Musashi RT Harc-Pro topped the podium of the 2013 Suzuka 8 Hours after a perfectly managed race. The Honda ridden by Takumi Takahashi, Leon Haslam and Michael Van Der Mark finished with a lead of 1’52 over the Yoshimura Suzuki (Takuya Tsuda, Nobuatsu Aoki and Josh Brookes) and the impressive Suzuki of Team Kagayama (Yukio Kagayama, Kevin Schwantz and Noriyuki Haga) that took the chequered flag just one lap behind the winner.

After a long four-way battle at the front of the field the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) finished just shy of the podium. Dominique Méliand’s team was visibly disappointed as Vincent Philippe, Anthony Delhalle and Julien Da Costa were just a few seconds slower than the Suzuki of Team Kagayama. However, with this result, the SERT moves to the top of the FIM Endurance World Championship leader board. The Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin Yamalube also performed well in Japan, coming in fifth. David Checa, Kenny Foray and Matthieu Lagrive finshed just two laps behind the Musashi RT Harc-Pro.

Honda Team Asia (Makoto Tamada, Azlan Kamaruzaman and Yuki Takahashi) finally came out on top in the duel for sixth place with the Honda of Toho Racing with Moriwaki (Tatsuya Yamaguchi, Shinichi Ito and Kazuma Watanabe).

The Monster Energy Yamaha YART finished eighth but made its mark at this 36th edition of the Suzuka 8 Hours when Katsuyuki Nakasuga shot his team into pole position by beating his own 2012 lap record in 2’06.817. The Monster Energy Yamaha YART held its own in the leading pack until a minor leak in the engine seal forced it into the pits for repairs. Given the fast pace of the leaders, it returned to the track mid-race in eleventh place.

In tenth behind Honda Kumamoto Racing, Team R2CL (Suzuki) with Gwen Giabbani, Dylan Buisson and Masahiro Shinjo made a remarkable entry into the Top 10 after qualifying in 21st place, finishing a few seconds ahead of the Kawasaki of Bolliger Team Switzerland ridden by Horst Saiger, Roman Stamm and Daniel Sutter.

Among the other permanent teams competing in Japan, the Honda TT Legends showed its mettle in the last part of the race. After tumbling down the field with a gear box problem, John McGuinness, Michael Rutter and Simon Andrews finished 22nd. The British factory team came in ahead of the French Flembbo Leader Team. The Kawasaki ridden by Janek Prosenik, Xavier Demarey and Osamu Nishijima finished 27th. For its maiden Suzuka 8 Hours, Motobox Kremer by Shell Advance with Martin Scherrer, Timo Paavilainen and Florian Bauer finished 31st.

The start of the race was particularly eventful. The first of the top teams to drop out was the FCC TSR Honda. Having taken the lead, Ryuichi Kiyonari crashed almost three hours into the race. BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent also dropped out after two crashes for Erwan Nigon and Jason Pridmore. Erwan Nigon was in the vanguard at the start of the race battling it out in on equal terms with Takuya Tsuda (Yoshimura Suzuki), Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Monster Energy Yamaha YART) and Takumi Takahashi (Musashi RT Harc-Pro).

At the end of the race, a shower added a touch of suspense but had no impact on the race leaders. The next leg of the FIM Endurance World Championship will be the 8 Hours of Oschersleben in Germany on 17 August.


What they said…

Michael Van Der Mark, rider, Musashi RT Harc-Pro

“Winning the Suzuka 8 Hours is an indescribable feeling. It’s one of the finest races in the world. It was my first experience at Suzuka and I learned very fast. When I saw Kiyonari crash, we upped the pressure to bring home a win. It’s fabulous to see all these guys on the podium.”

Leon Haslam, rider, Musashi RT Harc-Pro

“The hardest thing was to watch Takumi hold on to our first position in the rain over the last half hour of the race.”

Josh Brookes, rider, Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team

“I’d like to thank Yoshimura for giving me the possibility to ride at Suzuka. There was a lot of pressure during this race, especially after my crash which may have cost us the victory. I did everything I could to make up for this mistake without going into the pits.”

Nobuatsu Aoki, rider, Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team

“Josh shouldn’t feel bad for his mistake. The whole team was put under pressure by my mistake after my stop and go.”

Yukio Kagayama, rider and team manager, Suzuki Kagayama

“ Kevin Schwantz has been my hero since I was a kid. It’s amazing to ride with him here in Suzuka.”

Kevin Schwantz, rider, Suzuki Kagayama

“It’s been an honour to ride again here with these talented guys. I was lucky to be with an excellent team. The Suzuki was perfect and our Dunlops helped us to stay the distance. I did my best to be fast without making a mistake. By riding with this helmet (Rainey Replica), I wanted to show my respect for Wayne by wearing his helmet at this 8 Hours race.”


Final Classification HERE

Photo Good-Shoot

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