A great win for FCC TSR Honda

FCC TSR Honda won the Suzuka 8 hours with a four-lap lead, followed by the Honda of Toho Racing with Moriwaki with Tatsuya Yamaguchi, Yuki Takahashi and Yusuke Teshima on board, and the Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin Yamalube ridden by David Checa et Kenny Foray. Winners here at Suzuka in 2011, the FCC TSR Honda, crewed by Jonathan Rea, Kosuke Akiyoshi and Tadayuki Okada, came out of the practice sessions behind three other favourites, Monster Energy Yamaha YART, Musashi RT Harc-Pro and the Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team. But this 35th edition proved tough for many of the pre-race favourites. Katsuyuki Nakusuga, who earned his team the pole position with a breath-taking lap in 2'06.845, crashed on the Monster Energy Yamaha YART just over half an hour into the race. And a crash by Ryuichi Kiyonari after five hours on the track also put paid to the victory hopes of Musashi RT Harc-Pro. The Suzukis too had their share of misfortune. The Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team were hit by an oil leak and failed to make it to the finish. In second place behind the FCC TSR Honda until then, the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team slipped down the field after a crash by Vincent Philippe. The World Champion Suzuki came in fifteenth at Suzuka. Fate also struck the BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent, another contender for the runner-up spot. A faulty electronic sensor on the S1000RR forced it back into ninth place at the finish, seven laps behind the winner and just ahead of the Honda TT Legends and the Kawasaki Bolliger Team Switzerland, who gave a good account of themselves at Suzuka. The competition was thrilling till the end. The most intense duel was the struggle for third place in the final half hour between David Checa on the Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin Yamalube and Ozamu Deguchi on the Kawasaki Eva RT Trick Star. Checa came through with brio before Deguchi was stymied by engine trouble on his ZX-10R. Another FIM World Endurance Championship permanent team made it to the finish at its first shot at the Suzuka 8 hours. The Suzuki of Team R2CL came in 24th with Jérôme Tangre, Amaury Baratin and Raphaël Chaussé at the helm. Two Hondas running on Bridgestone were today's logical winners at Suzuka but Michelin made an impression in Japan this year with a pole position and a place on the podium. This Suzuka 8 hours has also given a new impetus to the FIM Endurance World Championship. The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team is still in front with a narrow 5-point lead over the Honda TT Legends. But Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin Yamalube has really improved its chances as it is now back in contention ahead of the BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent and just 11 points behind the SERT with two rounds still to go. The next round of the FIM Endurance World Championship is the Oschersleben 8 Hours that takes place in Germany on Saturday 11 August. What they said… Jonathan Rea, rider, FCC TSR Honda, tired and happy at the finish "Suzuka is really an extraordinary race that is nothing like the other events. I am really glad it's over because it was extremely tough. I didn't do the practice here but my team mates Kosuke Akiyoshi and Tadayuki Okada helped me a lot, especially when I had to really push hard after my fuel problem at the start of the race." David Checa, rider on Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin Yamalube "The end of the race was very intense. At every lap, my team kept me informed of the time gaps between me and the competition and I really had to fight for this 3rd place." Christophe Guyot, team manager Yamaha France GMT 94 Michelin Yamalube "David really is a fabulous rider. He is intelligent, he has the physical strength and he knows how to manage his races. In his first relay, he knew right away that we just need to change the rear tyre that had got torn by something on the track, without wasting time getting the bike into the pit box." Nicolas Dussauge, team manager BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent "I am disappointed of course, but paradoxically I would say we were lucky to finish the race. It's a very tough decision to take to send a rider on to the track with a motorcycle that could be dangerous. Because one of the sensors had gone, the engine couldn't take more than 7 000 rpm." Photos FIM-Good Shoot/David ReygondeauRace resultsProvisional standings

Source: http://www.fim-live.com/en/media/news/news-detail/article/1343578938-a-great-win-for-fcc-tsr-honda/

Ellis Boyce Helmut Bradl