Suzuka 8hr 2015

Suzuka 8 Hours: Top 10 teams through to Pole Shootout
#87 Team Green Yanagawa/Watanabe/Yudhistira
#21 Yamaha Factory Racing Nakasuga/Espargaro/Smith
#17 Team Kagayama Kagayama/Haga/Kiyonari
#634 Musashi RT Harc-Pro Takahashi/VD Mark/Stoner
#12 Yoshimura Suzuki Tsuda/Lowes/Waters
#32 MotoMap Supply Konno/Aoki/Ogata
#01 Trickstar Deguchi/Izutsu/Nigon
#778 FCC TSR Honda Hook/Aegerter/Smith
#71 Sakurai Honda Herfoss/O'Halloran/Uramoto
#104 Toho with Moriwaki Yamaguchi/Elias/Wilairot

Friday Qualifying summary:
Qualifying 1:
Group A: Rider 1
1. Nakasuga Yamaha Factory Racing 2m 6.877s
2. Kagayama Team Kagayama 2m 7.594s
3. Takahashi Musashi RT Harc Pro 2m 8.477s
Group B: Rider 1
1. Tsuda Yoshimura Suzuki Shell Advance 2m 6.958s
2. Hook FCC TSR Honda 2m 9.162s
3. Reiterberger BMW Motorrad France Penz13.com 2m 9.640s
Group A: Rider 2
1. Espargaro Yamaha Factory Racing 2m 7.156s
2. Yamaguchi Toho with Moriwaki 2m 8.787s
3. Haga Team Kagayama 2m 10.703s
Group B: Rider 2
1. Gimbert Honda Endurance Racing 2m 10.342s
2. K. Smith FCC TSR Honda 2m 10.421s
3. O'Halloran Sakurai Honda 2m 10.541s
Group A: Rider 3
1. Stoner Musashi RT Harc Pro 2m 8.113s
2. Watanabe Team Green 2m 8.548s
3. Wilairot Toho with Moriwaki 2m 8.835s
Group B: Rider 3
1. Aegerter FCC TSR Honda 2m 8.306s
2. Uramoto Sakurai Honda 2m 9.046s
3. Lowes Yoshimura Suzuki 2m 9.215s

Qualifying 2:
Group A: Rider 1
1. Nakasuga Yamaha Factory Racing 2m 7.376s
2. Takahashi Musashi RT Harc Pro 2m 8.109s
3. Parkes Monster Energy Yamaha-YART 2m 8.973s
Group B: Rider 1
1. Hook FCC TSR Honda 2m 8.678s
2. Tsuda Yoshimura Suzuki Shell Advance 2m 8.955s
3. Reiterberger BMW Motorrad France Penz13.com 2m 9.714s
Group A: Rider 2
1. Espargaro Yamaha Factory Racing 2m 7.075s
2. Yamaguchi Toho with Moriwaki 2m 7.622s
3. VD Mark Musashi RT Harc Pro 2m 8.667s
Group B: Rider 2
1. Smith FCC TSR Honda 2m 9.003s
2. Bridewell BMW Motorrad France Penz13.com 2m 9.325s
3. Waters Yoshimura Suzuki Shell Advance 2m 9.526s
Group A: Rider 3
1. Watanabe Team Green 2m 6.656s
2. Stoner Musashi RT Harc Pro 2m 6.963s
3. Smith Yamaha Factory Racing 2m 7.308s
Group B: Rider 3
1. Lowes Yoshimura Suzuki Shell Advance 2m 7.717s
2. Aegerter FCC TSR Honda 2m 7798s
3. Uramoto Sakurai Honda 2m 8.693s

Click to expand...

Jumkie said:

BJC=Google. Basically I was asking to see if you could Google the particulars. But Arrabbiata1, the human Google machine dropped the name of the bloke this happened to, which is amazing. Though I did stump him when I asked him the name of the .... star that used to sponsor a 250 rider back in the day. You're old enough to remember Kesh, do u know the answer?

Click to expand...

Jumkie said:

Something nobody has mentioned, but will Stoner have the stamina to compete in an endurance race? Personally I dont think so given he hasn't competed at a high level for years so staying in shape is unlikely.

Click to expand...

Jumkie said:

Something nobody has mentioned, but will Stoner have the stamina to compete in an endurance race? Personally I dont think so given he hasn't competed at a high level for years so staying in shape is unlikely.

Click to expand...

Jumkie said:

How long are the rider stints?

Click to expand...

Rising Sun said:

Apparently it won't be just dregs on YouTube. Anyone with access to Eurosport 2 will be able to watch the race live.

Click to expand...

MotoGP riders Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith each suffered a fall during the second day of preparations for their debut in the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race.

But both escaped injury and, led by experienced team-mate Katsuyuki Nakasuga, the Factory Yamaha squad safely claimed the top 10 place needed for Saturday's Superpole.

While only the best time by each team counted towards Superpole entry, all three Yamaha riders set a high standard in their individual qualifying sessions.

Nakasuga delivered the second best time of the day, 0.221s behind Kawasaki's Kazuki Watanabe. Espargaro was just 0.198s slower than Nakasuga for the fifth fastest combined time and Smith 0.233s further back in sixth.

No other team saw all its riders feature in the top ten Friday lap times.

But the day wasn't without incident for the #21 R1: Smith slipped off in free practice, while Espargaro suffered a big accident in the second of his two qualifying sessions.

"The bike is working very well and the lap times are good. This is the good part; the bad part was that I crashed,” said the Spaniard, who was caught out while trying to pass a slower rider on the approach to the hairpin.

“It's difficult because in MotoGP when someone is slow, the difference is not this big and they usually go off the race line when they see you, while here it's the opposite, but I'm learning.”

Smith said his morning fall acted as a kind of wake-up call for how easily things can go wrong.

“I was playing around with the braking mark and lost the front of the bike. It's good to have made that mistake, because it shows how easy those kinds of things can happen in the race,” he said.

The Englishman, who was pitted against retired double MotoGP champion Casey Stoner for his qualifying sessions, added:

“In the afternoon I wanted to push, and I was happy with my lap time [2m 7.308], which is very close to Nakasuga and Pol's. I didn't want to take too many risks and was still third quickest, which is not bad. I was happy, because these were the first fast laps that I've done here, because before I've just been focusing on race pace.

“To have three riders within half a second is great, we are definitely the strongest team at the moment,” Smith confirmed.

Looking ahead to Saturday, Espargaro said: “I don't know what to expect for tomorrow, because here we ride short laps and tomorrow we have Superpole so we have just one lap, close your eyes and push until the end.

“It's a new experience and I will give my 100%. I'm having so much fun and I'm riding this bike with a smile on my face!"

Nakasuga admitted he had been out to salvage some pride after being outpaced by Espargaro on day one.

"I was able to get a lap time of 2m 6.877 today even though the machine spec we were using was for the race and not for time trials. This really proves how well the machine has progressed,” he began.

“Yesterday, Pol [Espargaro] got the best time overall for the day with 2'07.282, and today I was out to set a top time, so you might say my lap in the 2m 6s range was a show of my pride as a rider. I didn't take risks in order to get that time either; it was a natural result of the way all three of us are inspiring each other.

“Of course, we're all motivated because we're competing this time as Yamaha's Factory team, and having two high-level MotoGP riders as my partners has created a great environment to compete in.

“These factors also bring pressure, but if all three of us do our jobs, I think a good result will follow naturally. We obviously will be going for pole position in the Top 10 Trial and we'll be focused on getting good lap times."

Team manager Wataru Yoshikawa summed up the highs and lows from Friday:

"Today Bradley [Smith] and Pol [Espargaro] each fell once, but the bike was heavily damaged in Pol's crash. Just as Pol had started one of his flying laps he came up on a slower rider at the Degner Curve and fell when trying to avoid him. Fortunately, there were no rider injuries, but now the team has a lot of work to do to repair the machine.

“Still, as the air and track temperatures began to rise during the first qualifying session, Nakasuga was able to record a lap time of 2m 6.877s. Then Pol clocked a 2m 7.075s lap in the second session [just before his fall]. Bradley had to run the second session on the main machine and was extra careful, but still managed to record a time of 2m 7.308s.

“So overall, everything is going well. There are no doubts about the abilities of our three riders, so one thing I want to do is make sure that they remember to keep a good margin of space when they come up on slower riders and to ride without taking unnecessary risks."

Yamaha has put together a full factory entry to try and claim its first Suzuka win since 1996. Stoner has joined reigning champion's Musashi RT Harc-Pro Honda for his first two-wheel race since the 2012 Valencia MotoGP.

Click to expand...

Friday at the Suzuka 8 Hours saw retired double MotoGP champion Casey Stoner take part in his first two-wheel qualifying since Valencia 2012.

With each rider in a team getting their own sessions, the Australia showed few signs of cobwebs as he went straight to the top of his Q1, then claimed second place behind Kawasaki's Kazuki Watanabe in Q2.

Stoner - the star signing for the factory Musashi RT Harc-Pro Honda team, as it seeks to win a third Suzuka 8 Hours in a row - finished the day as one of only four competitors to break the 2m 7s barrier and was the fastest CBR1000RR rider.

The 29-year-old set the fourth best lap time of the day, just in front of current MotoGP stars Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith, who are making their Suzuka debuts with Yamaha.

"Our machine setting is heading toward a good direction so overall it was a very good day for us,” Stoner said.

“We didn't have enough time to actually gasp the machine yesterday, and there were many machines out in the track, so it was quite difficult for me to get the actual feeling of the machine but today turned out to be very profitable for the team and us.

“I'm very happy about the lap time and I can say that there are still more possibilities for improvements. This is all because of the hard work of everyone in the team and I am very thankful for that."

Stoner is sharing a bike with WSBK star Michael van der Mark and HRC test rider Takumi Takahashi, the race winners for the past two years.

"Today was a very stressful day for me,” said the young Dutchman. “We were working on the set up of the machine since yesterday but I still feel that there is more to be done. I also couldn't do enough laps so I myself was not quite satisfied with the result but as for the team, I think we are very strong and Casey is very fast so if we get a little more consistency then we have nothing to worry about. We need to work a little more on the set-up and reach lap time consistency."

The top 10 places on the grid will be decided in Saturday's Superpole session, with Stoner taking part in his first motorcycle race since 2012 on Sunday.

Click to expand...

#22 said:

Suzuka 8 Hours: Top 10 teams through to Pole Shootout
1. #87 Team Green Yanagawa/Watanabe/Yudhistira (Group A)
2. #12 Yoshimura Suzuki Tsuda/Lowes/Waters (Group B)
3. #21 Yamaha Factory Racing Nakasuga/Espargaro/Smith (Group A)
4. #778 FCC TSR Honda Hook/Aegerter/Smith (Group B)
5. #634 Musashi RT Harc-Pro Takahashi/VD Mark/Stoner (Group A)
6. #71 Sakurai Honda Herfoss/O'Halloran/Uramoto (Group B)
7. #17 Team Kagayama Kagayama/Haga/Kiyonari (Group A)
8. #01 Trickstar Deguchi/Izutsu/Nigon (Group B)
9. #104 Toho with Moriwaki Yamaguchi/Elias/Wilairot (Group A)
10. #32 MotoMap Supply Konno/Aoki/Ogata (Group B)

Unofficial top 10 riders list:
Ranking by best lap time set during qualifying
1. Watanabe Kawasaki 2m 6.656s
2. Nakasuga Yamaha 2m 6.877s
3. Tsuda Suzuki 2m 6.958s
4. Stoner Honda 2m 6.963s
5. Espargaro Yamaha 2m 7.075s
6. B. Smith Yamaha 2m 7.308s
7. Kagayama Suzuki 2m 7.594s
8. Yamaguchi Honda 2m 7.622s
9. Lowes Suzuki 2m 7.717s
10. Aegerter Honda 2m 7.798s

Click to expand...

Dr No said:

Just checked. It is Nori

Click to expand...

Gaz said:

And I thought I saw Nobby Aoki in the list somewhere as well

Click to expand...

Yamaha Factory Racing will start the Suzuka 8 Hours from pole position after a stunning Superpole lap from MotoGP's Pol Espargaro.

Despite being unfamiliar with the single lap Superpole format, the Spaniard - the 13th of 20 riders to take his turn on track - blasted to a record time of 2m 6.000s.

That was over one-second faster than his Friday qualifying best and proved too much for the others to match, although team-mate Katsuyuki Nakasuga got to within just 0.059s of Espargaro's effort.

But since only the best lap time from each team determines grid position, the #21 machine took pole by 0.287s over Kawasaki's Kazuki Watanabe, who had been fastest heading into Superpole.

“It was amazing. I'm still shaking! It was a team effort. Everyone has been an amazing but the big thing is tomorrow,” said Espargaro.

Retired double MotoGP champion Casey Stoner set the fourth best lap time for the Musashi Harc Pro Honda team (+0.335s), putting them third on the grid.

Two riders from each of the Top 10 teams after Friday qualifying took part in Superpole, which followed the old WSBK format, with each rider going out alone for a single flying lap.

Yamaha Factory Racing fielded Japanese champion Nakasuga and Espargaro, with fellow Tech 3 MotoGP rider Bradley Smith watching his team-mates from the pits.

Musashi Harc RT Pro Honda relied on Stoner and HRC test rider Takumi Takahashi, meaning Michael van der Mark did not participate.

Other familiar names that did take part in Superpole included Moto2's Dominique Aegerter and Ratthapark Wilairot, WSBK's Alex Lowes, BSB's Ryuichi Kiyonari, plus Japanese veterans Yukio Kagayama and Nobuatsu Aoki.

Honda has been beaten just twice in the last 18 years at Suzuka, regarded as Japans most prestigious motorcycle race, while Yamaha's last win was with Colin Edwards and Noriyuki Haga in 1996.

Espargaro, Smith and Stoner will be making their '8 Hours debut in Sunday's race, which starts at 11:30am.

Click to expand...