Today, 3 free practice sessions took place in preparation for the 41st edition of the Suzuka 8 Hours.
We expect a difficult race next Sunday, due to a confrontation which already promises to be very close, with either extreme heat like today, or, worse, the possible arrival of Typhoon Jongdari , which is currently raging off the Japanese coast.
The morning FP1 lasting one hour, although interrupted by two red flags, made it possible to observe that, at least for the session concerned, the Official Yamaha #21 was a cut above the competition, even in racing conditions.
It is in fact the only motorcycle that was able to go below the 2'08 mark, with Katsuyuki Nakasuga (2) then alex lowes (2'07.853).
For its part, Michael van der Mark was penalized by the interruption due to the 2nd red flag and could not do better than 2'11 during his only clear lap.
Faced with Iwata's sharp weapon, the competition was momentarily somewhat destabilized and, in the end, the best response was not given by the most prominent opponents, the official Hondas or the Kawasaki, but the unexpected Honda n & AU Teluru 090 MotoUP, in 2'08.515, driven by the former winner Kousuke Akiyoshi supported by Isaac Viñales et Tetsuta nagashima, the latter two being directly from Moto2.
Just behind, we found the Yoshimura Suzuki (GSX-R 1000 #12 for Takuya Tsuda, Sylvain Guintoli and Bradley Ray) despite several untimed laps due to transponder problems.
Le Team Green Kawasaki was provisionally fourth with Leon Haslam in 2'08.960 while Jonathan Rhea, because of the first red flag, did not manage to do better than 2'10.753.
The team HRC having decided to take advantage of this session to mainly ride PJ Jacobsen who still has to get used to the CBR 1000RRW, she recorded the 6th time, just behind that of the FCC TSR Honda who leads the world championship, 10 points ahead of GMT 94 Yamaha by Christophe Guyot.
A look back at the first tests of the weekend with @AlanTecher89 ! “The main objective for the drivers and the team is to win the title at the end of the race! We will give everything to achieve this goal! »
Go FCC @TSRHondaFrance ! #EWC #HondaRacing pic.twitter.com/gQlvSJF5cu— Honda Moto France ✌️ (@HondaMotoFr) July 26, 2018
8 hours Suzuka 2018 – FP 1 ranking (Top-15)
01- Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – 2'07.853
02- au & Teluru MotoUP RT – Honda CBR1000RR – +0,662
03- Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Motul – Suzuki GSX-R 1000- +0,706
04- Kawasaki Green Team – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – +1,107
05- TSR Honda France FCC – Honda CBR1000RR – +1,262
06- Team HRC – Honda CBR 1000RRW – +1,685
07- KYB Moriwaki Motul Racing – Honda CBR1000RR – +1834
08- Kagayama Team USA – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – +2,313
09- Musashi RT HARC-PRO Honda – Honda CBR1000RR – +2,361
10- Asia Dream Honda Racing – Honda CBR1000RR – +2,445
11- YART Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – +2,605
12- GMT94 Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – +2.670
13- SuP Dream Team Honda – Honda CBR1000RR – +2,940
14- Honda Suzuka Racing Team – Honda CBR1000RR – +2,959
15- Dream Honda RT Sakurai – Honda CBR1000RR – +3,235
During FP2, lasting 45 minutes, the Yamaha Factory Racing Team retained its advantage, Katsuyuki Nakasuga improving his time to 2'07.213, just like alex lowes in 2'07.437 and Michael van der Mark in 2'08.736.
Behind the Team Green Kawasaki continued to show an excellent level, overcoming adversity thanks to a 2'08.004, less than 2 tenths ahead of the Official Honda HRC #33, and 6 tenths ahead of Yoshimura Suzuki official #12.
The 4 factory motorcycles from the 4 manufacturers in the first 4 places: a sort of logic was thus put in place!
8 hours Suzuka 2018 – FP2 ranking (Top-15)
01- Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – 2'07.213
02- Kawasaki Team Green – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – +0.791
03- Team HRC – Honda CBR 1000RRW – + 0.942
04- Yoshimura Suzuki Motul Racing – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 1.537
05- YART Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 1.939
06- FCC TSR Honda France – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 2.282
07- KYB Moriwaki Motul Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 2.298
08- MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 2.338
09- S-Pulse Dream Racing IAI – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 2.345
10- Honda Suzuka Racing Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 2.580
11- Honda Asia Dream Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR – +2.805
12- au & Teluru MotoUP RT – Honda CBR 1000RR – +2.812
13- Team SuP Dream Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 2.887
14- Honda Dream RT Sakurai – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 3.369
15- GMT94 Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 3.845
Finally, the 3-minute FP45 was the opportunity to witness a real declaration of war from the representatives of Akashi, Leon Haslam (2'07.227) even allowing himself to be ahead by 8 thousandths Jonathan Rhea (2'07.235) to come within 14 thousandths of the best time of the Yamaha #21 established earlier today. The tone is set: the Kawasaki of the Team Green will be there, in the fight for the race lead!
Katsuyuki Nakasuga was perhaps on course to better Iwata's best time but was hampered in his attempt by slower competitors.
Behind this fight for pole position, it's good Randy De Puniet who knew how to lead the MuSASHI RT HARC-PRO #634 in 3rd provisional position, in 2'08.379, ahead of the Yoshimura Suzuki official #12.
Note the small underperformance of the Official Honda #33, PJ Jacobsen not yet quite at the level of his teammates and still having to get to grips with the CBR 1000RRW equipped with Bridgestone tires.
8 hours Suzuka 2018 – FP3 ranking (Top-15)
01- Kawasaki Team Green – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – 2'07.227
02- Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – +
0.489 03- MuSASHi RT Honda HARC-PRO – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 1.152
04- Yoshimura Suzuki Motul Racing – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 1.799
05- Honda Suzuka Racing Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 1.921
06- YART Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – + 2.029
07- Team SuP Dream Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 2.130
08- S-Pulse Dream Racing IAI – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 2.518
09- au & Teluru MotoUP RT – Honda CBR 1000RR – +2.571
10- Team HRC – Honda CBR 1000RRW – + 2.669
11- KYB Moriwaki Motul Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 2.789
12 – GMT94 Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – +2.954
13- dream Honda Racing Asia – Honda CBR1000RR – + 3.092
14- FCC TSR Honda France – Honda CBR1000RR – + 3.392
15- EVA Webike Trickstar Racing – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – +3.497
Combined ranking for Thursday July 26 (click to enlarge):
Tomorrow Friday 27 July, the qualifications will take place according to the following times:
02.00 to 04.00 Free practice
05.05 to 05.25 QP (blue)
05.40 to 06.00 QP (yellow)
06.15 to 06.35 QP (red)
08.05 to 08.25 QP (yellow)
08.40 to 09.00 QP (blue)
09.15 to 09.35 QP (yellow)
09.50 to 10.10 QP (red)
10.25 to 10.45 QP (blue)
11.30:12.30 a.m. to XNUMX:XNUMX p.m. Night testing
Photo credit rankings: SOJ8Hours