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Yoshimura #suzuki Shell Advance took third place in today’s 39th Coca-Cola Zero Suzuka 8-Hour World Endurance Championship round in Japan after an exciting battle that saw just a handful of seconds separate them from the second-step of the podium after a total of 218 laps of drama-packed action.
Team riders Takuya Tsuda, Nori Haga and Josh Brookes were just over 10 seconds behind race-long rivals Team Green; that saw Haga locked-in an incredible dice for second with Leon Haslam at mid-race distance where the lead change several times per lap once the pair got into backmarkers.
Japan’s most-prestigious motorcycle #event saw three #suzuki GSX-R1000-mounted teams in the top-10: #moto Map SUPPLY riders Nobuatsu Aoki, Josh Waters and Yoshihiro Konno scored an impressive fifth position; and Team KAGAYAMA Suzuki’s Yukio Kagayama, Naomichi Uramoto and Ryuichi Kiyonari sixth place; both having suffered issues during the race.
Reigning World Endurance Champions #suzuki Endurance #racing Team (SERT) were unlucky not to score points after an enforced penalty, capped-off with a high-speed crash early-on in the #event, but fought back from 48th to 22nd and still hold fourth in the series, just nine points off the championship lead, which is still held by #suzuki GSX-R1000-mounted Team April #moto Motors Events (Gregg Black, Gregory Fastre and Alex Cudlin) – who scored two points in 19th position with a total of 208 laps.
The start at 11:30am local time under 28 degrees (air) and 37 degrees (track) temperatures saw two Suzuki’s in the lead: 17 Ryuichi Kiyonari got a perfect start for Team KAGAYAMA and finished the first lap leading 12 Tsuda on the Yoshimura #suzuki Shell Advance GSX-R1000.
Kiyonari kept his lead until the 18th lap when the eventual race winners Yamaha Factory #racing took over at the front. Kiyonari pitted on lap 26 and handed over to Kagayama, but a problem changing the tyre cost the team dearly and they dropped down to sixth.
With Yoshimura #suzuki holding third, SERT was given a ‘stop-and-go’ penalty for an alleged jump-start, so had to do a ride-through; and then the 14-time World Champions suffered a high-speed crash trying to make-up the time, when Philippe swerved to avoid another rider, but he picked-up his GSX-R1000 and rode back to the pits with a very damaged machine, complete with a punctured rear tyre; dropping down 48th position, but earning the applause of the fans for the team’s super-quick efficient repair to send rider and machine back-out on track.
Problems also hit the Kagayama #suzuki team on the 52nd lap when a problem with the front tyre forced Kagayama to have an extra pit-stop; again dropping the team down the leaderboard, but in the coming hours, they fought back heroically.
With 30 minutes to go, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Brookes held third, #moto Map SUPPLY’s Waters fifth, Kagayama – riding some impressive lap-times - seventh; and SERT’s Philippe 26th. Kagayama excelled in the closing moments as darkness fell, to move up another position; and SERT also reeled-off another four positions. Ultimately, they scored no championship points but kept the team’s 2016 World Championship – a potential 15th – alive with such a determined effort.
With the final race of the season taking place in Germany on August 27th for the Oschersleben 8 Hours, just 17 points separate the top-seven teams; and 35 points are available to the winner.
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