Yamaha wins Suzuka 8 Hours ‘Top Ten Trial’ 

Words and images courtesy EWC

Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team will start Sunday’s 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race from pole position after its dramatic victory in the Top 10 Trial, which sets the first 10 positions on the starting grid for Japan’s round of the FIM Endurance World Championship.

Marvin Fritz’s flying lap of 2m05.130s proved decisive after team-mate Karel Hanika crashed during his Top 10 Trial run. The German rider’s effort means YART, which also includes Niccolò Canepa in its line-up, can celebrate three pole positions out of three in this season’s EWC with the five points scored putting it ahead of Yoshimura SERT Motul in the race to win the 2024 EWC title.

It was also Yamaha’s first Top 10 Trial success since Yamaha Factory Team triumphed in 2017 and came after YART had finished ahead in the combined qualifying classification after Friday’s running. 

Following their new-for-2024 alliance Ducati Team Kagayama, consisting of Ryo Mizuno, Hafizh Syahrin and Josh Waters, completed the Top 10 Trial in second position followed by Honda-powered Team HRC with Japan Post, which is chasing a third consecutive victory in its home round of the EWC with riders Teppei Nagoe, Takumi Takahashi and MotoGP race winner Johann Zarco.

Having failed to progress to the Top 10 Trial in 2023, BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team claimed a fine fourth as Suzuki-powered Yoshimura SERT Motul rounded out the top five. 

With the Top 10 Trial reserved for the 10 fastest teams according to Friday’s combined qualifying classification, the Dunlop-supplied Superstock squads – led by pole-sitting Teramoto@J-Trip Racing – were able to spend Saturday afternoon completing their preparations for Sunday’s eight-hour race. 

Although FCC TSR Honda France reached the Top 10 Trial – one of four permanent EWC teams to do so – Kawasaki Webike Trickstar, KM 99, Motobox Kremer Racing and Tati Team Beringer Racing could instead reflect on encouraging performances during Friday’s running. KM 99 qualified 15th, Kawasaki Webike Trickstar 18th, Tati Team Beringer Racing 31st and Motobox Kremer Racing 43rd. 

YAMAHA-POWERED FRITZ REFLECTS ON FLYING LAP

“It was an amazing lap,” 31-year-old Marvin Fritz said. “At Spa I got the lap record but normally here at Suzuka Karel and Niccolò are a bit faster. But since last year I’ve got a really good feeling, especially in the third sector where I always struggled but it’s my favourite now. The bike was perfect, we work together like we all are a big family, and this is why we are always fast, all three of us. We were celebrating before Karel crashed because we knew the pole was sure, but we were happy when we saw he was standing up and fine. The bike was damaged, but the race bike is ready and we feel comfortable and confident. The main focus in the race is to gain points in the championship. Of course a win would be nice but it’s important to have good points going to the Bol d’Or [season finale].”

Of his high-speed crash in the Top 10 Trial, Hanika said: “I just tried my maximum performance, my 100 per cent and it didn’t work out. Yamaha gave us a perfect machine for this kind of session where only one lap matters. I did my best ever first sector but to be able to go under 2m05s I had to keep going like this and I just carried too much corner speed into Turn 7. Unfortunately, I lost the front and I’m really sorry for this but the most important is Marvin could manage an amazing lap, super-smooth and super-clean, which gave us the five points for the championship.”

Ryo Mizuno, who was fastest in both Blue Rider qualifying sessions on Friday, said: “I was aiming for the pole position so I’m not so super-satisfied but with the second position we did really well. The team did a really good performance and I’m very pleased how we brought everything together. Tomorrow is the day and tonight we’ll have further meetings to plan everything for tomorrow.”

MOTOGP STAR ZARCO SAVOURS TOP 10 TRIAL

Johann Zarco will start his first Suzuka 8 Hours – and his first EWC race – in third position alongside Team HRC with Japan Post team-mates Teppei Nagoe and Takumi Takahashi. After joining Takahashi in the Top 10 Trial, the French MotoGP star said: “It was special and I like it. You feel a different stress in MotoGP but I’m pretty happy I did this experience and also I did an improvement compared to yesterday and that’s important.”

TERAMOTO@J-TRIP RACING STORMS TO SUPERSTOCK POLE

Japan-based Teramoto@J-Trip Racing was the talk of the Dunlop-supplied Superstock contingent by claiming pole position for round three of the FIM Endurance World Cup. The Suzuki-equipped outfit, featuring riders Takeshi Ishizuka, an EWC regular, Takeru Murase and Koji Teramoto, excelled during qualifying for the 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race to bank first place in class ahead of Team Étoile and Taira Promote Racing. NCXX Racing with Riders Club beat Kawasaki Plaza Racing Team to fourth position followed by TONE RT Syncedge 4413 BMW and Wójcik Racing Team, which includes Gino Rea in its line-up. Team Tatara Aprilia and points-leading National Motos Honda FMA were next with Edwin Gesundheit Racing rounding out the top 10. 

The 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race is counting for the FIM Endurance World Cup for the first time, thereby giving European Superstock teams the chance to contest one of international motorcycle racing’s most iconic events. They’re benefiting from a tyre support package offered jointly by FIM Endurance World Championship promoter Warner Bros. Discovery Sports and Dunlop, the official tyre supplier to the Superstock category. Through the arrangement, 10 sets of tyres are being provided free of charge to each European Superstock team contesting the third event of the EWC season. National Motos Honda FMA, Team Étoile and Wójcik Racing Team are the beneficiaries of this incentive.

FIRST QUALIFYING REPORT: HANIKA CHARGES TO FIRST QUALIFYING BEST AS YART SETS SUZUKA EWC PACE

Karel Hanika’s 2m05.182s effort proved the benchmark time in First Qualifying. Taking part in the closing Red Rider session, Hanika’s performance for Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Teamfollowed on from team-mate Marvin Fritz going quickest in the Yellow Rider group after Ducati Team Kagayama’s Ryo Mizuno edged out YART’s Niccolò Canepa in the opening Blue Rider session. In the Dunlop-supplied Superstock category for the FIM Endurance World Cup, Kawasaki Plaza Racing Team set the pace in the Blue Rider group with Ryosuke Iwato. Takeru Murase was quickest for Teramoto@J-Trip Racing in the Yellow Rider session, while Takeshi Ishizuka was out in front in the Red Rider group. CLICK FOR FULL STORY.

SECOND QUALIFYING REPORT: EWC CHAMPION TEAM YART FASTEST SO FAR WITH SUZUKA TOP 10 TRIAL TO COME

Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team completed Second Qualifying on top of the timing screens. Ducati Team Kagayama is second in the overall classification and secures its place in the Top 10 Trial followed by Team HRC with Japan Post. With Suzuki-powered Yoshimura SERT Motul fourth, it means four different motorcycle manufacturers are represented in the combined qualifying top four. Meanwhile, Teramoto@J-Trip Racing is on the Superstock pole position in the Dunlop-supplied category followed by Team Étoile and Taira Promote Racing. 

TEAM SUZUKI CN CHALLENGE POTENTIAL WOWS EWC STAR MASSON

Étienne Masson didn’t quite achieve his aim of helping Team Suzuki CN Challenge reach the Top 10 Trial, but was adamant that gathering data for the future is more important than on-track success at Suzuka for the FIM Endurance World Championship’s ground-breaking new entrant. 

Competing in the Experimental class in round three of the 2024 EWC season, Team Suzuki CN Challenge’s factory-supported GSX-R1000R CN SPEC utilises 40 per cent bio-sourced sustainable ELF Moto R40 FIM fuel, plus other eco-friendly products. They include a bio-sourced base oil from Motul, a catalytic converter developed by Yoshimura, low-dust brake pads from Sunstar Engineering, tyres from Bridgestone that use an increased ratio of recycled materials, front and rear fenders made from a natural flax fibre supplied by Bcomp, plus racing bodywork provided by JHI and utilising recycled carbon materials. 

After qualifying 16th, Masson said: “The project is really good and really interesting for us, especially for me because I understand we need to work for the future and it’s really interesting. For the team it will be good to be in the Top 10 trial to show the performance of the bike, the fuel and the tyres and it will be cool for the team, for Suzuki and for Bridgestone. But we have no clear target for the race, we just need to finish the race to show the bike is really strong. It’s really interesting for the discipline of endurance racing, it’s really important to show we can improve our carbon impact for everyone.”