Saturday July 29 first saw the Suzuka 4 Hours race (reserved for 600 cc) take place on a drying track.
The atmosphere there is... let's say the opposite of the usual Japanese rigor.
🇯🇵Just have a look at atmosphere here in Suzuka for the 4 Hour event… There is place for all type of racers… Love it! pic.twitter.com/mQDLhtu1SV
— PecinoGP (@pecinogp) July 29, 2017
Yamaha wins the double with the motorcycles of the Yamaha Thailand Racing and Akeno Speed Yamaha team.
Then the free practice session of one and a half hours which confirms the hierarchy observed yesterday :
Finally, the Top 10 Trial begins (visible here).
The last (10 fastest) set off first, which allows the commentator to tear his vocal cords each time a time or partial is beaten.
To try to understand at least what is happening, the motorcycles classified from 5 to 10 start first in the reverse order of their classification.
The #22 (Satu Hati Honda Asia team) sets off first with Dimes Ekky PRATAMA and sets a first milestone in 2'09.966.
The #25 (Honda Suzuka Racing team) could not do better since its driver, Yudai KAMEI, crashed.
#19, Moriwaki Motul Racing, Ryuichi KIYONARI, 2'08.178
#71, Team Kagayama, Hafizh Shyarin, 2'08.616
#7, YART Yamaha, Marvin FRITZ, 2'08.481
We then take the same bikes, we change drivers, and we're off again for five new times.
#22, SatuHATI Honda Team Asia, Md. Zaghwan ZAIDI, 2'10.561
#25, HondaSuzukaRacingTeam, Daijiro HIURA, 2'08.178
#19, MORIWAKI MOTUL RACING, Yuki TAKAHASHI 2'08.041, provisional best time
#71, Team KAGAYAMA, Naomichi URAMOTO, 2'08.616
#7, YART -YAMAHA, Broc PARKES, 2'07.634, provisional best time
Follows, after a few minutes of interruption and following the same procedure, the battle of the bosses with the five fastest motorcycles on the field.
#5, FCC TSR Honda, Randy de PUNIET, 2'07.156, provisional best time
#11, Kawasaki Team Green, Kazuma WATANABE, 2'07.892
#634, MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO. Honda, Takumi TAKAHASHI, 2'06.674, provisional best time
#12, YOSHIMURA SUZUKI MOTUL RACING, Sylvain GUINTOLI, fall
#21, YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM, Katsuyuki NAKASUGA, 2'06.038, best provisional time but a faster time than last year's pole position (2'06.258), and only 38 thousandths of the record set by Pol Espargaro in 2 in 06.000!
We then take the same bikes, we change drivers, and we're off again for 5 new times.
#5, FCC TSR Honda, Dominique AEGERTER, 2'06.600 (big attack)
#11, Kawasaki Team Green, Leon HASLAM, 2'06.381
#634, MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO. Honda, Takaaki NAKAGAMI, 2'06.671
#12, YOSHIMURA SUZUKI MOTUL RACING, Takuya TSUDA, 2'06.282
#21, YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM, Alex LOWES, 2'06.225
In the end, probably more than its intrinsic speed, the official Yamaha appears to be the favorite thanks to its perfectly homogeneous crew. But the lesson of this Top 10 Trial seems clear: with extremely close competition, there will be no room for the slightest error!
1. Yamaha Factory #21 (Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Alex Lowes, Michael van der Mark) 2'06.038
2. Yoshimura Suzuki #12 (Sylvain Guintoli, Josh Brookes, Takuya Tsuda) 2'06.282
3. Kawasaki Team Green #11 (Kazuma Watanabe, Leon Haslam, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman) 2'06.381
4. FCC TSR Honda #5 (Dominique Aegerter, Randy de Puniet, Josh Hook) 2'06.600
5. MuSASHi Honda #634 (Takumi Takahashi, Jack Miller, Takaaki Nakagami) 2'06.671
6. YART Yamaha #7 (Broc Parkes, Kohta Nozane, Marvin Fritz) 2'07.634
7. Moriwaki Honda #19 (Yuki Takahashi, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Dan Linfoot) 2'08.041
8. Suzuka Honda #25 (Daijiro Hiura, Yudai Kamei, Takashi Yasuda) 2'08.178
9. Kagayama Suzuki #71 (Yukio Kagayama, Hafizh Syahrin, Naomichi Uramoto) 2'08.616
10. Team Asia Honda #22 (Dimes Ekky Pratama, Zaqhwan Zaidi, Ratthapong Wilairot) 2'09.966
Events tomorrow morning at four o'clock continue the Suzuka 8 Hours which we will report live on our site.
Download the progress of the weekend!
How to watch the race live (timetables)
LIVE TIMING 1 (for the race)
