Kagayama only man to dip under the 2m08 barrier as qualifying gets underway at Suzuka
Yoshimura Suzuki Racing’s Yukio Kagayama put in the only sub-2.08-minute lap during today’s Suzuka world Endurance Qualifying sessions in Japan, putting the GSX-R1000-mounted team at the top of the timesheets.
Kagayama clocked a lap of 2’07.884 in the first of three sessions, to beat Honda FCC TSR’s Kosuke Akiyoshi on 2’08.260 and Honda-mounted Musashi RT Harc Pro’s Makoto Tamada with 2’08.962.
Kagayama’s team mate Josh Waters finished third in his session with a time of 2’10.024 and third Yoshimura rider Nobuatsu Aoki claimed fifth in session 3 with a lap of 2’11.388.
Thanks to their Japanese rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Monster Yamaha YART was the best of the World Endurance Championship permanent teams with fourth place and a lap-time of 2’09.045 lap.
Suzuki Endurance Racing Team’s Vincent Philippe posted 15th in session 1 with a 2’12.995 lap, Anthony Delhalle 13th in session 2 on 2’13.902 and Daisaku Sakai 6th in session 3 with a lap of 2’12.612. The World Champions’ combined position is 14th.
The Suzuka 8 Hours is the only round on the Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship calendar that incorporates special regulations: The best individual lap time determinates the starting grid – and not the average time from the teams’ riders, as with other rounds of the series.
Suzuka also has a “Top 10 Trial” – a Superpole-style head-to-head session – where the two best riders from the best 10 teams go back on track to race for the final starting grid. The Top 10 Trial is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 15.30 and Sunday’s third-round World Championship Suzuka 8 Hour race begins at 10:30 am local time (GMT + 9).
— Honda TT Legends Report
The Honda TT Legends team completed its second day on track at the Suzuka 8-hour event by qualifying in 20th place. John McGuinness, Keith Amor and Cameron Donald took part in two 30-minute timed practice sessions each as temperatures at the legendary Japanese circuit reached over 33 degrees.
The road racing experts shaved valuable seconds off their lap times and managed to hold their own in a field of Suzuka veterans and specialist Japanese teams. After all three riders posted 2’14 laps in the first session, McGuinness ended his second stint by securing the first 2’13 lap for the team. Donald was the last of the Honda TT Legends to head out and his impressive session resulted in the team’s best lap of the day – 2’13.961.
In accordance with Suzuka 8-hour rules, the fastest lap time posted by each team dictates the grid positions. The top ten teams will take part in a superpole session tomorrow afternoon, while the remainder of the field will be allowed track time for free practice. This will provide the Honda TT Legends the chance to further improve their knowledge of the circuit before a decision is made on the final rider line-up for Sunday’s race.
Neil Tuxworth – The team has done an excellent job today – I said if we got in the top 25 we’d be doing well and if we were in the top 20 we’d be doing brilliantly. None of the riders knew the track, yet they have all qualified well and their lap times are actually very similar – Cam and John were just slightly quicker than Keith. It’s a good pace round here when you don’t know the track very well so we are really pleased and I think we are in a good position for the race on Sunday. We will make a decision late Saturday afternoon as to our rider strategy for the race, but for now we are happy.
John McGuinness – I think 20th is a realistic position. As a rider you want more all the time but considering we hadn’t been on a bike round here until yesterday, we’ve done ok. A lot of people I’ve spoken to here have said that you can’t learn the track in a day and they are probably right! Anything can happen and we just need to put in eight consistent hours between us. We’re all on a similar pace within half a second of each other so if we can stay consistent there’s no reason why we can’t get in the points and that’s what we’re looking for really.
Keith Amor – I’ve started to enjoy it now. I’m happy with the fact that I know roughly where I’m going now and that has helped a lot. It’s still difficult and every single lap we’re out there I’m learning where not to go and where to go. Tomorrow we’ll get a little bit more free practice in, do a bit more work with the bike and you never know, we might improve a bit more.
Cameron Donald – Today’s been great. We’ve continued to learn the track each time we’ve gone out and I tried a bit of race replication with the tyre in the last session, putting a lot of laps in and it was really interesting. It was hot and it was slippery but it was good fun. I did my personal best lap time that turned out to be the best lap for the team. I walked in here this morning hoping to end in the top 20 so I’m happy.