For folk interesseret i endurance-race :
The following release is from Honda...
The Sakurai Honda Team of Yukio Nukumi and Manabu Kamata won a crash
littered Suzuka 8 Hours held today, Sunday August 8, at the circuit
the event is named after. The partnership tiptoed their way through
oil spills, pace cars and numerous accidents to hand Honda their
seventh consecutive victory in the most prestigious two-wheel event on
the Japanese race calendar.
Nukumi and Kamada rode a fine calculated race, they held their nerve
in heavy traffic as they slowly clawed their way to the front to duel
with long term race leaders Kitagawa and Fujiwara on the number 8
Suzuki. Both teams, and the number 7 Seven Stars VTR1000SP-W Honda of
Tohru Ukawa and Hitoyasu Izutsu were the major beneficiaries of a
second lap crash that brought down two of Honda's chief hopes for
success in the race, the Seven Stars VTR1000SP-W of Nicky Hayden -
Ryuichi Kiyonari, and the Sakurai VTR of Tady Okada and Chozun Kameya,
racing with number 74 in tribute to the late Daijiro Kato.
The route cause of the crash came directly after the start as the
field rushed into turn one. The Over Yamaha blew an engine and trailed
oil through corner. As the race leaders crossed the line for the first
time they were unaware of what was waiting for them as they hit turn
one. Oil flag were waving but too late for Hayden, Okada and Atsushi
Watanabe (Yoshimura Suzuki) who all hit the gravel track, race over.
"There were no oil flags shown on the straight when I got into my
second lap," said Hayden. "I saw it getting into Turn 1 but it was too
late as the machine had started to slide by then."
Many thought the race should have been red flagged at that point due
to the safety issue concerning the number of machines and attending
circuit staff at the scene. Instead the Clerk of the Course decided to
bring out the pace car for 20-minutes, he also incurred the wrath of
the teams by having the damaged machines returned to the pits on the
wrecker truck, a move that was to cause further confusion later in the
race.
Okada was furious with the track staff at the scene of the incident.
"I'm really angry with what happened. The track marshal put the bikes
on the wrecker truck to get back to the pits. We knew this would be a
problem."
With three of the most fancied teams quickly sidelined many feared the
race would be deprived of some of its customary excitement. They need
not have worried. When the pace car pulled off the track it left the
number 7 Seven Stars Honda of Tohru Ukawa leading the number 8 Suzuki
of Kitagawa and Fujiwara. The two teams then provided the excitement
for the next hour. The Weider Honda CR954RR of former double 125cc
World Champion Haruchika Aoki and Osamu Deguchi held third place.
Their duel ended just before the second hour had been completed.
Izutsu crashed the number 7 Honda at the hairpin breaking a handlebar
and damaging a footrest. Izutsu got the machine back to the pits and
after speedy repairs rejoined the race in 24th place. But they were
forced out of the race soon after with a mechanical problem.
The sole remaining VTR10000SP-W, the number 71 Sakurai Honda of Yukio
Nukumi and Manabu Kamada, was left to retrieve Honda's fortunes and
they did it in great style. By the third hour they were into second
place and closing relentlessly on the number 8 Suzuki. A lap later
they were a mere 20 seconds adrift, the two machines one lap ahead of
third placed Shinichi Nakatomi and Wataru Yoshikawa on the Presto
Yamaha. The Weider Honda dropping back.
Fourth place was held by the F.C.C. TSR CBR954RR Honda in the hands of
former grand prix stars Shinichi Itoh and Takeshi Tsujimura, which
Itoh had taken to pole in the 'Special Stage.'
The race was between the number 8 Suzuki and 71 Honda. As the fifth
hour ended the two machines wee separated by just 21 seconds. Then the
Suzuki pairing built on their lead to head the Honda duo by over 90
seconds at the seven-hour mark but their race was run soon after. When
the Suzuki pitted for the final time to take on fuel and change tyres
it refused to start and their race was run.
That left Nukumi and Kamata a whole lap clear of the Presto Yamaha, a
lead they were never to surrender. While Nukumi raced the machine
during the last stint Kamada stayed on the pit wall holding a picture
of Daijiro Kato, a friend and hero to all Japanese motorcycle racers.
While the team watched and prayed that nothing would deprive them of
victory Nukumi and the Sakurai VTR10000SP-W cruised home covering 212
laps and gave Honda a victory that seemed beyond them after two hours
of racing. The victorious pair were still clutching the picture of
Kato when they mounted the podium to receive their trophies and the
adulation of the crowd.
The Presto Yamaha came home a lap down, one lap clear of the CCBR954RR
of Itoh and Tsujimura. Aoki and Daguchi brought the Weider Honda home
in seventh place, with Tatuya Yamaguchi and Yuki Takahashi finishing
10th for the 555 Honda team.
Leading Honda rider quotes:
Manabu Kamada, Sakurai Honda, 1st: "The year before, I was on the
podium as a third rider but I didn't feel comfortable then, as I
didn't ride at all. Today it was a great honour for me to win the
race. When the Kenz Suzuki retired at the end of the 7th hour, I
thought Daijiro (Kato) was pushing us. We wanted Okada san Kameya pair
to win the race with the number 74 but when I saw Okada san crashing
we felt it was our turn to carry the Daijiro 's aim. I am sure if he
were there he had won again this year."
Yukio Nukumi, Sakurai Honda, 1st: "I'm 37 years old now feel great
that a team like Sakurai Honda asked me to race he 8-hous for them.
Last year I raced with Nakatomi but we crashed, so I really wanted to
finish the race this year. I very relaxed for me riding with Kamata
san, he raced with my machine set up, so it was easy for me."
Nicky Hayden, Seven Stars Honda, dnf: "There was no oil flag shown at
the straight when I got into my second lap. I saw it getting into the
Turn 1 but it was too late as the machine started to slide by then. I
couldn't do anything at that moment. If I had seen it earlier, I could
have slowed down. All the hard works ended with only one lap and I
feel bad for the team staff who worked so hard."
Ryuichi Kiyonari, Seven Stars Honda, dnf: "I was worried about Nicky
when I saw him crash. Then I was black-flagged when I was riding after
the pit-works and I was disappointed. I still don't want to believe
our race had finished."
Koji Nakajima, HRC General Team Manager: "Due to the following two
reasons, we cannot consent with the situation which occurred today.
First, although the track condition was dangerous after the lap 1 with
oil spray all over it, oil flag was not shown at the main straight.
Another point is that the machines were put on the wrecker and brought
back to the pit following the decision by the organizer. Mr Isoyo
Sugimoto, the Clerk of the Course, explained that it was his decision
to put the machines on the wrecker as he thought it was dangerous for
the riders to push the machine from Turn 1 to the pit. Therefore, the
machines and riders were put on the wrecker against their wishes. But
the organizer stated they were regarded as non-finishers as they got
on the wrecker. The situation is totally unacceptable to us. In our
opinion, the race should have been stopped at the moment and we think
that the organizer is not thinking of the safety seriously. As we can
not accept the situation, we made a protest to the Jury. However, no
answer had been given at the time of 3:00pm. Mean while, #11 machine
restarted the race after repairing works, but was black-flagged. As
Mr. Fujio Yoshimura had said, spectators who are here this year, are
enthusiasts and were disappointed by the situation where top teams had
disappeared soon after the start. It was lucky that no rider had been
seriously injured today, but we would strongly request to the
organizer to improve their safety measures."
Toru Ukawa, Seven Stars Honda, dnf: "The track condition in the first
hour was terrible with oil all over it. They should have showed a red
flag then. Many riders had crashed and the pace cars got on the track
twice during the first hour. As the top teams had disappeared, it was
easy pace for me to lead the race after that. It was very
disappointing to retire from the race. But that's racing."
1/71/Team Sakurai Honda/JPN/Honda VTR1000SPW/SB
2/21/YSP Presto Racing/JPN/Yamaha YZF-R1/JSB
3/778/F.C.C. TSR Zip-FM Racing Team/JPN/Honda CBR954RR/XF1
4/3/Suzuki GB Phase One/GBR/Suzuki GSX-R1000/SP
5/22/Team 22 Police Nationale & Tsukigi Racing/FRA/Suzuki GSX-R1000/SP
6/29/Clever Wolf Racing Team/JPN/Yamaha YZF-R17/XF1
7/44/Weider Honda Academy DD Boys/JPN/Honda CBR954RR/JSB
8/68/Corona Extra Tiforce Endurance/USA/Suzuki GSX-R1000/XF1
9/86/Corona Light Tiforce Endurance/USA/Suzuki GSX-R1000/SP
10/555/Masked Rider 555 Honda/JPN/Honda CBR954RR/JSB
11/9/Beet Motul Racing/JPN/Kawasaki ZX-9R/XF1
12/19/Moriwaki Motul Racing/JPN/Honda CBR954RR/XF1
13/31/Wins Factory & Vega Sports/JPN/Suzuki GSX-R1000/JSB
14/20/Gar Field Rsk/JPN/Suzuki GSX-R1000/XF1
15/40/Honda Hamamatsu Escargot CBR/JPN/Honda CBR954RR/JSB
16/87/F.C.C. TSR/JPN/Honda CBR954RR/JSB
17/6/RS-Itoh Kaze/JPN/Kawasaki ZX-7RR/SB
18/38/Team 38/JPN/Kawasaki ZX-9R/XF1
19/18/Team Yoshiharu Yokkaichi/JPN/Honda CBR954RR/JSB
20/10/Honda Blue Helmet MSC/JPN/Honda VTR1000SP-2/SB
--
-Michael
Aprilia RS250-dele plus div. andre dele til salg på:
http://62.79.120.117/
(opdateret med nye dele:24-06-2003)