Suzuka 8 Hours: Yamaha Storms To Provisional Pole
Rennie Scaysbrook | July 29, 2016
The Yamaha Factory Racing Team picked up today in Suzuka exactly where they left off last year, dominating every single session to secure provisional pole ahead of tomorrow’s top ten shoot out for the 2016 Coca-Cola Zero Suzuka 8 Hours.
The combination of All Japan Superbike star Katsuyuki Nakasuga, MotoGP’s Pol Espargaró and WorldSBK’s Alex Lowes on the factory YZF-R1 has proven tough to beat so far, with Nakasuga setting the fastest time of the meeting so far with a 2:06.908.
Second on the provisional grid is the MuSASHI RT HARC-PRO Honda CBR1000RR team of Takuma Takahashi, Nicky Hayden and Michael Van der Mark with a 2:07.026, from the factory Team Green Kawasaki ZX-10R of Akira Yanagawa, Leon Haslam and Kazuki Watanabe in third.
“In the first qualifying I set a 2:06.908, but that was with slower riders in front of me, so if I’d had a clear track I could have gone even faster,” said Nakasuga. “Alex [Lowes] crashed in his first qualifying session, so my job in my second session was to do a shakedown run with the repaired bike to make sure everything was OK. I was in the 2:08s with it, so there aren’t any problems. Though Alex crashed, our staff and mechanics pulled together to get it fixed and I helped out too by checking the bike. Of course, we’d rather have no issues at all, but I think this actually served to further unite our team. Looking at the team as a whole, I think we’re in good shape. But tomorrow’s Top 10 Trial is definitely more important than today’s qualifying sessions, and even more important is the race on Sunday. In any case, we’ll be aiming to take pole position for the team in the Top 10 Trial tomorrow.”
American PJ Jacobsen, riding for the F.C.8C TSR Honda team finished Friday’s sessions in sixth place.
Friday Qualifying Results – 2016 Suzuka 8 Hours
- Yamaha Factory Racing Team, Yamaha, 2’06.908
- MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO., Honda, 2’07.026
- Team GREEN, Kawasaki, 2’07.563
- YART Yamaha Official EWC Team, Yamaha, 2’08.239
- Yoshimura Suzuki Shell ADVANCE, Suzuki, 2’08.248
- F.C.C. TSR Honda, Honda, 2’08.403
- TOHO Racing, Honda, 2’08.426
- Team KAGAYAMA, Suzuki, 2’08.474
- Moto Map SUPPLY, Suzuki, 2’09.227
- TEAMJP DOGFIGHTRACING AUSTRALIA, Yamaha, 2’09.269