8 Hours of Suzuka – Race (4/4): rant, gunshot, and burst of brilliance at Suzuka!

Access to the first quarter of the race 

Access to the second quarter of the race

Access to the third quarter of the race

In this relay, it is neither the actions in the race, nor even the changes in classification, which shake us out of a certain torpor, but rather the sanction of a 30-second Stop and Go imposed at GMT 94.

For what ? We have to wait for the explanation from Christophe Guyot himself to find out: in the previous stint, Mike Di Meglio overtook under the yellow flag. By the time the Japanese commissioners meet and choose the punishment, it is applied to the next driver number 94, that is to say Niccolo Canepa.

But where the French team leader lets out a real rant is when we try to prohibit him from going to the area reserved for the sanction to make his driver aware of the reason. Suddenly, the Parisian calls everything into question: the impossibility of seeing yellow flags waved because of the width of the track, all of the special regulations specific to the Suzuka 8 Hours, and of course, the fact that he does not have the right to communicate with his sanctioned driver.

Christophe Guyot : “the reason (for the sanction) is because Mike Di Meglio overtook under a yellow flag, since the rules prohibit a driver from overtaking under a yellow flag. The problem was that it was impossible to see him. You would have to turn your head 90° to see it. You can't see him We are here at Suzuka, a track with low level safety, the track is very very wide and it is certain that it is impossible to see him. OK ! This is the rule… stop and go. But I am very unhappy because then, I went to Stop and go: I am correct, I accept the decision even if it is bad luck for Mike Di Meglio, but then, it was impossible for me to go see my driver at Stop and go. But this is (yet) the regulation! The team manager is authorized to go to Stop and go. He is not obliged to do so but he is authorized to do so to explain to him why he had a Stop and go. Niccolo Canepa is not aware…
But here, it's forbidden! I had to force access while taking risks because I might be given another Stop and go. Every year we have problems with Suzuka! They have their own rules! It is impossible for the FIM to enforce the rules there. Last year we lost the championship here because they stopped my bike whose light was not working even though it was not an obligation to stop it. And so many other things. So Suzuka, OK, it's a great event, the best of the best, the MotoGP of endurance, but with their rules, their regulations, with two team managers at the briefing, special marks on the armbands, a starting procedure different, it's a speed track without a safety barrier where we do endurance, and it's impossible for me to stop and go to see my driver. So I'm angry about this! »

In the end, even if we understand very well the pressure suffered by the team manager one hour from a world champion title, this will only change the position of the Yamaha number 94 in the final ranking by only one place, and Christophe Guyot will put all this on the back burner a few minutes later…

The other twist, and just as important, was when Randy de Puniet's FCC TSR started to catch fire half an hour from the checkered flag. From the outside, as night fell, we could see flames inside the engine belly pan. The French driver, then in second position, discovered the disaster, probably initiated by overheating during the intervention of the Safety car. He returns to the box in general confusion, we remove the sabot, check that everything is off and the FCC TSR leaves with a bang, obviously having let the Kawasaki of the Green team pass which was fighting with the Honda for second place.

After these emotions, the 8 Hours of Suzuka ends with the third consecutive victory for the Yamaha Factory Racing Team (Yamaha YZF R1 #21, Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Alex Lowes, Michael van der Mark).ahead of Kawasaki Team GREEN (Kawasaki ZX-10RR #11, Kazuma Watanabe, Leon Haslam, Azlan Shah bin Kamaruzaman) and FCC TSR Honda (Honda CBR 1000RR SP2 #5, Dominique Aegerter, Randy de Puniet, Josh Hook).

Complete ranking