Katsuyuki] Nakasuga were able to run super lap times on it in the 2‘06 range, and we also had no need to use the race machine, so we are satisfied with today‘s results. However, the important thing is the race tomorrow. We are competing as a Yamaha Factory Team and our goal is to finish the race with the maximum laps of 218 using the EWC machine. If we can run that many laps, we believe we can win the race. To do this, I am going to stress again in our final meeting that we want the riders to run cautiously, keeping safe margins of space between themselves and the other [slower] machines they will encounter.”
More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone:
Record-breaking Espargaro puts Yamaha on pole position for the 2015 Suzuka 8 Hours
2015 FIM Endurance World Championship Series, Round 2 – Suzuka 8 Hours
Suzuka Circuit, Japan
Saturday, 25 July 2015
Yamaha Factory Racing Team rider Pol Espargaro rode a lap to remember in today’s Top10 Trial at Suzuka Circuit, setting a new unofficial lap record time of 2’06.000 to put himself and teammates Bradley Smith and Katsuyuki Nakasuga on pole for the 38th Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race.
Espargaro’s breath-taking time was 0.287 seconds quicker than the man who topped the timesheets in yesterday’s provisional qualifying sessions, Team GREEN’s Kazuki Watanabe, who took runner-up honours in the Top10 Shootout with a time of 2’06.287. On his long-anticipated return to competitive action, Casey Stoner ensured that MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO were the third quickest team today with a lap time of 2’06.335 on his Honda CBR1000RR.
Track temperatures for today’s Top10 shootout hovered around the mid-50°C range yet despite the high temperatures, the riders on Bridgestone tyres excelled, taking the top four qualifying positions and all setting times quicker than the previous unofficial lap record of 2’06.706 which was in last year’s qualifying shootout by Yoshimura Suzuki’s Takuya Tsuda. Of the ten teams taking part in the Top10 Shootout, eight of them were equipped with Bridgestone BATTLAX tyres.
Strong, consistent pace is a key factor in securing a good result at the Suzuka 8 Hours and as well as proving to be extremely quick over a single lap, excellent tyre durability resulted in Bridgestone-equipped teams consistently setting the best times during long runs in the practice sessions.
The 38th edition of the Suzuka 8 Hours starts tomorrow, Sunday July 26 at 1130 local time (GMT +9) and Bridgestone will be aiming to extend its record-breaking run of wins as a tyre supplier at the event to ten consecutive victories.
Hiroshi Yamada – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department
“Eight of the ten teams in the Top10 Trial today were fitted with Bridgestone tyres which is a great result for us and our excellent performance at this circuit was highlighted with Pol’s fantastic lap time on the Yamaha R1. Today’s conditions were extreme, even for Suzuka with track temperatures approaching 60°C at times, so for four riders to get under the existing unofficial lap record is very impressive and a good indication of how good our tyres are working at this year’s 8Tai. Of course, the Suzuka 8 Hours is an endurance race and so our tyres must provide superior performance over a long stint and I feel in this regard the teams using our tyres are in a very strong position. We hope that tomorrow we can fight for our tenth consecutive victory as a tyre supplier at Suzuka and wish all the riders taking part tomorrow a safe and enjoyable race.”
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
YOSHIMURA SUZUKI 4TH IN SUZUKA TOP-10 TIME ATTACK
Yoshimura SUZUKI Shell ADVANCE will start from fourth place on the grid at tomorrow’s 38th “Coca-Cola Zero” Suzuka 8 Hours World Endurance Championship second round in Japan following today’s Top-10 time attach at the infamous Japanese circuit.
With two riders fronting the team, Takuya Tsuda put-in a lap of 2’06.516 aboard the team’s GSX-R1000 with Top-10 partner Alex Lowes posting a 2’07.144 lap-time as track temperatures rose to 60 degrees.
Just behind in fifth place was Team KAGAYAMA, with team owner Yukio Kagayama posting a best-lap of 2’07.990 as MotoMap SUPPLY secured 10th position with a lap of 2’11.019, set by Hideyuki Ogata.
World Endurance Championship leaders Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) will line-up in 18th position and Hamamatsu Team Titan 65th.
Tomorrow’s 38th “Coca-Cola Zero” Suzuka 8 Hours World Endurance Championship event gets underway at 11.30 local time.
#12 YOSHIMURA SUZUKI Shell ADVANCE
Alex Lowes:
“This has been a great experience so far and a really interesting system with the single time attack. Unfortunately I made some mistakes in the early stages, my riding was not perfect, but I really enjoyed it. We have now found a good setting for tomorrow and I am looking forward to race tomorrow.”
Takuya Tsuda:
“We have concentrated on finding a good setting for tomorrow’s race. We could not get the pole position today and I am feeling a little disappointed, but we did our best. The important thing is tomorrow’s race and today I concentrated on this.”
#17 Team KAGAYAMA
Yukio Kagayama:
“In today’s session we were able to show our performance of our machine. We had already set a 2’07.5-lap but we are aiming to get better. It was difficult to get a ‘super lap’ as the track surface temperature was higher than I expected. The strong point of our team is that we three riders have scored six wins at the Suzuka 8 Hours and we will do our best tomorrow.”
Ryuichi Kiyonari:
“I tried a different setting this morning following my crash yesterday, but the setting I tried yesterday was better than today’s, so reverted to the original settings. Tomorrow I will attack the race
#32 Moto Map SUPPLY
Nobuatsu Aoki:
The track temperature was about 60 degrees today, both for free practice and Top-10 time attack, so it was very difficult for us to give our best performance. But I think it is very important to do our best and to keep the higher average constantly for tomorrow’s race.
Hideyuki Ogata:
“It was very disappointed I made a big mistake at ‘Gyaku’ Bank corner. In the morning free practice, I could make a 2’10.7 after passing several bikes, so I expected I could get a 2’09 lap-time in easily, so I am very sorry with my time today.”