Provisional qualifying for the 2011 Coca-Cola Zero Suzuka 8-Hours race saw the Yoshimura Suzuki Japan team take the top spot by virtue of former WSBK star Yukio Kagayama's 2:07 lap
Yoshimura Suzuki Japan’s Yukio Kagayama put his team on provisional pole position for the 2011 Suzuka 8-Hour endurance race by being the only rider to have clocked a lap under the 2:08 mark during provisional qualifying held Friday at the famed Japanese circuit. The former World Superbike rider put in a lap of 2:07.884, setting a mark that was never threatened during the two qualifying sessions, and making the Yoshimura Suzuki Japan team (Kagayama, Australian Josh Waters, and Suzuki MotoGP test rider Nobuatsu Aoki) a definite contender for the win.
Behind the Yoshimura Suzuki team came the F.C.C. TSR Honda squad of Kosouke Akiyoshi (who has done a couple of MotoGP fill-in rides), former 500GP rider Shinichi Ito, and current BSB campaigner Ryuichi Kiyonari at 2:08.113 courtesy of Akiyoshi, with the Musashi RT HARC-PRO Honda team of All-Japan superbike rider Takumi Takahashi, former MotoGP rider Makoto Tamada, and another 500GP veteran, Tadayuki Okada, coming in third at 2:08.927.
The Monster Yamaha YART team was the first true World Endurance team in fourth (as well as the first non-Bridgestone qualifier—the Austrian team runs Michelins), with hired gun Katsuyuki Nakasuga putting the team in fourth with a lap of 2:09.045. The BMW Motorrad France 99 outfit of Sebastian Gimbert, Erwan Nigon, and Australian Damian Cudlin put their S 1000 RR-based machine in seventh, followed closely by the all-Aussie duo of Jamie Stauffer and Wayne Maxwell on the Honda Dream RT Sakurai CBR1000RR (in a break from the usual practice of three riders—usually including a Japanese hired gun—Stauffer and Maxwell will handle the riding duties).
The current World Endurance champions SERT (Suzuki Endurance Racing Team) qualified an uncharacteristic 15th despite having Japanese specialist Daisaku Sakai in the French-based team. Meanwhile, the Honda TT Legends outfit consisting of endurance-racing (nevermind Suzuka 8-Hour) rookies John McGuinness, Keith Amor, and Cameron Donald qualified a credible 20th.
Tomorrow the top ten teams will square off in a Superpole-style final qualifying session (actually, the Suzuka 8-Hour is where the Superpole qualifying format originated), with each team’s top two riders getting a single flying lap to determine final grid positions. The Suzuka 8-Hour is the only race in the World Endurance Championship calendar that uses the Superpole qualifying format; usually the riders' qualifying times are averaged in order to determine grid position. It should also be noted that “grid positions” isn’t in the usual sense: the World Endurance Championship uses the “Le Mans” style start, where the riders must run to their ignition-off bikes that are lined up on the opposite side of the track.
Photo Gallery: Yoshimura Suzuki Japan takes provisional pole for Suzuka 8-Hours - Sport Rider Magazine
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