40th Suzuka 8-Hour Endurance Road Race

THE FLAG COMES DOWN FOR THE 40th SUZUKA 8 HOUR ENDURANCE

40th Suzuka 8-Hour Endurance Road Race /

8:00’32.959s, 216 laps and the chequered flag comes down to mark the end of the 40th Suzuka 8 Hour Endurance. Race Day dawned with ominous dark clouds gathering on the horizon. Amidst worries of rain, 69 teams gathered on the Suzuka Circuit starting grid. Among them were 17 former and current ARRC riders, some making their 8-hour debut, others seasoned campaigners in the prestigious annual event. The race flagged off with the classic Le Mans start and Kawasaki Team Green’s Leon Haslam stole the holeshot. Behind him, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah, Dimas Ekky Pratama and Tatsuya Yamaguchi were race starters for their respective team. Hafizh, astride a Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the first time for Team Kagayama, got off to a clean start Team MUSASHi RT Harc Pro Honda stormed into the lead at the end of Lap 1. Hafizh slotted in at P5 while Dimas was ninth in the group. However, Dimas lost position on Lap 2 when he had a close brush against another competitor. With the heavy traffic in the opening laps of the race, the Satu Hati Honda Team Asia rider instantly dropped down to P31 with a lot of ground to recover. Ryuichi Kiyonari, piloting for team Moriwaki Motul Racing, also had a rough time in the opening laps. On Lap 2, the 4-times Suzuka 8 Hour winner was down in P14. The battle for the lead continued to be played out between three key teams – MuSASHi RT Harc Pro Honda, Yamaha Factory Racing Team and Kawasaki Team Green. The positions kept changing as the riders head in for their first pitstops. On Lap 24, Hafizh handed over to Yukio Kagayama. A lap later, Dimas tagged over to Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi. On Lap 27, Kiyonari handed the bike to Yuki Takahashi and Tomoyoshi Koyama took over from Tatsuya Yamaguchi. Matters were further complicated by a crash on Lap 27 which brought out the Safety Car. The racing re-started on Lap 30, signifying the start of a fresh bout of intense on-track battles. Having taken over from Hafizh, Kagayama kept their race position steady in P5. On Lap 55, Honda Team Asia, which was clearly running on a 3-rider strategy, effected another handover from Zaqhwan to Ratthapong Wilairot. Kagayama dashed into the pit a lap later, but instead of the team’s third rider, it was again Hafizh Syahrin who jumped on board. Ryuichi Kiyonari crashed out of P10 on Lap 61 but managed to ride his bike back into the box for a series of quick repairs. But when the team managed to return on track, they were down in P54, 10 laps behind the leaders. Meanwhile, team Honda Dream Racing trio Tomoyoshi Koyama, Tatsuya Yamaguchi and Ryosuke Iwato had been picking off one rival after another. On Lap 85, the team had reached P8. Similarly, the combined efforts from Honda Team Asia had brought them steadily climbing up the pecking order. When Ratthapong passed the bike back to Dimas, they were up to P10. The gritty Indonesian rider rode steadily despite having injured his leg during the Lap 2 collision earlier in the day. When Dimas swapped with Zaqhwan on Lap 111, they had improved their position by two places to P8. Soon after the 5-hour mark, Hafizh and Kagayama’s hard work crumbled when the bike had to return to the box due to a problem with the headlights. A new harness had to be fitted on to the bike. Kagayama got back onto track in P18 but was forced back again on Lap 162 when they experienced another headlights failure. While Team Kagayama struggled to overcome their bout of bad luck, the race among the current and former ARRC riders had narrowed down to Honda Dream Racing and Satu Hati Honda Team Asia who found themselves fighting for the same piece of track. Ratthapong successfully challenged Iwato for P6 on Lap 155, prompting a pit-in for Honda Dream Racing on Lap 162. Dimas took over from Ratthapong on Lap 164 and was able to get out on track ahead of their closest rival. However, a succession of quick laps from Yamaguchi effectively whittled down on Dimas’s lead. On Lap 173, Dimas lost P6 to the Japanese rider. An hour left on the clock, both teams got back into the box for a final change. Zaqhwan was slated to be the finisher for Honda Team Asia while Koyama will complete the 8-hour for Honda Dream Racing. 37 minutes to the finish, another crash on track brought out the Safety Car. With the riders bunched up together, Zaqhwan was unable to stop Koyama’s progress. The Japanese rider remained steady in P6 while rear number light troubles sent Zaqhwan back to the pit for a quick fix. The Malaysian dropped to P9. The chequered flag came down for the undisputed winner of the race – team Yamaha Factory Racing’s Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Alex Lowes and Michael Va Der Mark. The three riders had executed an inch-perfect race to seal the win with 216 laps within 8:00’32.959s. Kawasaki Team Green celebrated in second place, also with 216 laps in 8:02.42.011s. The Kawasaki outfit raced on a 2-rider strategy. Team orders had placed Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman as the reserve rider, due to the fact that the Malaysian was still recovering from a hand injury.  Team F.C.C. TSR Honda finished third with 215 laps in 8:01’58.784. Tomboyish Koyama led his team to a 6th place finish with 212 laps. Satu Hati Honda Team Asia finished 8th with 211 laps. Unable to overcome the problems that resulted from the headlight failure, Team Kagayama eventually finished 17th with 207 laps. Team Moriwaki Motul Racing were also present at the chequered flag, finishing 27th with 202 laps. The 2016/2017 title went to team GMT94 Yamaha who finished 11th in the race. Results 1. Yamaha Factory Racing Team, 216 laps, 8:00’32.959 2. Kawasaki Team Green, 216 laps, 8:02.42.011 3. F.C.C. TSR Honda, 215 laps, 8:01’58.784 4. MuSASHi RT Harc Pro Honda, 214 laps,

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TAMADA: RIDERS LACK OF EXPERIENCE AND NERVES A FACTOR IN TOP 10 TRIALS

40th Suzuka 8-Hour Endurance Road Race /

Team Satu Hati Honda Team Asia started the 2017 Suzuka 8 Hour Top 10 Trials in 10th position, and ended the highly anticipated superpole in the same spot. The team’s best time was clocked by Dimas Ekky Pratama who posted 2’09.966s, no improvement from his personal qualifying time on Friday. Ratthapong Wilairot clocked in at 2’10.561, 1.5s off his personal best qualifying time. Makoto Tamada (Team Coach): The Top 10 Trials results were acceptable, given the riders’ lack of experience in producing fast laps on demand. They were nervous and jittery prior to the session as they have yet to believe that they can pull out fast laps without the need for a few warm up laps or to slipstream other riders. However, what’s most important in endurance racing is the average lap time, not the fastest qualifying time. I still believe that we are in a good position to finish well during the race.

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HAFIZH WOWS THE CROWD AHEAD OF 2017 SUZUKA 8 HOUR

40th Suzuka 8-Hour Endurance Road Race /

Malaysian Moto2 rider Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah had been remarkable in his Suzuka 8 Hour debut so far. Ahead of the main race on Sunday, Hafizh had already created a strong impression. There were no ‘first time’ excuses from this 23-year-old. It didn’t matter that he had never raced at the Suzuka Circuit. He did not say that he needed time to get used to the unfamiliar Suzuki GSX-R1000 L7. He just got on with the job. Hafizh was a part of Team Kagayama – a team with strong podium potentials. His team mates were none other than Yukio Kagayama himself and Naomichi Uramoto. The team clocked 2’09.571s (P11) in the first supplementary practice. In the rainy Free Practice session on Friday, they stopped the clock at 2’13.380 (P10). Hafizh posted the team’s best time during the riders’ individual qualifying session on Friday afternoon. He clocked 2’09.605 in QP1, and then upped the ante in QP2 with 2’08.023. The Malaysian rider joined Kagayama on the highly anticipated Top 10 Trials on Saturday where his superpole time of 2’08.616s earned Team Kagayama the right to park their bike ninth on the grid.

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SUZUKA 8 HOUR – TOP 10 TRIALS

40th Suzuka 8-Hour Endurance Road Race /

The 40th Coca Cola Suzuka 8 Hour will rev off with team Yamaha Factory Racing on pole position. Alex Lowes posted the fastest time of the Top 10 Trial (SuperPole) of 2’06.282s. Team Yoshimura Suzuki Motul Racing is slotted into the second grid with a time of 2’06.282s produced by Takuya Tsuda. For the riders from the Asia Road Racing Championship family, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman will join team mates Kazuma Watanabe and Leon Haslam at third on the grid. Watanabe and Haslam represented the team during the SuperPole and the British rider logged the team’s best time, 2’06.381s. Teams FCC TSR Honda, MuSASHi RT Harc-Pro Honda and YART Yamaha qualified for fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. Meanwhile, team Moriwaki Motul Racing will start the race from seventh on the grid, with the time set by Yuki Takahashi (2’08.041). Honda Suzuka Racing will start from P8, followed by Team Kagayama’s trio comprising of Yukio Kagayama, Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah and Naomichi Uramoto. The Kagayama team’s qualifying time of 2’08.616s was posted by Hafizh Syahrin who is looking increasingly confident with each successive session out on track. Finally, Honda Team Asia remained tenth on the grid with 2’09.966s from Dimas Ekky Pratama. The team was represented by Dimas and Thai rider Ratthapong Wilairot for the Top 10 Trial. TOP 10 TRIAL RESULTS 1. Yamaha Factory Racing Team (A. Lowes) 2’06.038 2. Yoshimura Suzuki Motul Racing (T. Tsuda) 2’06.282 3. Kawasaki Team Green (L. Haslam) 2’06.381 4. F.C.C. TSR Honda (D. Aegerter) 2’06.600 5. MuSASHi RT Harc-Pro Honda (T. Nakagami) 2’06.671 6. YART-Yamaha (B. Parkes) 2’07.634 7. Motiwaki Motul Racing (Y. Takahashi) 2’08.041 8. Honda Suzuka Racing (D. Hiura) 2’08.178 9. Team Kagayama (Hafizh Syahrin) 2’08.616 10. Satu Hati Honda Team Asia (Dimas Pratama) 2’09.966

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YAMAHA THAILAND WINS 2017 SUZUKA 4 HOURS

40th Suzuka 8-Hour Endurance Road Race /

With four Asia Road Racing Championship teams and riders crowding out the top five grids, the 2017 edition of the Suzuka 4 Hours looked to be an exciting and close-fought affair. Team Yamaha Thailand won the coveted pole position with an average qualifying time of 2:18.042, with Anupab Sarmoon being the faster rider. Team Akeno Speed – Yamaha’s combination of Soichiro Minamimoto and Indonesian GP rider Doni Tata Pradita qualified third on the grid with an average qualifying time of 2:19.125. Indonesian outfit Astra Honda Racing parked fourth on the grid with an average time of 2:19.138, followed by Vorapong Malahuan and Muklada Sarapuech of team AP Honda Racing Thailand in fifth with 2:19.479. Andy Muhammad Fadly of the Manual-Tech Kawasaki outfit was ninth on the grid. The 2017 qualifying procedure had been amended. Instead of the best time/best rider format that had been used in the past 39th edition, grid position is now determined by the average lap time of the team’s combined best laps. Race day for the Suzuka 4 Hours competitors dawned cloudy with intermittent rain. The start was delayed by half an hour and the race shorted to 3 hours 30 minutes. Team Astra Honda, helmed by Rheza Danica Ahrens got the holeshot, followed by Anupab Sarmoon for Yamaha Thailand. AP Honda’s Vorapong Malahuan powered into fourth place. A bad start for Manual Tech Kawasaki and Akeno Speed – Yamaha placed them P45 and P49 respectively with a lot of ground to make up for. Rheza held the lead 11 laps before conceding P1 to a charging Anupab from Yamaha Thailand on Lap 12. Also on Lap 11, Vorapong Malahuan pit in but the team faced a long pitstop as they fought against the clock to fit in their dry tyres. By the time Mukhlada Sarapuech rejoined the race, they had lost a lot of positions. Team Astra Honda pit in on Lap 13, again a long pitstop due to the need to change from wet to dry tyres. Team Yamaha Thailand stayed in the lead for two more laps before heading in for their first pitstop on Lap 16, with Anupab handing the reins to Peerapong Boonlert. As the leaders started to pit, Andy Muhammad Fadly of team Manual-Tech Kawasaki had put in a lot of hard work to arrive at the front of the group. Fadly jumped into the lead on Lap 18, with a 10s margin ahead of his closest competitor. The Indonesian rider dived into the pits for a quick splash-and-dash on Lap 19. As the team had gambled on using dry tyres at the start of the race, the team’s second rider, Aiki Iyoshi, was able to get back on track in P3. Similarly, Akeno Speed – Yamaha’s Soichiro Minamimoto had also stayed on track. A series of quick laps propelled Minamimoto to the front of the group. The Japanese rider logged the fastest lap of the entire race, 2:18.577s, on Lap 20. Minamimoto entered the pit on Lap 22, putting Doni Tata Pradita in charge of maintaining their team position for the second hour. With the second riders settled into their race pace, Iyoshi hung on to the lead from Lap 23 to 37. Behind him, Doni Tata and Peerapong Boonlert were absorbed in fighting for P2. Iyoshi pitted on Lap 38. Fadly got back out on track in P3 and, three laps later, was again leading the group. The game changer took place on Lap 47. With 1 hour and 32 minutes left on the clock, Akeno Speed’s second bike, Bike 73, crashed on Turn 3. The incident brought out the safety car, effectively bunching everyone up together again. Adding salt to injury, AM Fadly made the mistake of entering the pitlane during the Safety Car. The error cost him his lead. The Safety Car was out for approximately 20 minutes. When the race resumed with 1 hour and 10 minutes left on the clock, the stage was set for a final hour mad dash to the finish line. Team Yamaha Thailand grabbed the bull by the horns as the Safety Car ducked into the pitlane. Anupab jumped into the lead from Laps 50 to 61 when he slipped into the pit for a final handover to Peerapong Boonlert. On Lap 64, team Akeno Speed – Yamaha also affected another rider change – from Minamimoto to Doni Tata. Although Doni returned to the track still in P1, he has being rapidly hunted down by Peerapong. Just as Peerapong successfully challenged for the lead on Lap 68, the Thai rider was ordered in by race control to serve out a stop-and-go penalty for passing under the Safety Car. Peerapong’s penalty opened up a huge lead for Doni Tata. Unfortunately, Doni was consistently at least 3 seconds per lap slower than the charging Peerapong. On Lap 71, Doni clocked 2’25.250 versus the Thai rider’s 2’20.522. On Lap 72, the Indonesian was timed at 2’24.311 while Peerapong logged 2’22.164s. With 24 minutes left on the clock, and a 25-second lead, Doni would have to start lapping quicker in order to make it to the chequered flag in first place. With every successive lap, Peerapong was whittling down on the lead while Doni was having a hard time extricating himself from a group of back markers.By Lap 79, Peerapong was only 3 seconds behind. On Lap 80, the Thai rider made the first move at Turn 1, and successfully gained the front at Turn 2. There was no turning back after that point. Peerapong easily finished off what Anupab had started. As the chequered flag came down at the end of the 3.5 hours, Peerapong brought the Yamaha Thailand bike to the finish line with a total of 83 laps within 3:30’26.951s. Akino Speed – Yamaha’s Soichiro Minamimoto and Doni Tata Pradita had to be content with second place. While Peerapong’s pursuit of Doni Tata grabbed the spotlight, Astra Honda’s Awhin Sanjaya had quietly made it to third. But the chequered flag

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SUZUKA 8 HOURS: KNOW YOUR #asiapower RIDERS

40th Suzuka 8-Hour Endurance Road Race /

This weekend, the best riders in the world are congregating at the Suzuka Circuit. The clock ticks down to the start of the 40th Suzuka 8hours, the grand finale of the 2016-2017 World Endurance Championship. Based on the entry list published on July 16th, the entry list this year boasts 69 teams and 207 riders. Of these we find 17 riders in the 8 hour list who are current or former ARRC riders. Here’s a brief overview of each rider. SUZUKA 4 HOURS #7 RHEZA DANICA AHRENS Rider: Rheza Danica Ahrens Nationality: Indonesia Age: 19 4Hours Team: Astra Honda Racing Team 4Hours Comp: #7 Current ARRC Rankings: 4th overall in the Asia Production 250cc The most exciting new talent to enter the ARRC in 2017. Rheza has had a successful debut season with two podium finishes to his credit. This will be Rheza’s second appearance in the Suzuka 4 Hours. He is the current defending champion in the Suzuka 4 Hours Category.   #7 AWHIN SANJAYA Rider: Awhin Sanjaya Nationality: Indonesia Age: 19 4Hours Team: Astra Honda Racing Team 4Hours Comp: #7 Current ARRC Rankings: 6th overall in the Asia Production 250cc This will be Awhin’s first appearance in the Suzuka 4 Hours.   #74 DONI TATA PRADITA Rider: Doni Tata Pradita Nationality: Indonesia Age: 27 4Hours Team: Akeno Speed – Yamaha 4Hours Comp: #74 Current ARRC Rankings: Nil Doni was a riding protégé who burst into the Asian motorsports scene circa 2004/2005. He won the Yamaha Asean Cup in 2004 at the age of 14. In 2005, he became the Underbone 115cc Asian Champion of the Asia Road Racing Championship. Doni still holds the record as the youngest rider to win a title in the Asian series. The rider from Yogyakarta was put on the fast track and became the first Indonesian to race full season in the 250cc class of the World Championships. Doni participated in two seasons of the 250cc class (2007 and 2008). 2009 brought Doni to the World SuperSports series. In 2013, Doni got himself back in the spotlight when he secured a full season ride in the Moto2 class of the MotoGP.   #99 ANUPAB SARMOON Rider: Anupab Sarmoon Nationality: Thailand Age: 24 4Hours Team: Yamaha Thailand Racing 4Hours Comp: #99 Current ARRC Rankings: 3rd overall in the Asia Production 250cc class Currently third overall in the Asia Production 250cc class, Anupab is the lone Yamaha rider against a field of Honda rivals. The gutsy Thai rider has clinched five podium finishes out of six races in the 2017 season to date.   This will be his Suzuka 4 Hour debut.   #99 PEERAPONG BOONLERT Rider: Peerapong Boonlert Nationality: Thailand Age: 4Hours Team: Yamaha Thailand Racing 4Hours Comp: #99 Current ARRC Rankings: 12th overall in the Asia Production 250cc class Son of former Underbone ARRC champion Surapong Boonlert, Peerapong is taking part in his first full season of the Asia Road Racing Championship, in the Asia Production 250cc category.   #108 ANDY MUHAMMAD FADLY Rider: Andy Muhammad Fadly Nationality: Indonesia Age: 17 4Hours Team: チーム能塚 & Manual-Tech Kawasaki 4Hours Comp: #108 Current ARRC Rankings: 9th overall in the Asia Production 250cc class   #149 VORAPONG MALAHUAN Rider: Vorapong Malahuan Nationality: Thailand Age: 31 4Hours Team: AP Honda Racing Thailand 4Hours Comp: #149 Current ARRC Rankings: 11th overall in the Asia Production 250cc class   #SITTHISAK ONCHIAWIANG Rider: Sitthisak Onchiawiang Nationality: Thailand Age: 4Hours Team: AP Honda Racing Thailand 4Hours Comp: #149 Current ARRC Rankings: – Sitthisak was 19th overall in the Asia Production 250cc class of the Asia Road Racing Championship in 2016.     SUZUKA 8 HOURS #3 MITSUNORI OKAMURA Rider: Mitsunori Okamura Nationality: Japan Age: 29 8Hours Team KRP Sanyokogyo & RS-Itoh 8Hours Comp: #3 Current ARRC Rankings: – Okamura raced in the SuperSports 600cc class of the Asia Road Racing Championship in 2014 and 2015. In both seasons, he ranked 15th overall.   #11 AZLAN SHAH KAMARUZAMAN Rider: Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman Nationality: Malaysia Age: 33 8Hours Team Kawasaki Team Green 8Hours Comp: #11 Current ARRC Rankings: Championship leader in the SuperSports 600cc class Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (together with his 2011 team mate Mohd Emir Firdaus Hasan) was the first South East Asian rider to break into the prestigious Suzuka Endurance series. The duo made a high profile 4-hour debut in 2011 when they defied the odds to become the winners of the 4 Hour race that year.   The 2011 4-hour win was a big boost for Azlan, the first major title of his career. He then went on to win the national Malaysian Cub Prix title in 2012, was crowned FIM Asian SuperSports 600cc Champion in 2013, and then embarked on a two-season sojourn in the Moto2 class of the MotoGP.   2016 and 2017 brought Azlan back to the Asia Road Racing Championship. He is the current SuperSports 600cc championship leader.   This will be Azlan’s fourth entry into the Suzuka 8 Hours. In 2012, Azlan competed with team mates Makoto Tamada and Chosun Kameya. They finished 25th.   In 2013, he partnered with Makoto Tamada and Yuki Takahashi. However, disaster struck during the free practices when Tamada suffered an injury following a bad crash. Azlan and Takahashi were left to soldier on. They eventually finished 6th – the only team with a 2-rider strategy.   In 2015, Azlan was a last-minute replacement for the injured Mohd Zamri Baba. Partnering Dimas Ekky Pratama and Ratthapong Wilairot, the team ended their race in 18th place.   This year, Azlan joins factory team Kawasaki Team Green and will race alongside Kazuma Watanabe and British Superbike icon, Leon Haslam (who was also the 2014 Suzuka 8 hour winner).   #13 TEPPEI NAGOE Rider: Teppei Nagoe Nationality: Japan Age: 20 8Hours Team Mistresa with ATJ Racing 8Hours Comp: #13 Current ARRC Rankings: 13th overall in the SuperSports 600cc class Nagoe was 3rd overall in the 2014 Asia Dream Cup which ran as part of the Asia Road Racing Championship.   This season,

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#asiapower AT THE SUZUKA 8 HOURS

40th Suzuka 8-Hour Endurance Road Race /

  Five rounds in each season of the Endurance World Championship calendar – Bol D’or, Le Mans 24 hours, 8 hours of Oschersleben, 8 hours of Slovakia Ring, and the Suzuka 8hours. Of the five, the Suzuka leg of the championship often carried a vibe of its own. As the backyard to all the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, the Suzuka 8 hours is where they pull out all the stops. 2017 marks the 40th anniversary of this iconic race. Fittingly, Suzuka will be the grand finale of the 2016-2017 season of the EWC. This year’s meet has attracted a host of racing superstars, including a large number of top Asian riders. Below are the list of current and former Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) riders who will be taking part in the Suzuka 4 hour and 8 hour Endurance: Suzuka 4 Hours The Suzuka 4 Hours, which takes place on Saturday morning, is the 600cc version of the 8 hours. The 4 Hours is split into two classes – International and National.             Suzuka 8 Hours The Suzuka 8 hours also contains two sub-categories – the Endurance World Championship class (EWC) and the SuperStock class (SST). These lists are based on entry list published on July 16, 2017. Riders in bold are current or former ARRC riders. Watch this space for further updates!  

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