HONDA RACING INFORMATION 2014 FIM World Endurance Championship Round 2, Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race, Suzuka 24-27 July 2014 Race Report HONDA TAKES FIFTH STRAIGHT WIN AT SUZUKA 8 HOURS Honda extended its reign at the all-important Coca Cola Zero Suzuka 8 Hours race today, when the three-rider MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO team conquered intermittently dire conditions to claim its own second victory in succession, and the fifth in a row for the all-conquering Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade. A fierce storm shortly before the scheduled start meant a delay of just over one hour for the Japanese industry’s historic and most prestigious home race of the year. It was still raining at the delayed start, the first wet start in 17 years. While dry spells followed, crashes and further storms brought out the safety car four times. With the finish time set inflexibly at 19:30, the 37th running of Japan’s premier motorcycle event last just six hours and 55 minutes. They were packed with drama, and a dose of heartbreak for the 2012 winning team, F.C.C. TSR Honda, when a crash ended their hopes after building up a significant lead, for the second year in succession. It was Honda’s 27th victory in 37 iterations of the headline race at the Honda-owned Suzuka circuit. Honda has won every race but two since 1997, taking the lions’ share of honours in a gruelling event that today combines a round of the FIM World Endurance Championship with Japan’s premier home race. There were 71 teams taking part, 22 riding Honda CBR1000RR machines, plus several international entries from World Endurance regulars. Although Honda does not field an official entry, the company puts years of production-racing success into specially prepared Honda CBR1000RR Fireblades for the top teams. The winning team’s riders were as last year – Takumi Takahashi, Leon Haslam and Michael van der Mark; and it was Japanese star Takahashi on board the Honda CBR1000RR when it crossed the line, more than a minute ahead of its nearest competitor. Takahashi also started the race, then British World Superbike star Haslam took over. But van der Mark was no reserve rider, taking over to make the crucial move to capture what was then second place from race runners up Takuya Tsuda, Josh Waters and Randy de Puniet (Suzuki). He set fastest lap of the race in the process. When Kosuke Akiyoshi crashed out of a massive lead of better than one lap after 107 laps and almost four-and-a-half hours, van der Mark inherited first place and built up a gap his rivals were unable to bridge. The tension never let up, however, particularly after the third of four Safety Car spells broke badly for the Dutchman, when he was behind the car, giving his rivals the chance to close up again. In the end, the experienced team’s slick pit work and the strength of the rider line-up prevailed. Takahashi maintained fast but safe lap times in his final stint to keep Australian Waters comfortably at bay by just over a minute. The Japanese ace has stood on the winner’s step for three out of five of Honda’s quintet of successive victories. There were three more Honda teams in the top seven. The Honda Suzuka Racing Team (Takahashi Yasuda, Daijiro Hiura, Taketsuna Morii) took fifth, behind one more Suzuki and the fourth-placed Yamaha. Sixth went to Tatsuya Yamaguchi, Hiromichi Kunikawa, Ryuta Kobayashi (TOHO Racing with MORIWAKI). A strong effort by Honda Team Asia, in its second visit to Suzuka, saw Indonesian rider Dimas Ekky Pratama, Malaysian Zamri Baba and Australian Josh Hook take seventh place. The next-best Honda to finish was 11th-placed Honda Kumamoto Racing squad, with Mitsuhiro Yoshida, Kazuhiro Kojima and Kazuki Tokudome. Masao Kuboyama and Takahiro Nakatsuhara’s CBR1000RR, entered by Honda ESCARGOT&PGR&H-TEC(E), also claimed a good finish, taking 16th place; and Takeshi Kohara, Masayuki Yamanaka, Motoyuki Ando (Honda QCT MEIWA Racing) were 20th. Other Honda teams in the top 30 out of 54 finishers were Honda SAYAMA Racing&Hammamatsu&H-TEC(E) (Takahashi Ishizuka, Atsushi Kawaguchi, Keita Endo) in 23rd; 26th-placed Minoru Ouchida, Tatsuya Yoshimichi, Kuniharu Watase (DOGFISH O-TEC Suzuka); Honda Technical College team (Motoki Furusawa, Yuta Kodama, Koji Kitaguchi) – 28th; and All JAPAN Honda DREAM CENTRAL BL RT (Shingo Suzuki, Naomichi Nakai, Takaomi Takahashi) – 30th. Others of the 22-strong CBR1000RR line-up were spaced out through the field, after a variety of vicissitudes. Hardest hit were the erstwhile runaway leaders. In spite of suffering a fractured femur in a freakish high-speed tumble, Akiyoshi managed to get the F.C.C. TSR Honda back to the pits, and his team-mates Jonathan Rea and Lorenzo Zanetti rejoined in 50th place, pushing through to 40th at the finish. Veteran former Suzuka multi-winner Shinichi Ito, teamed with Kazuma Watanabe and Tetta Nagashima in the au&Teluru Kohara RT squad, struggled from the start after a technical issue forced a pit-lane start. Honda Rider Quotes MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO rider Takumi Takahashi – 1st I am very happy to win the race. To be honest, I am not good at riding in the rain so I felt relieved riding safely in my first stint. For the third stint, I was not supposed to ride at first, but team decided on me going because I have the most experience. I’ve had enough of rain! I hope to ride in dry condition next time.” Leon Haslam Usually I enjoy my riding but for this time I felt pressure not to crash or not to make any mistakes. The team did a fantastic job and the pit-stops were very neat and quick. Michael was super-fast and Takumi was Mr. Consistent in his stints! I was really nervous watching him at the end, but he made it for our second win in a row.” Michael van der Mark Amazing feeling! I was ready for the third hour but it start raining and team decided to go with Takumi in the rain because he has more experience. The fourth hour was for me and I got faster and faster with a steady pace and rhythm. The bike worked perfect, the team did an amazing job. My last stint was at a really good pace and I could ride quite easily. To be here again in my second year is amazing feeling. We did it all together.” HONDA WINNERS OF THE SUZUKA 8 HOURS 1 - 1979: Tony Hatton, AUS/Michael Cole, AUS - Honda CB900 2 - 1981: Mike Baldwin, USA/Dave Aldana USA - Honda RS1000 3 - 1982: Shigeo Iijima, J/Shinji Hagiwara, J - Honda CB900F 4 - 1984: Mike Baldwin, USA/Fred Merkel, USA - Honda RS750R 5 - 1985: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Masaki Tokano, J - Honda RVF750 6 - 1986: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Dominique Sarron F - Honda RVF750 7 - 1989: Dominique Sarron, F/Alex Vieira, Por - Honda RVF750 8 - 1991: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Mick Doohan, AUS - Honda RVF750 9 - 1992: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Daryl Beattie, AUS - Honda RVF750 10 -1994: Doug Polen, USA/Aaron Slight, NZ - Honda RVF/RC45 11 - 1995: Aaron Slight, NZ/Tadayuki Okada, J - Honda RVF/RC45 12 -1997: Shinichi Itoh, J/Tohru Ukawa, J - Honda RVF/RC45 13 -1998: Shinichi Itoh, J/Tohru Ukawa, J - Honda RVF/RC45 14 -1999: Tadayuki Okada, J/Alex Barros, Bra - Honda RVF/RC45 15 - 2000: Tohru Ukawa, J/Daijiro Kato, J - Honda VTR1000SPW 16 - 2001: Valentino Rossi, I/Colin Edwards, USA - Honda VTR1000SPW 17 - 2002: Daijiro Kato, J/Colin Edwards, USA - Honda VTR1000SPW 18 - 2003: Yukio Nukumi, J/Manubu Kamada, J - Honda VTR1000SPW 19 -2004: Tohru Ukawa, J/Hitoyasu Izutsu, J - Honda CBR1000RRW 20 - 2005: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J/Tohru Ukawa, J - Honda CBR1000RRW 21 - 2006: Shinichi Itoh, J/Takeshi Tsujimura, J - Honda CBR1000RR 22 - 2008: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J/Carlos Checa, E - Honda CBR1000RR 23 - 2010: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J/Takumi Takahashi, J - Honda CBR1000RR 24 - 2011: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J/Kosuke Akiyoshi, J/Shinichi Itoh, J - Honda CBR1000RRW 25 - 2012: Jonathan Rea, GB/Kosuke Akiyoshi, J/Tady Okada, J - Honda CBR1000RR 26 – 2013: Takumi Takahashi, J/Leon Haslam, GB/Michael van der Mark, NL – Honda CBR1000RR 27 – 2014: Takumi Takahashi, J/Leon Haslam, GB/Michael van der Mark, NL – Honda CBR1000RR RESULTS Pos / Class / Team / Riders / Bike / Laps / Time / Gap 1 / EWC / MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO / T.TAKAHASHI - L.HASLAM - M.van der MARK / H-CBR1000RR / 172 / 6:5613.056 / 144.33km / h 2 / EWC / YOSHIMURA SUZUKI Shell ADVANCE / R.TSUDA - J.WATERS - R.de PUNIET / S-GSX-R1000L4 / 172 / 6:5712.900 / 59.844 3 / EWC / Team KAGAYAMA & Verity / N.HAGA - D.AEGERTER - Y.KAGAYAMA / S-GSX-R 1000 / 171 / 6:5616.132 / 1Lap 4 / EWC / MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA with YSP / K.NAKASUGA - B.PARKES - J.BROOKES / Y-YZF-R 1 / 171 / 6:5749.072 / 1Lap 5 / EWC / TOHO Racing with MORIWAKI / H.KUNIKAWA - T.YAMAGUCI - !I - R.KOBAYASHI / H-CBR1000RR / 170 / 6:5704.235 / 2Laps 6 / EWC / Honda Suzuka Racing Team / D.HIURA - TMORII - T - YASUDA / H-CBR1000RR / 170 / 6:5704.740 / 2Laps 7 / EWC / Honda Team Asia / J.HOOK - M.Zamri BABA - D.Ekky PRATAMA / H-CBR1000RR / 169 / 6:5818.448 / 3Laps 8 / EWC / SUZUKI ENDURANCE RACING TEAM / A.DELHALLE - E.NIGON - D.CUDLIN / S-GSX-81000 / 169 / 6:5826.222 / 3Laps 9 / EWC / Yamaha Racing GMT94 Michelin / K.FORAY - M.GINES - D.CHECA / Y-YZF-R1 / 168 / 6:5706.359 / 4Laps 10 / EWC / MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA -YART / T.BRIDEWELL - W.MAXWELL - R.OLSON / Y-YZF-R 1 / 168 / 6:5713.151 / 4Laps 11 / EWC / Honda Kumamoto Racing / M.YOSHIDA - K.KOJIMA - K.TOKUDOME / H-CBR1000RR / 168 / 6:5716.444 / 4Laps 12 / EWC / Team GREEN / A.YANAGAWA - K.WATANABE - K.FUJIWARA / K-ZX-10R / 167 / 6:5736.067 / 5Laps 13 / EWC / BOLLIGER TEAM SWITZERLAND / H.SAIGER - R.STAMM - D.SUTTER / K-ZX-10R / 166 / 6:5708.455 / 6Laps 14 / EWC / CONFIA Flex Motorrad39 / D.SAKAI - S.TAKEISHI - T.OONJSHI / B-S1000RR / 166 / 6:5712.396 / 6Laps 15 / EWC / Honda ESCARGOT&PGR&H-TEC(E) / M.KUBOYAMA - T.NAKATSUHARA - / H-CBR1000RR / 166 / 6:5734.132 / 6Laps 16 / EWC / Team Tras 135HP / K.TERAMOTO - P.VALLCANERAS FLORESH.CHO - / B-HP4 / 166 / 6:5742.925 / 6Laps 17 / EWC / PATLABOR TEAMJP DOGFIGHTRACING YAMAHA / T.FUJITA - O.KRUGER - S.OIKAWA / Y-YZF-R1 / 165 / 6:5616.412 / 7Laps 18 / EWC / Kawasaki K-TEC Team38 PS-K / S.KARITA - S.TSUKAMOTO - S.YAMASHITA / K-ZX-10R / 164 / 6:5618.327 / 8Laps 19 / EWC / TEAM R2CL / G.JONES - G.GIABBANI - M.LAGRIVE / S-GSX-R1000 / 164 / 6:5620.770 / 8Laps 20 / EWC / Honda QCT MEIWA Racing / M.YAMANAKA - M.ANDO - T.KOHARA / H-CBR 1000RR / 162 / 6:5641.201 / 10Laps 21 / EWC / WINNER Z-TECH & NCXX Group / T.KUNIMATSU - T.YOSHIDA - S.MIYAZAKI / S-GSX-R1000 / 162 / 6:5741.343 / 10Laps 22 / EWC / TEAM VITAL SPIRIT SHARK ENERGY DRINK / T.OKUNO - M.MUKOYAMA - N.TSUJIMOTO / B-S 10D0RR / 162 / 6:5828.181 / 10Laps 23 / EWC / Honda SAYAMA Racing&Hamamatsu&H-TEC(E) / A.KAWAGUCHI - K.ENDO - H.YAMASHITA / H-CBR 1000RR / 161 / 6:5748.874 / 11Laps 24 / EWC / EVA RT TEST TYPE-OlSynergyForceTRICKSTAR / O.DEGUCHI - H.IZUTSU - G.LESLANC / K-ZX-1 OR / 161 / 6:5801.317 / 11Laps 25 / EWC / TEAM MOTORS EVENTS APRIL MOTO / J.STORRAR - M.SAVARY - G.FASTRE / S-GSX-R100o / 160 / 6:5638.678 / 12Laps 26 / EWC / DOGFISH O-TEC Suzuka / M.OUCHIDA - T.YOSHIMICHI - K.WATASE / H-CBR1000RR / 160 / 6:5644.917 / 12Laps 27 / EWC / B-SQUARE RACING & NOZUKA / M.OHTA - T.HARADA - Y.SUGAWARA / K-ZX-10R / 160 / 6:5710.530 / 12Laps 28 / EWC / Team Honda Technical College / Y.KODAMA - M.FURUSAWA - K.KITAGUCHI / H-CBR1000RR / 160 / 6:5734.986 / 12Laps 29 / EWC / Ys distraction DOG HOUSE / M.YAMAUCHI - K.JWATANI - / S-GSX-R1000K9 / 159 / 6:5629.405 / 13Laps 30 / SST / All JAPAN Honda DREAM CENTRAL BL RT / S.SUZUKI - N.NAKAI - T.TAKAHASHI / H-CBR1000RRSP / 159 / 6:5712.071 / 13Laps 31 / EWC / MOTOBOX KREMER RACING by SHELL ADVANCE / M.SCHERRER - T.PAAVILAINEN - Y.MIYAJIMA / S-GSX-R1000 / 159 / 6:5719.273 / 13Laps 32 / SST / SAMURAI 3601 / S.YASUTOMI - S.ARAI - M.TANI / B-S1000RR / 159 / 6:5735.763 / 13Laps 33 / EWC / HONDA ENDURANCE RACING / J.DA COSTA - S.GIMBERT - F.FORAY / H-CBR1000RRSP / 159 / 6:5754.094 / 13Laps 34 / EWC / CLEVER WOLF Racing & NOI:Z / T.NAKAI - M.SAWAMURA - K.ADACHI / Y-YZF-RI / 158 / 6:5617.207 / 14Laps 35 / EWC / au&Teluru - Kohara RT / K.WATANABE - T.NAGASHIMA - S.ITO / H-CBR1000RR / 158 / 6:5631.830 / 14Laps 36 / EWC / RS GARAGE HARADA HIMEJI / H.HARADA - S.TANAKA - T.NAKAYAMA / K-ZX-10R / 158 / 6:5641.863 / 14Laps 37 / EWC / BANNER RACING H-K-C / T.KANEDA - K.DAN - A.HONDA / D-1199Panigale / 157 / 6:5708.738 / 15Laps 38 / EWC / Club Bali Racing / Y.NAKAJIMA - J.MORIMOTO - / K-ZX-10R / 157 / 6:5718.012 / 15Laps 39 / EWC / Honda DREAM RT WAKAYAMA / T.NISHINAKA - M.SHINJO - T.KISHIDA / H-CBR1000RR / 157 / 6:5752.063 / 15Laps 40 / EWC / F.C.C. TSR Honda / K.AKIYOSHI - J.REA - L.ZANETTI / H-CBR1000RR / 157 / 6:5809.113 / 15Laps 41 / EWC / TEAM FLEMBBO LEADER TEAM / J.PROSENIK - E.BELLUCCI - L.DERINE / K-ZX-10R / 157 / 6:5819.649 / 15Laps 42 / EWC / PLUS ONE MCRT & SOLAR ICHIBAN / H.IMAZU - T.ASAHINA - K.TAJIMA / K-ZX-10R / 156 / 6:5624.551 / 16Laps 43 / EWC / Team-Hashimotogumi AKENO SPEED / M.INAGAKI - D.Tala PRADITA - K.KANAYAMA / S-GSX-R1000 / 155 / 6:5821.080 / 17Laps 44 / EWC / Honda Kouyoukai DREAM Racing Team / H.KURAYAMA - T.EBINUMA - H.NAKAMURA / H-CBR1000RR / 154 / 6:5834.168 / 18Laps 45 / EWC / Ys distraction NERGAL / J.TONARI - K.NAKAO - Y.SUMI / Y-YZF-R1 / 153 / 6:5821.482 / 19Laps 46 / EWC / TEAM HOOTERS with Shota SAITO / T.OKUDA - T.DAIRAKU - T.SOMA / KT-1190 RC8R / 151 / 6:5641.015 / 21Laps 47 / EWC / TAKEUP & TEAM JP / T.TAMURA - H.NAGANO - Y.KIMURA / S-GSX-R1000 / 151 / 6:5750.840 / 21Laps 48 / EWC / HINOSEIKI-IWAKI & T2 with fenice / T.YAMAUCHI - H.TAKAMA - M.KUNO / S-GSX-R1000 / 150 / 6:5824.177 / 22Laps 49 / EWC / Honda EG Racing / K.HONDA - T.KURIBAYASHI - / H-CBR1000RR / 146 / 6:5748.119 / 26Laps 50 / EWC / HAMAMATSU TEAM TITAN / Y.SHIMIZU - T.INUKI - H.OHSHIRO / S-GSX-R1000 / 146 / 6:5831.264 / 26Laps 51 / EWC / Motorrad Toyota Nagasaka Racing / T.NODA - K.SASAKI - K.NAKAMURA / 8-S1000RR / 145 / 6:5629.027 / 27Laps 52 / SST / HAMAGUCHI BAKUON RACING / S.FUJISHIMA - S.NAKASAKO - T.FUKATSU / KT-RCBR / 143 / 6:5712.900 / 29Laps 53 / EWC / Team Favorite Factory / K.FUKUYAMA - D.KISAMORI - H.SAGO / S-GSX-R1000 / 143 / 6:5743.641 / 29Laps 54 / SST / TEAM MASSA-R / M.MOGI - T.OKADA - H.TOYODA / Y-YZF-R 1 / 141 / 6:5648.594 / 31Laps 55 / EWC / MOTOBUM with 1SHIGAKI ISLAND TUNA / T.OOKI - Y.MATSUKAWA - A.IGARASHI / H-CBR1000RR / 136 / 6:5816.667 / 36Laps 56 / EWC / Honda BlueHelmets MSC KUMAMOTO / Y.OHASHI - K.MORI - T,OTSUKA / H-CBR1000RR / 130 / 6:5636.706 / 42Laps 57 / EWC / FREE RIDE / IMT satoracing / D.SATO - T.SATO - / Y-YZF-R1 / 130 / 6:5647.591 / 42Laps 58 / EWC / YamashinaKawasaki & BusinessRalliart / S.YAMASAKI - M.MATSUMOTO - / K-ZX-10R / 129 / 6:5617.817 / 43Laps WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS POSITIONS TO DATE: 1 Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin 62 2 SRC Kawasaki 55 3 Team Bolliger Switzerland 45 4 Musashi RT Harc Pro 35 5 Team Motors Events April Moto 35 6 National Motos 32 7 Yoshimura Suzuki Shell Advance 29 8 Team R2CL 26 9 Team Kagayama & Verity 25 10 Suzuki Endurance Racing Team 23 11 Monster Energy Yamaha with YSP 21 12 TMC City Bike TRT 27 19 13 Honda Racing 19 14 Toho Racing with Moriwaki 18 15 Honda Suzuka Racing Team 16 16 Maco Racing Team 15 17 Honda Team Asia 14 18 Flembbo Leader Team 13 19 Team Space Moto 37 12 20 Monster Energy Yamaha YART 11 21 Honda Kumamoto Racing 10 22 Team Green 9 23 Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers 8 24 CONFIA Flex Motorrad39 7 25 Honda Escargot & PGR 6 26 Team Tras 135HP 5 27 Patlabor Team JP Dogfight Racing 4 28 Kawasaki K-TEC Team38 PS-K 3 29 Motobox Kremer by Shell Advance 2 30 Honda QCT Meiwa Racing 1 NEXT EVENT: ROUND03, AUG 23, OSCHERSLEBEN, GERMANY
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 06:27:59 +0000