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.