HONDA TAKES FIFTH STRAIGHT WIN AT SUZUKA 8 HOURS

2014-07-27 19:30
Honda extended its reign at the all-important
Coca Cola Zero Suzuka 8 Hours race today, when
the three-rider MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO team
conquered intermittently dire conditions to claim
its own second victory in succession, and the
fifth in a row for the all-conquering Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade.

A fierce storm shortly before the scheduled start
meant a delay of just over one hour for the
Japanese industry’s historic and most prestigious
home race of the year. It was still raining at
the delayed start, the first wet start in 17
years. While dry spells followed, crashes and
further storms brought out the safety car four
times. With the finish time set inflexibly at
19:30, the 37th running of Japan’s premier
motorcycle event last just six hours and 55 minutes.

They were packed with drama, and a dose of
heartbreak for the 2012 winning team, F.C.C. TSR
Honda, when a crash ended their hopes after
building up a significant lead, for the second year in succession.

It was Honda’s 27th victory in 37 iterations of
the headline race at the Honda-owned Suzuka
circuit. Honda has won every race but two since
1997, taking the lions’ share of honours in a
gruelling event that today combines a round of
the FIM World Endurance Championship with Japan’s
premier home race. There were 71 teams taking
part, 22 riding Honda CBR1000RR machines, plus
several international entries from World Endurance regulars.

Although Honda does not field an official entry,
the company puts years of production-racing
success into specially prepared Honda CBR1000RR Fireblades for the top teams.

The winning team’s riders were as last year –
Takumi Takahashi, Leon Haslam and Michael van der
Mark; and it was Japanese star Takahashi on board
the Honda CBR1000RR when it crossed the line,
more than a minute ahead of its nearest
competitor. Takahashi also started the race, then
British World Superbike star Haslam took over.

But van der Mark was no reserve rider, taking
over to make the crucial move to capture what was
then second place from race runners up Takuya
Tsuda, Josh Waters and Randy de Puniet (Suzuki).
He set fastest lap of the race in the process.

When Kosuke Akiyoshi crashed out of a massive
lead of better than one lap after 107 laps and
almost four-and-a-half hours, van der Mark
inherited first place and built up a gap his rivals were unable to bridge.

The tension never let up, however, particularly
after the third of four Safety Car spells broke
badly for the Dutchman, when he was behind the
car, giving his rivals the chance to close up
again. In the end, the experienced team’s slick
pit work and the strength of the rider line-up prevailed.

Takahashi maintained fast but safe lap times in
his final stint to keep Australian Waters
comfortably at bay by just over a minute. The
Japanese ace has stood on the winner’s step for
three out of five of Honda’s quintet of successive victories.

There were three more Honda teams in the top seven.

The Honda Suzuka Racing Team (Takahashi Yasuda,
Daijiro Hiura, Taketsuna Morii) took fifth,
behind one more Suzuki and the fourth-placed
Yamaha. Sixth went to Tatsuya Yamaguchi,
Hiromichi Kunikawa, Ryuta Kobayashi (TOHO Racing with MORIWAKI).

A strong effort by Honda Team Asia, in its second
visit to Suzuka, saw Indonesian rider Dimas Ekky
Pratama, Malaysian Zamri Baba and Australian Josh Hook take seventh place.

The next-best Honda to finish was 11th-placed
Honda Kumamoto Racing squad, with Mitsuhiro
Yoshida, Kazuhiro Kojima and Kazuki Tokudome.

Masao Kuboyama and Takahiro Nakatsuhara’s
CBR1000RR, entered by Honda
ESCARGOT&PGR&H-TEC(E), also claimed a good
finish, taking 16th place; and Takeshi Kohara,
Masayuki Yamanaka, Motoyuki Ando (Honda QCT MEIWA Racing) were 20th.

Other Honda teams in the top 30 out of 54
finishers were Honda SAYAMA
Racing&Hammamatsu&H-TEC(E) (Takahashi Ishizuka,
Atsushi Kawaguchi, Keita Endo) in 23rd;
26th-placed Minoru Ouchida, Tatsuya Yoshimichi,
Kuniharu Watase (DOGFISH O-TEC Suzuka); Honda
Technical College team (Motoki Furusawa, Yuta
Kodama, Koji Kitaguchi) – 28th; and All JAPAN
Honda DREAM CENTRAL BL RT (Shingo Suzuki,
Naomichi Nakai, Takaomi Takahashi) – 30th.

Others of the 22-strong CBR1000RR line-up were
spaced out through the field, after a variety of vicissitudes.

Hardest hit were the erstwhile runaway leaders.
In spite of suffering a fractured femur in a
freakish high-speed tumble, Akiyoshi managed to
get the F.C.C. TSR Honda back to the pits, and
his team-mates Jonathan Rea and Lorenzo Zanetti
rejoined in 50th place, pushing through to 40th at the finish.

Veteran former Suzuka multi-winner Shinichi Ito,
teamed with Kazuma Watanabe and Tetta Nagashima
in the au&Teluru Kohara RT squad, struggled from
the start after a technical issue forced a pit-lane start.


Honda Rider Quotes

MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO rider Takumi Takahashi – 1st
"I am very happy to win the race. To be honest, I
am not good at riding in the rain so I felt
relieved riding safely in my first stint. For the
third stint, I was not supposed to ride at first,
but team decided on me going because I have the
most experience. I’ve had enough of rain! I hope
to ride in dry condition next time.”

Leon Haslam
"Usually I enjoy my riding but for this time I
felt pressure not to crash or not to make any
mistakes. The team did a fantastic job and the
pit-stops were very neat and quick. Michael was
super-fast and Takumi was Mr. Consistent in his
stints! I was really nervous watching him at the
end, but he made it for our second win in a row.”

Michael van der Mark
"Amazing feeling! I was ready for the third hour
but it start raining and team decided to go with
Takumi in the rain because he has more
experience. The fourth hour was for me and I got
faster and faster with a steady pace and rhythm.
The bike worked perfect, the team did an amazing
job. My last stint was at a really good pace and
I could ride quite easily. To be here again in my
second year is amazing feeling. We did it all together.”



HONDA WINNERS OF THE SUZUKA 8 HOURS

1 - 1979: Tony Hatton, AUS/Michael Cole, AUS - Honda CB900
2 - 1981: Mike Baldwin, USA/Dave Aldana USA - Honda RS1000
3 - 1982: Shigeo Iijima, J/Shinji Hagiwara, J - Honda CB900F
4 - 1984: Mike Baldwin, USA/Fred Merkel, USA - Honda RS750R
5 - 1985: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Masaki Tokano, J - Honda RVF750
6 - 1986: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Dominique Sarron F - Honda RVF750
7 - 1989: Dominique Sarron, F/Alex Vieira, Por - Honda RVF750
8 - 1991: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Mick Doohan, AUS - Honda RVF750
9 - 1992: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Daryl Beattie, AUS - Honda RVF750
10 -1994: Doug Polen, USA/Aaron Slight, NZ - Honda RVF/RC45
11 - 1995: Aaron Slight, NZ/Tadayuki Okada, J - Honda RVF/RC45
12 -1997: Shinichi Itoh, J/Tohru Ukawa, J - Honda RVF/RC45
13 -1998: Shinichi Itoh, J/Tohru Ukawa, J - Honda RVF/RC45
14 -1999: Tadayuki Okada, J/Alex Barros, Bra - Honda RVF/RC45
15 - 2000: Tohru Ukawa, J/Daijiro Kato, J - Honda VTR1000SPW
16 - 2001: Valentino Rossi, I/Colin Edwards, USA - Honda VTR1000SPW
17 - 2002: Daijiro Kato, J/Colin Edwards, USA - Honda VTR1000SPW
18 - 2003: Yukio Nukumi, J/Manubu Kamada, J - Honda VTR1000SPW
19 -2004: Tohru Ukawa, J/Hitoyasu Izutsu, J - Honda CBR1000RRW
20 - 2005: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J/Tohru Ukawa, J - Honda CBR1000RRW
21 - 2006: Shinichi Itoh, J/Takeshi Tsujimura, J - Honda CBR1000RR
22 - 2008: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J/Carlos Checa, E - Honda CBR1000RR
23 - 2010: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J/Takumi Takahashi, J - Honda CBR1000RR
24 - 2011: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J/Kosuke Akiyoshi,
J/Shinichi Itoh, J - Honda CBR1000RRW
25 - 2012: Jonathan Rea, GB/Kosuke Akiyoshi, J/Tady Okada, J - Honda CBR1000RR
26 – 2013: Takumi Takahashi, J/Leon Haslam,
GB/Michael van der Mark, NL – Honda CBR1000RR
27 – 2014: Takumi Takahashi, J/Leon Haslam,
GB/Michael van der Mark, NL – Honda CBR1000RR



RESULTS
Pos / Class / Team / Riders / Bike / Laps / Time / Gap
1 / EWC / MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO / T.TAKAHASHI -
L.HASLAM - M.van der MARK / H-CBR1000RR / 172 / 6:56'13.056 / 144.33km / h
2 / EWC / YOSHIMURA SUZUKI Shell ADVANCE /
R.TSUDA - J.WATERS - R.de PUNIET / S-GSX-R1000L4
/ 172 / 6:57'12.900 / 59.844
3 / EWC / Team KAGAYAMA & Verity / N.HAGA -
D.AEGERTER - Y.KAGAYAMA / S-GSX-R 1000 / 171 / 6:56'16.132 / 1Lap
4 / EWC / MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA with YSP /
K.NAKASUGA - B.PARKES - J.BROOKES / Y-YZF-R 1 / 171 / 6:57'49.072 / 1Lap
5 / EWC / TOHO Racing with MORIWAKI / H.KUNIKAWA
- T.YAMAGUCI - !I - R.KOBAYASHI / H-CBR1000RR / 170 / 6:57'04.235 / 2Laps
6 / EWC / Honda Suzuka Racing Team / D.HIURA -
TMORII - T - YASUDA / H-CBR1000RR / 170 / 6:57'04.740 / 2Laps
7 / EWC / Honda Team Asia / J.HOOK - M.Zamri BABA
- D.Ekky PRATAMA / H-CBR1000RR / 169 / 6:58'18.448 / 3Laps
8 / EWC / SUZUKI ENDURANCE RACING TEAM /
A.DELHALLE - E.NIGON - D.CUDLIN / S-GSX-81000 / 169 / 6:58'26.222 / 3Laps
9 / EWC / Yamaha Racing GMT94 Michelin / K.FORAY
- M.GINES - D.CHECA / Y-YZF-R1 / 168 / 6:57'06.359 / 4Laps
10 / EWC / MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA -YART /
T.BRIDEWELL - W.MAXWELL - R.OLSON / Y-YZF-R 1 / 168 / 6:57'13.151 / 4Laps
11 / EWC / Honda Kumamoto Racing / M.YOSHIDA -
K.KOJIMA - K.TOKUDOME / H-CBR1000RR / 168 / 6:57'16.444 / 4Laps
12 / EWC / Team GREEN / A.YANAGAWA - K.WATANABE -
K.FUJIWARA / K-ZX-10R / 167 / 6:57'36.067 / 5Laps
13 / EWC / BOLLIGER TEAM SWITZERLAND / H.SAIGER -
R.STAMM - D.SUTTER / K-ZX-10R / 166 / 6:57'08.455 / 6Laps
14 / EWC / CONFIA Flex Motorrad39 / D.SAKAI -
S.TAKEISHI - T.OONJSHI / B-S1000RR / 166 / 6:57'12.396 / 6Laps
15 / EWC / Honda ESCARGOT&PGR&H-TEC(E) /
M.KUBOYAMA - T.NAKATSUHARA - / H-CBR1000RR / 166 / 6:57'34.132 / 6Laps
16 / EWC / Team Tras 135HP / K.TERAMOTO -
P.VALLCANERAS FLORESH.CHO - / B-HP4 / 166 / 6:57'42.925 / 6Laps
17 / EWC / PATLABOR TEAMJP DOGFIGHTRACING YAMAHA
/ T.FUJITA - O.KRUGER - S.OIKAWA / Y-YZF-R1 / 165 / 6:56'16.412 / 7Laps
18 / EWC / Kawasaki K-TEC Team38 PS-K / S.KARITA
- S.TSUKAMOTO - S.YAMASHITA / K-ZX-10R / 164 / 6:56'18.327 / 8Laps
19 / EWC / TEAM R2CL / G.JONES - G.GIABBANI -
M.LAGRIVE / S-GSX-R1000 / 164 / 6:56'20.770 / 8Laps
20 / EWC / Honda QCT MEIWA Racing / M.YAMANAKA -
M.ANDO - T.KOHARA / H-CBR 1000RR / 162 / 6:56'41.201 / 10Laps
21 / EWC / WINNER Z-TECH & NCXX Group /
T.KUNIMATSU - T.YOSHIDA - S.MIYAZAKI /
S-GSX-R1000 / 162 / 6:57'41.343 / 10Laps
22 / EWC / TEAM VITAL SPIRIT SHARK ENERGY DRINK /
T.OKUNO - M.MUKOYAMA - N.TSUJIMOTO / B-S 10D0RR / 162 / 6:58'28.181 / 10Laps
23 / EWC / Honda SAYAMA Racing&Hamamatsu&H-TEC(E)
/ A.KAWAGUCHI - K.ENDO - H.YAMASHITA / H-CBR
1000RR / 161 / 6:57'48.874 / 11Laps
24 / EWC / EVA RT TEST
TYPE-OlSynergyForceTRICKSTAR / O.DEGUCHI -
H.IZUTSU - G.LESLANC / K-ZX-1 OR / 161 / 6:58'01.317 / 11Laps
25 / EWC / TEAM MOTORS EVENTS APRIL MOTO /
J.STORRAR - M.SAVARY - G.FASTRE / S-GSX-R100o / 160 / 6:56'38.678 / 12Laps
26 / EWC / DOGFISH O-TEC Suzuka / M.OUCHIDA -
T.YOSHIMICHI - K.WATASE / H-CBR1000RR / 160 / 6:56'44.917 / 12Laps
27 / EWC / B-SQUARE RACING & NOZUKA / M.OHTA -
T.HARADA - Y.SUGAWARA / K-ZX-10R / 160 / 6:57'10.530 / 12Laps
28 / EWC / Team Honda Technical College /
Y.KODAMA - M.FURUSAWA - K.KITAGUCHI / H-CBR1000RR
/ 160 / 6:57'34.986 / 12Laps
29 / EWC / Y's distraction DOG HOUSE / M.YAMAUCHI
- K.JWATANI - / S-GSX-R1000K9 / 159 / 6:56'29.405 / 13Laps
30 / SST / All JAPAN Honda DREAM CENTRAL BL RT /
S.SUZUKI - N.NAKAI - T.TAKAHASHI / H-CBR1000RRSP
/ 159 / 6:57'12.071 / 13Laps
31 / EWC / MOTOBOX KREMER RACING by SHELL ADVANCE
/ M.SCHERRER - T.PAAVILAINEN - Y.MIYAJIMA /
S-GSX-R1000 / 159 / 6:57'19.273 / 13Laps
32 / SST / SAMURAI 3601 / S.YASUTOMI - S.ARAI -
M.TANI / B-S1000RR / 159 / 6:57'35.763 / 13Laps
33 / EWC / HONDA ENDURANCE RACING / J.DA COSTA -
S.GIMBERT - F.FORAY / H-CBR1000RRSP / 159 / 6:57'54.094 / 13Laps
34 / EWC / CLEVER WOLF Racing & NOI:Z / T.NAKAI -
M.SAWAMURA - K.ADACHI / Y-YZF-RI / 158 / 6:56'17.207 / 14Laps
35 / EWC / au&Teluru - Kohara RT / K.WATANABE -
T.NAGASHIMA - S.ITO / H-CBR1000RR / 158 / 6:56'31.830 / 14Laps
36 / EWC / RS GARAGE HARADA HIMEJI / H.HARADA -
S.TANAKA - T.NAKAYAMA / K-ZX-10R / 158 / 6:56'41.863 / 14Laps
37 / EWC / BANNER RACING H-K-C / T.KANEDA - K.DAN
- A.HONDA / D-1199Panigale / 157 / 6:57'08.738 / 15Laps
38 / EWC / Club Bali Racing / Y.NAKAJIMA -
J.MORIMOTO - / K-ZX-10R / 157 / 6:57'18.012 / 15Laps
39 / EWC / Honda DREAM RT WAKAYAMA / T.NISHINAKA
- M.SHINJO - T.KISHIDA / H-CBR1000RR / 157 / 6:57'52.063 / 15Laps
40 / EWC / F.C.C. TSR Honda / K.AKIYOSHI - J.REA
- L.ZANETTI / H-CBR1000RR / 157 / 6:58'09.113 / 15Laps
41 / EWC / TEAM FLEMBBO LEADER TEAM / J.PROSENIK
- E.BELLUCCI - L.DERINE / K-ZX-10R / 157 / 6:58'19.649 / 15Laps
42 / EWC / PLUS ONE MCRT & SOLAR ICHIBAN /
H.IMAZU - T.ASAHINA - K.TAJIMA / K-ZX-10R / 156 / 6:56'24.551 / 16Laps
43 / EWC / Team-Hashimotogumi AKENO SPEED /
M.INAGAKI - D.Tala PRADITA - K.KANAYAMA /
S-GSX-R1000 / 155 / 6:58'21.080 / 17Laps
44 / EWC / Honda Kouyoukai DREAM Racing Team /
H.KURAYAMA - T.EBINUMA - H.NAKAMURA / H-CBR1000RR
/ 154 / 6:58'34.168 / 18Laps
45 / EWC / Y's distraction NERGAL / J.TONARI -
K.NAKAO - Y.SUMI / Y-YZF-R1 / 153 / 6:58'21.482 / 19Laps
46 / EWC / TEAM HOOTERS with Shota SAITO /
T.OKUDA - T.DAIRAKU - T.SOMA / KT-1190 RC8R / 151 / 6:56'41.015 / 21Laps
47 / EWC / TAKEUP & TEAM JP / T.TAMURA - H.NAGANO
- Y.KIMURA / S-GSX-R1000 / 151 / 6:57'50.840 / 21Laps
48 / EWC / HINOSEIKI-IWAKI & T2 with fenice /
T.YAMAUCHI - H.TAKAMA - M.KUNO / S-GSX-R1000 / 150 / 6:58'24.177 / 22Laps
49 / EWC / Honda EG Racing / K.HONDA -
T.KURIBAYASHI - / H-CBR1000RR / 146 / 6:57'48.119 / 26Laps
50 / EWC / HAMAMATSU TEAM TITAN / Y.SHIMIZU -
T.INUKI - H.OHSHIRO / S-GSX-R1000 / 146 / 6:58'31.264 / 26Laps
51 / EWC / Motorrad Toyota Nagasaka Racing /
T.NODA - K.SASAKI - K.NAKAMURA / 8-S1000RR / 145 / 6:56'29.027 / 27Laps
52 / SST / HAMAGUCHI BAKUON RACING / S.FUJISHIMA
- S.NAKASAKO - T.FUKATSU / KT-RCBR / 143 / 6:57'12.900 / 29Laps
53 / EWC / Team Favorite Factory / K.FUKUYAMA -
D.KISAMORI - H.SAGO / S-GSX-R1000 / 143 / 6:57'43.641 / 29Laps
54 / SST / TEAM MASSA-R / M.MOGI - T.OKADA -
H.TOYODA / Y-YZF-R 1 / 141 / 6:56'48.594 / 31Laps
55 / EWC / MOTOBUM with 1SHIGAKI ISLAND TUNA /
T.OOKI - Y.MATSUKAWA - A.IGARASHI / H-CBR1000RR / 136 / 6:58'16.667 / 36Laps
56 / EWC / Honda BlueHelmets MSC KUMAMOTO /
Y.OHASHI - K.MORI - T,OTSUKA / H-CBR1000RR / 130 / 6:56'36.706 / 42Laps
57 / EWC / FREE RIDE / IMT satoracing / D.SATO -
T.SATO - / Y-YZF-R1 / 130 / 6:56'47.591 / 42Laps
58 / EWC / YamashinaKawasaki & BusinessRalliart /
S.YAMASAKI - M.MATSUMOTO - / K-ZX-10R / 129 / 6:56'17.817 / 43Laps


WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS POSITIONS TO DATE:
1 Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin 62
2 SRC Kawasaki 55
3 Team Bolliger Switzerland 45
4 Musashi RT Harc Pro 35
5 Team Motors Events April Moto 35
6 National Motos 32
7 Yoshimura Suzuki Shell Advance 29
8 Team R2CL 26
9 Team Kagayama & Verity 25
10 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team 23
11 Monster Energy Yamaha with YSP 21
12 TMC City Bike TRT 27 19
13 Honda Racing 19
14 Toho Racing with Moriwaki 18
15 Honda Suzuka Racing Team 16
16 Maco Racing Team 15
17 Honda Team Asia 14
18 Flembbo Leader Team 13
19 Team Space Moto 37 12
20 Monster Energy Yamaha YART 11
21 Honda Kumamoto Racing 10
22 Team Green 9
23 Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers 8
24 CONFIA Flex Motorrad39 7
25 Honda Escargot & PGR 6
26 Team Tras 135HP 5
27 Patlabor Team JP Dogfight Racing 4
28 Kawasaki K-TEC Team38 PS-K 3
29 Motobox Kremer by Shell Advance 2
30 Honda QCT Meiwa Racing 1




NEXT EVENT: ROUND03, AUG 23, OSCHERSLEBEN, GERMANY

Source: Honda Pro Image

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