Results Suzuka 8 Hours, Suzuka, Japan

2007-07-29 08:34
The ten-year Suzuka 8 Hour race-winning streak established by Honda came to an end today at the 30th running of Japan's most prestigious motorcycle race. The Team HRC #33 CBR1000RR of Tadayuki Okada and Carlos Checa staging a race
long fight back, after incurring a 30 second penalty, to chase home race winners Yukio Kagayama and Kosuke Akioshi (Yoshimura Suzuki). The FCC TSR ZIP- FM Honda of Shinichi Ito and Yusuke Teshima came home in third place.

Team HRC had qualified in the top two places on
the Le Mans style starting grid with Checa
setting fastest lap, although Okada would start
the race. Ryuichi Kiyonari and James Toseland in
second spot with Kiyo starting. Kagayama was
third on the grid for Yoshimura 34.

From the start Kagayama took the lead and held
it until the first pit stop - rider change over
with Kiyonari in close attendance, Ito, winner in
2006, held third place. Okada was down in ninth
place after his opening stint courtesy of a 30
second pit stop penalty incurred for his flying
start. This condemned the team to a long fight
back through the back markers while their rivals
made the most of a clear track.

Kiyonari handed the CBR1000RR over to James
Toseland and the Englishman pushed had to close
the gap on the leader, his chase lasted just
three laps. Approaching the Dunlop Curve for the
third time the front end turned in and Toseland
was down. Toseland managed to get the CBR1000RR
back to the pits but the pit crew declared the
machine was too badly damaged to continue. The
exit of #11 left Akioshi well clear of Teshima
with the second Yoshimura machine, in the hands of Daisaku Sakai third.

"It was my own mistake," admitted Toseland. "It
was my third lap after switching from Kiyo, at
Dunlop-Curve, I crashed because my front end
tangled suddenly without any warnings. It was so
strange and I could do nothing about it."

Kiyonari was a disappointed man deprived of the
chance to fight for the win, through no fault of
his own, and for the second year in succession.

"I think we were doing OK." Said Kiyonari. "I
crashed during morning warm-up but that didn't
make any difference. I was ready to race for 8
hrs so I thought the first hour was OK. If I have
regret, I should have closed the gap with the
leader. May be James was too eager to close the gap."

With the demise of #11all HRC hopes now rested
with Okada and Checa aboard #33. Checa rode at
his considerable best and at the end of his first
stint had fought his way up to fourth place just behind Sakai.

At the end of three hours the two Yoshimura teams
led from Team HRC #33 with the FCC TSR of Ito -
Teshima in fourth and Yamaha 81 of Abe and Stauffer holding fifth place.

One hour later Checa moved into second place but
try as hard as he and Okada dare to push they
could not close on the leading Yoshimura team.

As the race passed the half way mark the top five
running order of Yoshimura 34, HRC 33, the FCC
TSR Honda of Ito and Teshima, in the podium
positions and Yoshimura 12 well clear of Yamaha
81 changed little until the final stages.

However, the Moriwaki Motul Racing Honda of
Tetsuya Yamaguchi and Leon Camier had the bit
between their teeth following incurring the same
30-second penalty as Okada. The Moriwaki men
mounted a meteoric charge from a lowly 17th at
the end of the first hour to sixth place as the race entered its final hour.

HRC #33 could not reduce the deficit to Yoshimura
34 crossing the line two minutes behind the
winners but one lap clear of Ito and Teshima in
third place for FCC TSR ZIP-FM.

At the end of the race Checa was frustrated about
what might have been. He said: "I didn't
understand why Tady had been penalized. We lost
precious time but we changed our mind set and
tried to regain the position. Both Tady and I
were riding well. We managed to get back to
fourth quite easily but to regain the second
place was very hard. My first 8 hrs race was a
good experience to me and it was also
interesting. The team, Tady and everybody helped
me a lot and I want to come back here again to win."

The penalised Okada echoed the thoughts of his
team mate: "Yoshimura was very strong today.
Flying penalty ruined our race. Carlos did a good
job and our machine was OK till the end. I
enjoyed the battle with Ito but we knew that if
we overtake each other, our lap times drop so we
were kind of riding together. Although I am
retired as a racer, I thought there was no
disadvantage for me. Still crash and flying show
that I am away from racing. If I have a chance
again, I will try to eliminate those disadvantages."

Shinichi Ito was below his best this time round
lingering injuries disrupting his usual
meticulous 8 hours race preparations and limiting
valuable testing time: "I did not have enough
testing before the race so we couldn't find the
best set-ups. This is the first race of the
season for me and I was still struggling to find
my rhythm. When I caught Okada, I couldn't go any
faster." Said the Japanese veteran.

Watanabe and Sakai brought the second Yoshimura
machine home in fourth place with Tetsuya
Yamaguchi and Leon Camier rewarded for there
superb ride with a magnificent fifth
place at the finish.

The Masked Rider Honda of Tokudome and Kamada
came home in sixth place ahead of the Suzuki of
Vincent and Lagrive. The second FCC TSR Honda of
Iwata and Sugai beat the Yamaha 81 team of Abe
and Stauffer to eighth place with Team Sakurai Honda 81 completing the top ten.



Honda riders and Team HRC staff quotes.

Tady Okada, Team HRC #33: 2nd. "Yoshimura was
very strong today. Flying penalty ruined our
race. Carlos did a good job and our machine was
OK till the end. I enjoyed the battle with Ito
but we knew that if we overtake each other, our
lap times drop so we were kind of riding
together. Although I am retired as a racer, I
thought there was no disadvantage to me. Still
crash and flying show that I am away from racing.
If I have a chance again, I will try to eliminate those disadvantages.

Carlos Checa, Team HRC #33: 2nd "I didn't
understand why Tady had been penalized. We lost
precious time but we changed our mind and tried
to regain the position. Both Tady and I were
riding well. We managed to get back to fourth
quite easily but to regain the second place was
very hard. My first 8 hrs race was a good
experience to me and it was also interesting. The
team, Tady and everybody helped me a lot and I
want to come back here again to win."

Toshiyuki Yamaji #33 Team Manager. "I must
apologize to those who supported us. It was a
total defeat for us and Yoshimura did a perfect race."

Shinichi Ito, F.C.C.TSR ZIP-FM Honda: 3rd."I did
not have enough testing before the race so we
couldn't find the best set-ups. This is the first
race of the season for me and I was still
struggling to find my rhythm. When I caught
Okada, I couldn't go any faster. Teshima did a
good job although he re-joined our team recently
and the set-up was not best for him. I was happy
to get on the podium at the 30th anniversary event."

Yusuke Teshima, F.C.C.TSR ZIP-FM Honda: 3rd. "I
was so happy that I could get on the podium.
During the pre-event testing, I was riding HRC
machine and when I came back to TSR, where I
belonged before, I became a TSR rider. I could
not mark good lap times during the testing but I
got a good feeling since Friday and marked my
best lap time on Friday. I want to thank Ito san
very much. We got on the podium by his effort."

Ryuichi Kiyonari, Team HRC #11: dnf - team mate
crash. "I think we were doing OK. I crashed
during morning warm-up but that didn't make any
difference. I was ready to race for 8 hrs so I
thought the first hour was OK. If I have regret,
I should have closed the gap with the leader. May
be James was too eager to close the gap. This
year there were many back markers from early
stage so I didn't want to push too hard and crash
while overtaking them. I really feel sorry for
fans, who had supported us. Again I couldn't win
8 hrs race so my disappointment became doubled. I
have to wait another year to overcome the frustration, and that's too long.

James Toseland, Team HRC #11: dnf - crash. "It
was my mistake. It's shame that I didn't make any
mistakes during the practices or Super Pole but
during the race. I don't know what to say. I want
to apologize to my team-mate, fans, the team and
sponsors. It was my third lap after switching
from Kiyo, at Dunlop-Curve, I crashed because my
front end tangled suddenly without any warnings.
It was so strange and I could do nothing about it."

Teruaki Matsubara #11 Team Manager "We were on
good pace. Kiyonari crashed this morning and that
made him to stay cool. James was trying hard when
he crashed. I feel sorry for everyone."

Kazuhiko Yamano HRC 8hrs Project Leader "It was
an unlucky incident. James was pushing hard when
he crashed so I all I can say is it was unlucky."

Leon Camier, Moriwaki Motul Racing: 5th."This
was my third time to entry for 8 Hours. First
time, I crushed, and second time, my partner
slipped down causing to take time in repairing
the machine. So, this was the first time to
actually finish the race. When my entry was
determined suddenly, I was not yet ready for
it. Also, during the race, we had a penalty and
was in uneasy situation. However, I am happy
that I was able to have this final result."

Kazuki Tokudome, Masked Rider Den-O Honda DREAM
RT: 6th."The setting of the machine went well,
and there was a goal to ride the race with more
speed than the average time. Yet, situation
changed, and became difficult. However, I am
happy to finish the race. I tried my best to
enjoy the last part of my ride. I learned a lot
from this year's 8 Hours, and my next goal is to
reflect this experience to next race."

Gaku Kamada, Masked Rider Den-O Honda DREAM
RT: 6th. "Despite the final result, we were able
to reach the goal without any trouble or
injury. Saying with more greed, it would be
better to finish in upper placement. Yet, team
staff worked hard without any mistake, that I was
able to output my best for the race. Therefore, I am very much satisfied."


Results

1 / B Yoshimura Suzuki with JOMO 34 / JPN /
S-GSX-R1000 / JSB / Y.K agayama / K.Akiyoshi
2 / Team HRC 33 / JPN / H-CBR1000RR / JSB / T.Okada / C.Checa (SPA)
3 / F.C.C.TSR ZIP-FM Racing Team / JPN / H-CBR1000RR / SBK / Y.Teshima / S.Itoh
4 / Yoshimura Suzuki with JOMO 12 / JPN /
S-GSX-R1000 / JSB / A.Watanabe / D.Sakai
5 / Moriwaki Motul Racing / JPN / H-CBR1000RR /
JSB / T.YamaguchiI / L.Camier (GBR)
6 / Masked Rider DEN-O Honda Dream RT / JPN /
H-CBR1000RR / JSB / K.Tokudome / G.Kamada
7 / Suzuki Endurance Racing Team / FRA /
S-GSX-R1000 / SBK / V.Philppe / M.Lagrive (FRA) / J.da Costa (FRA)
8 / F.C.C. TSR Euosport Benelux / JPN /
H-CBR1000RR / SBK / S.Iwata / Y.SUGAI / H.Platacis (SUI)
9 / Yamaha Racing 81 / JPN / Y-YZF-R1 / JSB / J.Strauffer / N.Abe
10 / Team Sakurai Honda 71 / JPN / H-CBR1000RR / JSB / Y.Takeda / K.Tsuda
11 / RacingTeam Honeybee / JPN / H-CBR1000RR / JSB / H.Noda / T.Yamamoto
12 / Honda Suzuka Racing Team / JPN / H-CBR1000RR / JSB / N.Yunoki / T.Morii
13 / Zoil Trick Star / JPN / K-ZX-10R / JSB / K.Eguchi / R.Tsurata
14 / Moto Win Racing / JPN / H-CBR1000RR / JSB / S.Suzuki / T.Takahashi
15 / Phase One Endurance / GBR / Y-YZF-R1 / SBK /
W.Nowland / G.Richards (AUS) / S.Nebel (GER)

Source: Honda Pro Image

Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story