What surprises me is how the local Japanese riders tend to beat the WSBK/MotoGP boys in qualifying. I don't understand how.
I'd guess they have a fuckload more experience at Suzuka, WSB has never raced there and MotoGP hasn't since 2003. Remember the local Japanese wildcards when they raced at Sugo in WSB? They always seemed to dominate.
Solid answer. Make sense. Very few MotoGP/WSBK riders know their way around Suzuka, but I still don't get how they outpace riders who have done a few stints at Suzuka (e.g. VdM)?
It's being covered live on Eurosport, I'm not sure if that's just UK though. No idea about online, there will probably be something to stream from.
I still just think it's more to do with having a lot more laps there, the likes of VDM only go to Suzuka for the 8 hours I think the Japanese championship has 3 rounds there so racing it that many times means they must just hit the ground running and not have to worry about set up.
Like I said about the Japanese wildcards in WSB at Sugo they turned up and battered guys like Kocinski, Fogarty, Bayliss, Edwards and co. Bit like the Brit wildcards at Brands and Donington, it wasn't uncommon to see BSB lads like Hodgson(before he was WSB regular), Byrne, Reynolds, Rutter, Hislop and Walker get wins or podiums against the regulars, which I put down to experience.
Also another thing to consider as well is the 8 Hours is a bit "extra-curricular" to the MotoGP/WSB/BSB riders, it's a good thing to have on your CV but to the Japanese riders this is the one, this is their Indy 500, their TT, their Daytona, their Le Mans, it's massive to them so they'll be possibly more motivated.
Alex Lowes and Michael Van der Mark win. Yamaha's 4th consecutive win on Honda's home track.
Joined Oct 2015
329 Posts | 196+
UK
Missed all after Jacobsen came out in the rain.
At that point Honda looked to be in a decent position compared to the Yamaha, being on the wet tyres. What happened with that?? Track dry quickly or something else??
At that point Honda looked to be in a decent position compared to the Yamaha, being on the wet tyres. What happened with that?? Track dry quickly or something else??
A few incidents bringing out the safety car got Yamaha back into it
