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posted July 30, 2006 09:20 AM
 Edited By: Editor on 30 Jul 2006 10:22
F.C.C. TSR Honda victorious in Suzuka 8 Hours - Harc Pro Honda second
 The F.C.C. TSR Honda pairing of Shinichi Ito and Takeshi Tsujimura raced their XX-F Class CBR1000RR to victory at the Suzuka 8 Hours today. The Japanese pairing led the race almost all the way from start to finish completing 210 laps of the 5.821km circuit to take the win by one clear lap from the Harc Pro Honda of Yoshiteru Konishi and Tsuyoshi Yasuda, racing under Japanese Superbike regulations (JSB). Nobuatsu Aoki and Atsushi Watanabe brought the Yoshimura Suzuki (JSB) home in third place.
Near veteran Ito, now 39 years old started the race from pole position and quickly established the order of play by leading the first hour of the gruelling eight-hour sprint race. The Harc Pro pairing were in close contention with their Toy Story liveried CBR1000RR holding at bay the Seven Star 11 HRC CBR1000RRW (JSB) machine of Tady Okada and Osamu Deguchi in third place again on a JSB spec machine.
Into the second hour the Toy Story Honda eased ahead of Ito and Tsujimura with the Yoshimura pairing demoting the number 11 Seven Star team to fourth, just a ahead of team-mates Kiyonari and Tamada on the second HRC CBR1000RRW.
Hours three and four saw the race pattern set with Ito and Tsujimura pushing hard to maintain their lead over the Toy Story Harc Pro pairing with Yoshimura holding a solid third place. The two Seven Star teams were now fourth and fifth. But the number 7 machine of Kiyonari and Tamada was experiencing 'front end judder' attributed to brake problems on the CBR1000RRW bringing Kiyo into the pits for two unscheduled stops. The demise of #11 saw Kiyonari and Tamada slide down the order to 10th place.
The top three held their positions through the next two hours but Kiyonari and Tamada were fighting back and with two hours to go were up to fifth place and chasing their Seven Star team-mates, Okada and Deguchi, holding fourth, both teams one lap down on the leading trio.
The pace at the front was relentless with Ito and Tsujimura slowly easing away from their pursuers throughout the seventh hour to establish a one-lap cushion over the Toy Story combination of Konishi and Yasuda. The Seven Star teams continued their comeback with Okada and Deguchi holding their fourth place from the hard charging Kiyo and Tamada.
Ito was chasing his third Suzuka 8 Hours victory and was in no mood to slacken the pace as the race entered its final hour. Tsujimura had yet to win Japans most prestigious two wheeled race and his determination matched that of his team mate the two men pushing running a fast pace through the final hour to win by over a lap from the Harc Pro Honda with Yoshimura taking third place at the flag.
Okada and Deguchi took fourth with Kiyo and Tamada ending their troubled race in fifth place, one lap down on their team-mates. The Masked Rider Honda pairing of Yamaguchi and Tokudome were next home a further two laps down in sixth place.
The Yoshiteru Yokkaichi Honda of Japanese rider Yoshiyuki Sugai and Australian Joshua Brookes crossed the line in seventh, one lap clear of the Tsuruta and Matsudo (Kawasaki). The second F.C.C. TSR Honda in the hands of Yasuke Tejima and Gaku Kamada completed a good day for the team with ninth. Yamaha Austria rounded out the top ten. Honda CBR1000RR machines took no less than 10 of the top 15 places in the race.
Honda rider quotes.
Takeshi Tsujimura, F.C.C. TSR Honda: 1st. "I am relieved because there was an atmosphere that we must win the race. I did a lot of night running during the free practice as I was going to do the final stint . We made a lot of advantage before the dark so I could stay cool till the end. Although we are a private team, people from Kayaba, Nisshin and OGK were with us throughout the race. We were disappointed when we lost the Suzuka 300km Race and that is why we could win today."
Shinichi Ito, F.C.C. TSR Honda: "I still can't believe we won the race. It is like a dream come true. I am very much relieved because I was invited to the team to win the race. The reason why I was doing the start was that we knew two Seven Stars Honda would push from the start and thus the pace would be high and we wanted to make a fast rhythm. I was surprised to see Kiyonari making an irregular pit-stop. After that we made an advantage to the others. The main reason for the win was that both our machine and Bridgestone tyre was in good condition till the end. I was thinking that if we can't win this year it doesn't mean anything to continue participating in the 8 hour race, so I am quite happy that we won."
Yoshiteru Konishi, Toy Story Harc Pro Honda: 2nd. "The reason we could finish second is that Yasuda managed to keep up with the leaders. As it was very hot this year and also we haven't done any long distance test, I was very tired. I realized how old I am. Yasuda's riding impressed me and pushed me to do my best. Last year, Yasuda was third and this year we are second, so if we do it again we must win. May be it will be too hard for me physically, still I would like to try."
Takeshi Yasuda, Toy Story Harc Pro Honda: 2nd. "I tried to keep up the pace with the leading group. There were many top riders so I was desperate to try my best. However, both tyre and I were physically tired. That is why, I was left by them. Looking back the race as a whole, we were quite cool in every condition. I want to thank my team for preparing us such a good machine."
Tadayuki Okada, Seven Star Honda: 4th. "I was the start rider today and was third when I came back to the start/finish line after the opening lap. The track temperature was increasing and we could not push too hard. The condition of the machine was very good so we pushed as much as possible. During the last stint, the track temperature lowered and I had no problem physically, so I concentrated so much to improve our position."
Osamu Deguchi, Seven Star Honda: 4th: "If my lap times were better, we would have been on the podium so I fell sorry for the team, Okada san and also for our fans. During my first stint, tyre movements were different from what I had expected and I put excess strength to my body. During my last stint, I was doing my best to catch up Yoshimura. I learned a lot during this weekend riding a factory machine and as a partner to Okada san. I want to utilize this experience for my All Japan Championship race."
Kazuhiko Yamano - The Team Manager. "Although Deguchi became the #11 rider this week, I wish I could let him ride more. Also I told him not to crash and this might have become a pressure to him. Deguchi has more potential than he showed today. I think Okada has done a good job."
Tsutomu Ishii - HRC General Manager. "#11 Team finished fourth, three places down from the victory. So there must be at least four reasons for the defeat."
Ryuichi Kiyonari, Seven Star Honda: 5th. " I am very disappointed because we couldn't win the race. We thought we could win it and we were going to win it. During my first and second stint, front brake judder occurred and I had to come into the pit. For the last stint, I was pushing hard to mark the fastest lap and I am happy I did it. When I passed Okada san during my last stint, I kind of bowed to him to show 'Sorry Okada san'. If I can ride with Tamada san again, we will try our best to win the race."
Makoto Tamada, Seven Star Honda: 5th. "I feel very sorry to HRC because although they asked me to take part in the race, I could not show my full potential. I also feel sorry to my fans who came to Suzuka to watch us win the race. I wanted to win desperately so I am very disappointed. If I can ride with Kiyonari again, we must win the race. Today my knee wasn't so bad but my right wrist, which I broke last year, was hurting very much toward the end. I had three weeks before the next MotoGP race in Brno so I will relax to heal it. The Czech GP will be really important for me."
Katsunori Suzuki - The Team Manager "There were some unexpected phenomena and Kiyonari had to make two irregular stops. We were aiming for the win so we are very disappointed."
Tsutomu Ishii - The HRC General Manager. "#7 Team finished fifth, four places down from the victory. We must find the reasons for this and study them. The result was fifth but two riders were doing their best."
Results 8Hours:
Pos/ Team / Nat / Bike / Class / Riders
1 / F.C.C. TSR Zip-FM Racing Team / JPN / Honda CBR1000RR / XF1 / Takeshi Tsujimura (JPN), Shin'Ichi Itoh (JPN)
2 / Toy Story RT Run'A & Harc-Pro. / JPN / Honda CBR1000RR / JSB / Yoshiteru Konishi (JPN), Takashi Yasuda (JPN)
3 / Yoshimura Suzuki With Jomo / JPN / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / JSB / Atsushi Watanabe (JPN), Kohsuke Akiyoshi (JPN)
4 / Seven Stars Honda 11 / JPN / Honda CBR1000RR / JSB / Osamu Deguchi (JPN), Tadayuki Okada (JPN)
5 / Seven Stars Honda 7 / JPN / Honda CBR1000RR / JSB / Ryuichi Kiyonari(JPN), Makoto Tamada (JPN)
6 / Masked Rider Kabuto Honda Dream RT / JPN / Honda CBR1000RR / JSB / Tatsuya Yamaguchi (JPN), Kazuki Tokudome (JPN)
7 / Team Yoshiharu Yokkaichi & K1 Racing / JPN / Honda CBR1000RR / XF1 / Yoshiyuki Sugai (JPN), Joshua Brookes (AUS)
8 / Trick Star & B-Line / JPN / Kawasaki ZX-10R / XF1 / Ryuji Tsuruta (JPN), Matsudo Naoki (JPN)
9 / F.C.C. TSR Zip-FM Racing Team / JPN / Honda CBR1000RR / XF1 / Yusuke Tejima (JPN), Gaku Kamada (JPN)
10 / Yamaha Austria Team 07 / AUT / Yamaha YZF-R1 / SBK / Igor Jerman (SLO), Gwen Giabbani (FRA), Sebastien Scarnato (FRA)
11 / Team Plus One & Showa / JPN / Honda CBR1000RR / JSB / Hidemichi Takahashi (JPN), Izumi Matsubara (JPN)
12 / Team Sakurai Honda / JPN / Honda CBR1000RR / JSB / Yukio Nukumi (JPN), Kazuma Tsuda (JPN)
13 / Moto Win Racing / JPN / Honda CBR1000RR / JSB / Shingo Suzuki (JPN), Takaomi Takahashi (JPN)
14 / Team Cha-llenger / JPN / Yamaha YZF-R1 / JSB / Norihiko Fujiwara (JPN), Nobuyuki Ohsaki (JPN)
15 / Moto Map Supply / JPN / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / JSB / Yoshihiro Konno (JPN), Yuki Hatano (JPN)
Source: Honda Pro Image
   
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nedragr
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posted August 01, 2006 05:24 AM
Toru will be pleased!!
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Real racebikes run premix!!
http://www.bikepics.com/members/nedragr/
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