HM Plant Honda British Superbike man Ryuichi Kiyonari has taken his fourth career win at the Suzuka Eight-Hours today ahead of the pole sitters Yukio Kagayama, Josh Waters and Nobuatsu Aoki and the Honda Musashi RT Harc Pro (Takumi Takahashi, Makoto Tamada and Tdayuki Okada).
The three teams, racing on Bridgestone tyres, finished the race in the very same lap. This 34th edition offered a great show since three teams were involved in an intense battle for the leadership during the eight hour long race.
The fastest Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team rider, Yukio Kagayama, and Takumi Takahashi on the Honda Musashi RT Harc Pro, were on track together during their shifts and offered the public a great show. During the last hour, Ryuichi Kiyonari on the FCC TSR Honda was the most spectacular as he managed to keep the within distance of the Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team.
Slightly more discrete but yet very performant was the BMW Motorrad France 99 Team, finishing the race very close to the podium, but five laps behind the leaders, being the first machine on Michelin. On top of that, Sébastien Gimbert, Erwan Nigon and Damian Cudlin took the Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship leadership as the BMW Motorrad France 99 now leads the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team by six points.
In a difficult position, following their 15th qualifying time, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team suffered many small but time robbing technical gremlins: first an issue with the ignition, then the injection and finally a broken footrest. They finished in 9th place.
Engaged in Suzuka with a partnership with the Japanese team RS Itoh Asia, the Bolliger Team Switzerland lost some time due to a leaking radiator and when Roman Stamm crashed after a collision with race leader on the FCC TSR Honda, Shinichi Itoh. Bolliger Team Switzerland finished in a distant 38th position.
The Monster Yamaha YART had some great hope for the race as they started from second position on the grid but the official Austrian Yamaha squad had to give up just before mid-race due to an oil leak.
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