Suzuka 8 Hours Qualifying Results
The starting grid is set for the second of five rounds in the 2014 FIM Endurance World Championship – the Suzuka 8 Hours.
Leading the way is the the Yoshimura Suzuki Shell ADVANCE team of Takuya Tsuda, Randy de Puniet and Josh Waters. The Suzuki GSX-R1000 will start on pole position at the 37th edition of the Suzuka 8 Hour. En route, Japanese rider Tsuda set a new unofficial lap record of 2:06.703 in Friday’’s Top10 Trial.
Tsuda’s superb lap was 0.391 seconds ahead of his closest rival, Monster Energy Yamaha YSP rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga, while F.C.C. TSR Honda’s Jonathan Rea was third quickest and the only other rider able to lap within one second of the pole-getting time.
Bridgestone says the performance of Bridgestone’s tires was clearly evident at the Suzuka Circuit with eight of the 10 teams that qualified for the Top10 Trial using Bridgestone rubber. The Top10 Trial at the Suzuka 8 Hour sees the 10 quickest teams from the provisional qualifying session choose two riders, each of which has one flying lap to set a time.
By the end of the Top10 Trial, Bridgestone-supported teams filled the top five qualifying positions and despite the track temperature reaching 50°C, there was enough grip available from the Bridgestone tires for Tsuda to smash the lap record.
Consistent pace is crucial to securing a good result at the Suzuka 8 Hour and as well as proving to be extremely quick over a single lap, excellent tire durability resulted in Bridgestone-shod teams at the top of the timesheets during race simulations, Bridgestone says..
Hiroshi Yamada, Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department, says “It was a very exciting Top10 Trial today and we are very proud to have eight teams represented in the top-ten during qualifying.
“Congratulations to Tsuda-san and the Yoshimura Suzuki Shell ADVANCE team on their pole position and setting the quickest ever lap time at the Suzuka 8 Hour. All of the teams and riders we are supporting have done very well this weekend, especially considering the very hot and humid conditions. Our tyres are showing excellent performance and I hope that tomorrow we can share in our ninth successive victory at the Suzuka 8 Hour.”
2014 Suzuka 8 Hours Qualifying Results:
|
Pos.
|
No.
|
Team Name
|
Fastest rider
|
Fastest rider time
|
Gap
|
Tyres
|
|
1
|
051
|
YOSHIMURA SUZUKI Shell ADVANCE
|
Takuya TSUDA
|
2’06.703
|
Bridgestone
|
|
|
2
|
07
|
MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA with YSP
|
Katsuyuki NAKASUGA
|
2’07.094
|
0.391
|
Bridgestone
|
|
3
|
5
|
F.C.C. TSR Honda
|
Jonathan REA
|
2’07.398
|
0.695
|
Bridgestone
|
|
4
|
11
|
Team Green
|
Kazuki WATANABE
|
2’07.752
|
1.049
|
Bridgestone
|
|
5
|
12
|
MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO
|
Michael van der MARK
|
2’07.827
|
1.124
|
Bridgestone
|
|
6
|
22
|
Team KAGAYAMA & Verity
|
Dominique AEGERTER
|
2’08.483
|
1.780
|
Dunlop
|
|
7
|
25
|
Honda Suzuka Racing Team
|
Daijiro HIURA
|
2’08.976
|
2.273
|
Bridgestone
|
|
8
|
34
|
HONDA ENDURANCE RACING
|
Sebastien GIMBERT
|
2’09.224
|
2.521
|
Dunlop
|
|
9
|
39
|
TOHO Racing with MORIWAKI
|
Tatsuya YAMAGUCHI
|
2’09.383
|
2.680
|
Bridgestone
|
|
10
|
71
|
Legend of YOSHIMURA SUZUKI Shell ADVANCE
|
Nobuatsu AOKI
|
2’09.775
|
3.072
|
Bridgestone
|
