De Alessio Piana / Corsedimoto.com
The victories keep coming Katsuyuki Nakasuga in the All Japan Superbike 2021: In Race 1, he beats Ryuichi Kiyonari, while Yukio Kagayama is back on the podium.
An All Japan Superbike line-up including 61 registered riders, the presence of the public (albeit limited and with social distancing), the welcome combination with Super Formula: The famous “ 2 & 4 Race » of Suzuka, even in the midst of a pandemic, represents a great celebration for Japanese motor sports. The same weekend, the two national motorsport championships of reference on 2 and 4 wheels find themselves in action on the legendary roller coaster circuit. An attractive format, further enhanced compared to the JSB1000 by the recognition of the real qualifying race for the Suzuka 8 Hours. This explains the boom in participants for the first of the two scheduled rounds which celebrated a new victory for Katsuyuki Nakasuga.
THREE OUT OF THREE FOR NAKASUGA
Four times winner of the » race of races “, and hoping to be at the start of the 8 hours again this year (in this case with YART and not with Yamaha Factory, which is still absent),
Katsuyuki Nakasuga continues in the meantime to apply for a 10th career All Japan title. Winner of both races at Motegi, the king of the JSB1000 made Saturday's race at Suzuka his own, in usual fashion. In the first rounds he left his most direct opponent Ryuichi Kiyonari let off steam then, after a prolonged neutralization with the entry of the Safety Car, fled. For " Kats », this is his 56th personal victory in his career in All Japan Superbike, marking a first attempt at breaking away from the championship.
KIYONARI AND KAGAYAMA ON THE PODIUM
Ryuichi Kiyonari was unable to do anything, with the CBR 1000RR-R from the Astemo Honda SI Racing team of Shinichi Ito, but finished second in front Yukio Kagayama, third with his team's Suzuki. The eternal All Japan driver maximized a good start, winning at the end after a heated (but clean) duel with Satoru Iwata, who fell on the last lap in the middle of the 130R while trying to conquer the podium. Recognizing the excellent performance of his opponent,
Yukio Kagayama brought him back into the pits after the race.
PLOTS
The first race at Suzuka was full of twists and turns. In addition to a prolonged entry of the safety car for a maxi-crash at the exit of Degner's second with four drivers involved (all fortunately uninjured), on the restart we saw everything. First, a sudden technical problem forced Sodo Hamahara (a place on the podium was within reach with Sakurai Honda) to return to the pits, then the highside of
Teppei Nagoe on cold tires in the bend leading to the pit straight. In addition to the zero in the standings (the second in three races...), the consequence is that it is not possible for the moment to guarantee the multi-titled HARC-PRO Honda team a place at the start of the 8 Hours of Suzuki. Having not passed this Try Out stage, they will have to try again in a few weeks during the Sunday Road Races or, alternatively, hope for a repechage by the selection committee. Given the team's track record, a simple formality….
WATANABE KO
Speaking of legendary teams, the Suzuka weekend ended prematurely for Yoshimura. Due to a disastrous crash during the second free practice session on Thursday, kazuki watanabe was forced to retire with a sore right shoulder. It's a bad blow for the pole sitter from Motegi, but also for the team itself, which was involved in the All Japan wild card race to develop the GSX-R 1000 in EWC configuration under the Yoshimura SERT Motul banner.
RACE 1 JSB1000 SUZUKA RANKING (TOP 15)
1- Katsuyuki Nakasuga – Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – 14 laps in 34'30.343
2- Ryuichi Kiyonari – Astemo Honda Dream SI Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR-R – + 3.742
3- Yukio Kagayama – Team Kagayama – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 7.103
4- Yudai Kamei – Honda Suzuka Racing Team – Honda CBR 1000RR-R – +10,92
5- Daijiro Hiura – Honda Dream RT Sakurai Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR-R – + 13.412
6- Kosuke Akiyoshi – Murayama TJC RT – Honda CBR 1000RR-R – + 17
7- Hideyuki Ogata – S-Pulse Dream Racing ITEC – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 21.108
8- Takuma Kunimine – TOHO Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR-R – + 23.674
9- Yuta Kodama – Team Kodama – Yamaha YZF R1 – +24.024
10- Taro Sekiguchi – The SANMEI Taro Plusone Team – BMW S1000RR – +24.953
11- Tatsuya Yamaguchi – TOHO Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR-R – + 27.276
12- Cocoro Atsumi – TONE RT SYNCEDGE 4413 BMW – BMW S1000RR – + 26.515
13- Shinichi Nakatomi – Waveinn-R – Yamaha YZF R1 – +28.687
14- Akira Yanagawa – will take over the RS-ITOH race – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – + 33.346
15- Tomoya Hoshino – TONE RT SYNCEDGE 4413 – BMW S1000RR – + 35.076
All Japan Superbike Suzuka Race 2: We can't beat Nakasuga! Four races, four wins for Katsuyuki Nakasuga in the 2021 All Japan Superbike: He beats Kiyonari again at Suzuka and looks set to win the tenth title of his career.
Another race illustrating the reasons which have led in recent years Katsuyuki Nakasuga to establish himself as the “King” of All Japan Superbike. After being attacked by his younger teammate last year and suffering defeat in an unhappy season in terms of results, the Japanese Superbike record holder came away as strong and determined as ever. A double victory at Motegi during the first round of the season, and again at Suzuka the weekend of the “2&4 Race”, an event organized jointly with Super Formula with the participation, in the midst of a pandemic, of a good number of spectators. At the legendary roller coaster circuit, Yamaha's only factory rider claimed his fourth victory in four races, bringing his career tally in the premier JSB57 class to 1000.
NAKASUGA AT THE TOP
To leave Suzuka with a good points lead in the championship standings, Katsuyuki Nakasuga put his usual strategy into practice. He got off to a slow start in race 2 (which has always been his specialty, including the 8 hours...) and got rid of in a few lapsIwata andHamahara. Following
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Astemo Honda SI Racing), he waited for the right moment to launch his attack 4 laps from the finish, escaping as evidenced by the advantage of 5 seconds accumulated at the appearance of the checkered flag.
TOWARDS THE TENTH TITLE
With this series of results, Katsuyuki Nakasuga
is already a nod to the 10th JSB1000 title of his career, and his rivals will now have to make an effort. The only one to have held his place sporadically during the weekend is
Ryuichi Kiyonari, who found performance levels (in the context of All Japan) more suitable for him. The inconsistency of the other legitimate podium contenders, combined with the injury of kazuki watanabe
(Yoshimura Suzuki) before the event, powered Yudai Kamei, somehow the most famous driver of the day, in third place. In fact, in the All Japan race he races with the Honda Suzuka Racing Team, a team that has more than a quarter of a century of history behind it, where only Honda employees from the Suzuka factory are involved. For everyone, a big party “at home”. In the literal sense of the word...
RACE 2 JSB1000 SUZUKA RANKING (TOP 15)
1- Katsuyuki Nakasuga – Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – 16 laps in 33'53.577
2- Ryuichi Kiyonari – Astemo Honda Dream SI Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR-R – + 5.093
3- Yudai Kamei – Honda Suzuka Racing Team – Honda CBR 1000RR-R – +15.288
4- Daijiro Hiura – Honda Dream RT Sakurai Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR-R – + 17.458
5- Sodo Hamahara – Honda Dream RT Sakurai Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR-R + 20.777
6- Teppei Nagoe – MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR-R – + 22.199
7- Yukio Kagayama – Team Kagayama – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 24.363
8- Satoru Iwata – Team ATJ – Honda CBR 1000RR-R – + 32.727
9- Kosuke Akiyoshi – Murayama TJC RT – Honda CBR 1000RR-R – + 38.232
10- Hideyuki Ogata – S-Pulse Dream Racing ITEC – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 40.314
11- Yuta Kodama – Team Kodama – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 40.442
12- Taro Sekiguchi – SANMEI Team Taro Plusone – BMW S1000RR – +40.764
13- Cocoro Atsumi – TONE RT SYNCEDGE 4413 BMW – BMW S1000RR – + 46.245
14- Tatsuya Yamaguchi – TOHO Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR-R – + 46.790
15- Akira Yanagawa – will-raise racing RS-ITOH – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – + 47.051
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