Preview Suzuka 8 Hours, Suzuka, Japan

2007-07-26 06:16
The 30th running of the Suzuka 8 Hours race takes place on Sunday, July 29 at the 5.821 km classic Japanese circuit that is synonymous the event. Team HRC have entered two formidable rider combinations for the race eager to regain 8 Hours honours following the disappointment of last year. On that occasion the two HRC teams could manage no better than fourth and fifth places in the race after running into niggling problems requiring time consuming unscheduled pit stops.

The event is the biggest and most prestigious two-wheel race held in Japan and attracts a huge
entry from the leading World Endurance Championship teams, the best Japanese Superbike
teams plus several riders campaigning in the major road racing championships who have elected to compete in the gruelling ultra-fast race.

Honda tams have recorded unrivalled success in
the gruelling high-speed marathon during the
29-years it has been contested taking the winners
spoils on no less than 21 occasions. On Sunday
Honda teams have every chance of extending the
current 10-year winning streak in this edition of the Japanese classic.

This year Team HRC have chosen to team
experienced former 8 hour race winners and track
specialists with fast new comers. Reigning
British Superbike Champion Ryuichi Kiyonari, race
winner in 2005 teams with current World Superbike
Championship leader James Toseland racing with
the fabled number 11 that has carried many Honda
teams to victory. Former 250cc and 500cc grand
prix rider, and two-time 8 hours victor, Tadayuki
Okada will race alongside LCR Honda MotoGP rider
Spaniard Carlos Checa. Young Irishman Jonathan
Rae, Kiyonari's British Superbike team-mate, will
act as reserve rider for both HRC teams.

The CBR1000RR machines the teams will race have
been extensively tested over recent months and
put to the test at the Suzuka 300km race last
month. The 300kmrace was held in difficult
constantly changeable conditions but the Kiyonari
- Rae combination emerged victorious giving the
CBR1000RR the ideal shake down test for the Suzuka 8 Hours.

All Team HRC riders, except Checa, have
experience of similar versions of the bike.
Okada, HRC RC212V GP test rider, raced a
CBR1000RR to fourth place last year at Suzuka,
Toseland, Rae and Kiyonari race nothing else but CBR1000RRs.

"The bike is very similar to last year, it looks
exactly the same." Said Kiyonari. "Last years
machine was very smooth and quite easy to ride.
This year's bike is smooth but has better feeling
and more power. There isn't really a massive
change from this year to last year."

Kiyonari's team-mate James Toseland will make his
8 Hours debut on Sunday but the Englishman is not
overawed by the importance of the event nor the
competition he faces. He said: "This will be my
first time at the 8-Hours of Suzuka I understand
the importance of this race to Honda and everyone
in Japan. They work all year just for this race,
and I don't have to be told the expectations they
have. I have expressed my sentiments that if I am
flying around from Europe to Japan and doing
testing and set-up with Honda, it is to win. I
was happy with the times I did in testing on the
single dry day and I have, and I will, put
everything into it. I never really thought about
doing the 8-Hour in my earlier career, I was
never considered for it. So when I was considered
for it, and saw a list of riders who had won, it was obviously pretty special."

Double race winner Okada has vast experience of
the race and the circuit while racing 250 and
500cc machines at the track. He raced at the last
Suzuka 300km event but collided with an errant
back marker and crashed out of second place.

"I am very happy being selected for a regular
team rider." Said veteran Okada. However, as a
regular rider I will have to put in my every
effort considering my fourth place in last year's
Suzuka 8 Hours and my crash in the Suzuka 300km
race last month. Up until the last test I am
experiencing constancy in the long runs and with
a good pace, while the machine is also running
very well. I have a great understanding of the
difficulty of 8 Hours, but will be working
together with Carlos and do my best for a race victory."

Carlos Checa has no previous Suzuka 8 Hours
experience but has raced a GP 500cc machine at
Suzuka taking seven top 10 finishes, including a
podium place, from seven starts. The Spaniard is
looking forward to making his debut having
learned to get the best out of the CBR during testing.

"This is a really good opportunity for me to take
part in such a prestigious race. Suzuka is a very
nice track and with this team and this bike we
have a high chance of success, and to possibly
fight for the win." Said the Spaniard. "The
CBR1000RR is quite neutral and the base set-up we
have is pretty good. We've already gone very fast
in testing so it's looking promising. Of course
it's really important to get a set-up that works
for both riders on the team. And in fact, when I
tested we hardly touched the settings - I just
worked with the tyres, that's all. Of course we
can fine-tune the set-up further and maybe we can
be half a second per lap quicker, but this is not
the key to the race. The most important thing is
to be consistent and find a good balance for both
riders. Compared to the RC212V the CBR feels a
little heavier and with less power of course, but
the basic feel of the bike is good and I'm looking forward to racing it."

Rae was obviously disappointed at being nominated
as team reserve rider but has kept a positive
outlook. He said: "It's very important for me to
do well for HRC in Japan. I understand how
important it is for Honda to win at this race and I hope we can achieve that.
The bike is good, engine spec is decreased a
little from BSB because obviously for endurance
racing the machine has to be very good on fuel
consumption. The fuel tank is quite a bit bigger
so I have had to adjust my riding position. The
bike is very easy to ride and to get on the
throttle because it's specification is a little
down. We have the same tyre technicians in Japan
working with us as in the UK so we can find a good tyre to use."

The Team HRC riders will be aiming to join the
long list of illustrious names that have won the
race in previous years. However, to do so they
have to overcome stiff opposition from several
quarters both rival manufacturers and a host of strong Honda equipped teams.

Yamaha Racing field two teams, the Japanese -
Australian partnership of Norifumi Abe and Jamie
Stauffer will be backed up by the Japanese
pairing of Katsuyuki Nakasuka and Nobuyuki Osaki.
The experienced duo of Norihiko Fujiwara and
Noriyasu Numata will race a Yamaha for Team Challenger.

The stiffest, predictable opposition for Team HRC
will come from the Yoshimura Suzuki. The hard
charging Yukio Kagayama and Kosuke Akiyoshi will
attack at every opportunity and will have the
backing of Atsushi Watanabe and Daisuku Sakai.
Yoshimura ran Team HRC close at the Suzuka 300km
race and will relish the chance to reverse their fortunes.

Kawasaki will look to the talent and experience
of Ryuji Tsruta, the former All Japan Champion
and Ken Eguchi to give them their second ever victory in the race.

However, the team all must fear is the F.C.C TSR
ZIP-FM team, the 2006 Suzuka 8 Hours race
winners. That day Takeshi Tsujimura partnered
Shinichi Ito, but Tsujimura is carrying a
long-term injury and will not make the start.
Ito, a triple 8 Hour winner, will now be partnered by Yusuke Tashima.

Sakurai Honda have tasted success in the event
with a victory in 2003 and send two teams to the
start with the sole aim of repeating that
success. Team fortunes lay in the hands of Chojun
Kameya and Australian Russell Holland, the second
machine entrusted to Yuichi Takeda and Kazuma Tsuda.

Should the major teams, man or machine, falter
during the gruelling eight hours of high 30
degrees plus temperatures and humidity close to
70% two well equipped Honda teams will be waiting
to pick up the spoils. The Masked Rider pairing
of Kazuki Tokodome and Gaku Kamada have been
close to victory in the passed and will be a
definite threat. While Australian Joshua Brookes
and Japanese star Takashi Tsujimura have the
desire and talent to spring a surprise on Sunday.

The race will be one of the best of recent years
and race strategy of vital importance. Changeable
weather and crashes have often influenced race
strategy but HRC are confident that the
experience gained during the long winning streak
will be of crucial importance on Sunday.

The last word goes to race favourite Ryuichi
Kiyonari: "I enjoy riding and hopefully the jet
lag won't be a problem. Obviously I really want
to win as the Suzuka 8 Hours is so important to
both me and Honda. With James I have good riding
partner, we have good machine, good mechanics and
good set-up. Our overall feeling about the
package is very positive but anything can happen as it is a long race."


Suzuka 8 Hours race winners 1978 - 2006.

1978: Wes Cooley, USA - Mike Baldwin,
USA Suzuki GS1000 194 laps.
1979: Tony Hatton, AUS - Michael Cole,
AUS Honda CB900 197
1980: Wes Cooley, USA - Graeme Crosby,
NZ Suzuki GS1000 200
1981: Mike Baldwin, USA - Dave Aldana, USA Honda RS1000 199
1982: Shigeo Iijima, J - Shinji Hagiwara,
J Honda CB900F 120
1983: Herve Moineau, B - Richard Hubin,
B Suzuki GS1000R 190
1984: Mike Baldwin, USA - Fred Merkel,
USA Honda RS750R 192
1985: Wayne Gardner, AUS - Masaki Tokano,
J Honda RVF750 195
1986: Wayne Gardner, AUS - Dominique Sarron, F
Honda RVF750 197
1987: Martin Wimmer, D - Kevin MaGee, AUS Yamaha YZF750 200
1988: Kevin MaGee, AUS - Wayne Rainey, USA Yamaha YZF750 202
1989: Dominique Sarron, F - Alex Vieira,
Por Honda RVF750 202
1990: Tadahiko Taira, J - Eddie Lawson,
USA Yamaha YZF750 205
1991: Wayne Gardner, AUS - Mick Doohan,
AUS Honda RVF750 192
1992: Wayne Gardner, AUS - Daryl Beattie,
AUS Honda RVF750 208
1993: Scott Russell, USA - Aaron Slight,
NZ Kawasaki ZXR - 7 207
1994: Doug Polen, USA - Aaron Slight,
NZ Honda RVF/RC45 183
1995: Aaron Slight, NZ - Tadayuki Okada,
J Honda RVF/RC45 212
1996: Colin Edwards, USA - Noriyuki Haga,
J Yamaha YZF750 214
1997: Shinichi Ito, J - Tohru Ukawa,
J Honda RVF/RC45 186
1998: Shinichi Ito, J - Tohru Ukawa,
J Honda RVF/RC45 212
1999: Tadayuki Okada, J - Alex Barros,
Bra Honda RVF/RC45 213
2000: Tohru Ukawa, J - Daijiro Kato,
J Honda VTR1000SPW 215
2001: Valentino Rossi, I - Colin Edwards,
USA Honda VTR1000SPW 217
2002: Daijiro Kato, J - Colin Edwards,
USA Honda VTR1000SPW 219
2003: Yukio Nukumi, J - Manubu Kamada,
J Honda VTR1000SPW 212
2004: Tohru Ukawa, J - Hitoyasu Izutsu,
J Honda CBR1000RRW 210
2005: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J - Tohru Ukawa,
J Honda CBR1000RRW 204
2006: Shinichi Ito, J - Takeshi Tsujimura,
J Honda CBR1000RR 214

Source: Honda Pro Image

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