RM-Z450 debuts in All Japan Championship this weekend

Suzuki's all-new RM-Z450 four-stroke MX machine made a sensational debut at yesterday's final round of the All-Japan MX Championship series, producing lap times faster than wild-card entry, multi-world champion Stefan Everts, in the preliminary heat.

Team Suzuki's Akira Narita had already secured his second consecutive All-Japan 250 MX title on board his RM250 at the penultimate round, and with just one practice session on the new RM-Z450, was still coming to terms with Suzuki's new four-stroke racer.

In the first championship moto, Narita fell victim to a multiple crash on the first lap. Re-starting, he was making fast progress through the field, recording the second fastest lap of the day in the process, but fell again towards the end of the race and finished out of the points.

In the second moto, Narita made a superb start and entered a fierce battle with Honda's World MXGP contender, Yoshitaka Atsuta. The intensity of the battle and Narita's lack of track time on the new RM-Z450 started to tell and both he and Atsuta fell back as Everts and Suzuki team mate Kazumasa Masudato on the RM250 came past, followed by Takeshi Katsuya. Narita held on to take fifth place at the flag.

Akira Narita: "It was just my second ride on the machine today. I didn't really have enough time on the new RM-Z450 to learn the differences between the two-stroke and four-stroke, but the new bike has massive power, even at low revs and handled really well once I got used to the different characteristics. I think we showed that the new machine will be a serious threat next year and Suzuki will use the winter period to make it into a race winner."

In the 125cc Championship races Tetsuya Mizuguchi clinched the title on the Kawasaki KX250FS-R that has been jointly developed alongside the Suzuki XRM0 development machine for the RM-Z250 production model.

RESULTS: AJMX. Round 10.
250cc HEAT 1
1. Takeshi KATSUYA. Honda RC250M
2. Yoshitaka ATSUTA. Honda CRF450R
3. Kazumasa MASUDA. SUZUKI RM250W
4. Stefan EVERTS. Yamaha YZ450FM
5. Taichi KUGIMURA. Yamaha YZ250M
6. Ryuichiro TAKAHAMA. Honda CRF450R

250cc HEAT 2
1. Stefan EVERTS. Yamaha YZ450FM
2. Kazumasa MASUDA. SUZUKI RM250W
3. Takeshi KATSUYA. Honda RC250M
4. Yoshitaka ATSUTA. Honda CRF450R
5. Akira NARITA. SUZUKI RM-Z450
6. Takeshi KOIKEDA. Yamaha YZ250

Final Points Standing - 250cc
1. Akira NARITA. SUZUKI. 431pts
2. Kazumasa MASUDA. SUZUKI. 379pts
3. Takeshi KATSUYA. Honda. 311pts
4. Takase TANAKA. Kawasaki. 306pts
5. Ryuichiro TAKAHAMA. Honda. 298pts
6. Takeshi KOIKEDA. Yamaha. 289pts

125cc HEAT 1
1. Tetsuya MIZOGUCHI. Kawasaki KX250FS-R 2. Sinnichi INOUE. Kawasaki KX250FS-R 3. Kenjiro TSUJI. Honda CRF250F 4. Shinobu IDEHARA. Yamaha YZ125M 5. Yuya OZAKI. Yamaha.YZ250F 6. Yoshiki KITAI. SUZUKI RM125

125cc HEAT 2
1. Kenjiro TSUJI. Honda CRF250F
2. Yuya OZAKI. Yamaha YZ250F
3. Yoshihide FUKUDOME. SUZUKI XRM0
4. Yoshiki KITAI. SUZUKI RM125
5. Tetsuya MIZOGUCHI. Kawasaki KX250FS-R 6. Syunji TAKAMI. SUZUKI RM125

Final Points Standing - 125cc
1. Tetsuya MIZOGUCHI. Kawasaki 447pts
2. Kenjiro TSUJI. Honda 382pts
3. Shinobu IDEHARA. Yamaha 325pts
4. Yuya OZAKI. Yamaha 262pts
5. Yoshiki KITAI. SUZUKI. 245pts
6. Naoki SERIZAWA. Honda 223pts