The conditions were quite favorable on Thursday, for this third and final day of official testing for the Suzuka 8 Hours. 3 daytime sessions were organized for each of the two groups of motorcycles. No night sessions.
In the morning, in group A, the Official Yamaha (Yamaha YZF R1 #21, Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Alex Lowes, Michael van der Mark) made us relive exactly the same session as the day before by achieving the same time (2'08.039) in front of the same opponents: Kawaski from the Green team (Kawasaki ZX -10RR #11, Kazuma Watanabe, Leon Haslam, Azlan Shah bin Kamaruzaman) and the official Honda MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO Honda (Honda CBR 1000RR SP2 #634, Takumi Takahashi, Takaaki Nakagami, Jack Miller).
We note the GMT94 Yamaha (Yamaha YZF R1 #94, David Checa, Niccolo Canepa, Mike Di Meglio) 2,8 seconds behind the official Yamaha, and the SERT (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 2016 #1, Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson ) at 3,7 seconds.
In group B, the Yoshimura Official Suzuki (Motul Racing Suzuki GSX-R 1000 2017 #12, Takuya Tsuda, Sylvain Guintoli, Josh Brookes) leads the way in 2'08.838 ahead of FCC TSR Honda (Honda CBR 1000RR SP2 #5, Stefan Bradl, Dominique Aegerter, Randy de Puniet ) and the Moriwaki Motul Racing (Honda CBR 1000RR SP2 #19, Yuki Takahashi, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Dan Linfoot).
During intermediate sessions, Yamaha #21 goes under 2'08, in 2'07.603 while in group B, the Moriwaki Motul Racing (Honda CBR 1000RR SP2 #19, Yuki Takahashi, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Dan Linfoot) precedes the Yoshimura Suzuki (Motul Racing Suzuki GSX-R 1000 2017 #12, Takuya Tsuda, Sylvain Guintoli, Josh Brookes) in 2'08.557.
And this is not a performance linked to luck since Moriwaki Motul Racing (Honda CBR 1000RR SP2 #19, Yuki Takahashi, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Dan Linfoot) achieved the best time of the day, and of the 3 days, during the last sessions, in 2'07.346.
This sounds a bit like a bolt from the blue because Moriwaki is making his return this year after 9 years of absence, by fielding his own chassis equipped with a factory Honda engine and Pirelli tires. The best time was achieved by Ryuichi Kiyonari already 4 times winner of the Suzuka 8 Hours.
Honda therefore proved to be the fastest during each of these three days of testing, first of all with the MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO Honda (Honda CBR 1000RR SP2 #634, Takumi Takahashi, Takaaki Nakagami, Jack Miller), Then FCC TSR Honda (Honda CBR 1000RR SP2 #5, Stefan Bradl, Dominique Aegerter, Randy de Puniet) and finally the Moriwaki Motul Racing (Honda CBR 1000RR SP2 #19, Yuki Takahashi, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Dan Linfoot).
Does this mean that the Tokyo firm is the favorite in this race?
Not so sure, because if Honda has undoubtedly put in the means to win this 40th anniversary on a circuit belonging to it, Yamaha is not left out, and if the glory for the moment goes to the winged logo, the Yamaha Factory Racing Team (Yamaha YZF R1 #21, Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Alex Lowes, Michael van der Mark) focused on race simulations, completing series of more than 20 consecutive laps in 2'09 in the second session.
Today, things appear very uncertain and no crew is any longer a real favorite. Having not been able, for the moment, to be the fastest, the pressure seems to be on the shoulders of the Yamaha #21, the latest winner in the two previous editions, which will alone have to face 3 Hondas for the moment more fast.
Everything therefore seems quite open, and as always in Endurance, the winner will be one of those who will not have experienced the slightest problem during the race.
Combined classification J.3
