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Fantastic Suzuka 8 Hour podium sweep for Honda

Honda’s CBR1000RR scored a historic clean sweep of the podium at today’s Suzuka 8 Hours race which was run in typically steaming hot conditions. The always gruelling event was dominated by the Musashi RT HARC-PRO pairing of Ryuichi Kiyonari and Takumi Takahashi who were joined on the podium by runners-up Shinichi Ito and Makoto Tamada of Keihin Kohara RT and the third-placed F.C.C TSR team of Kosuke Akiyoshi and Jonathan Rea.

Musashi RT HARC-PRO’s immaculate domination of the race gave Honda its 22nd victory in the 33rd edition of this legendary event. This was Kiyonari’s third 8 Hours win following his successes in the 2005 and 2008 races.

Musashi RT HARC-PRO spent the first few hours engaged in a duel for the lead with the Yoshimura Suzuki team of Daisaku Sakai and Nobu Aoki and Yuki Kagayama. But as the race neared half-distance the pace of Kiyonari and his factory-prepared CBR1000RR was too much for Sakai. Kiyonari overtook Sakai at Spoon Curve and not long after that Sakai crashed in his efforts to keep up. Sakai’s tumble left Kiyonari well ahead of Keihin Kohara RT and allowed the Musashi RT HARC-PRO squad to control the remainder of the race. Sakai’s team eventually finished the race in sixth place.

Veteran Ito – already a three-time winner of the 8 Hours – and team-mate Tamada had a great ride to second place, running inside the top three throughout. They completed the race one lap behind the winners and a lap ahead of Akiyoshi and Rea. F.C.C TSR had been one of the favourites for victory after Rea had been fastest in Friday qualifying. But their hopes of victory were dashed in the early stages when Akiyoshi was delayed by two stop-and-go penalties and then Rea crashed. Those incidents dropped the pair back to 42nd position but there was no denying their fighting spirit as they fought back to the podium, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process.

Impressive runs from two other Honda squads – Team Plus One and Teleru Honey Bee Racing – made it six CBR1000RR machines in the top eight finishing positions.

HONDA RIDER QUOTES

Ryuichi Kiyonari (Musashi RT HARC-PRO): winner
“I am so happy that I was able to accomplish a third winning of the Suzuka 8 Hours. Today’s win was a memorable moment that I will never forget. Takumi fought so hard that I’m glad I was able to pair up with him for this race. The team staff and Takumi were a big support in this victory. Thank you to the fans for cheering us. If I have the chance to participate in this race again, I will look forward to it.”

Takumi Takahashi (Musashi RT HARC-PRO): winner
“I am so glad to win today. In the late stages of the race it became difficult for me to physically continue, so I passed over to Kiyo. We were able to win the race because Kiyo worked hard to set up the machine along with the team staff. If we have another chance to race in the Suzuka 8 Hours, I will aim for the top of the podium again.”

Shigeki Honda (Musashi RT HARC-PRO team manager)
“Finally we won the race. Under such hot conditions it was physically very difficult for the riders and team staff. However, Kiyo and Takumi fought very hard and did their best. I must thank all the people who supported us throughout this event; also the fans who cheered us very much. Thank you for everything.”

Shinichi Ito (Keihin Kohara RT): 2nd
“Considering the pace in yesterday’s result of Superpole and today’s steaming hot climate, I assumed it would be a tough race. However, Makoto and the team backed me up so well that we were able to get second place. Maybe we could have got into first place, but anyway we did our best. I must thank our fans. It was a very meaningful race for me.”

Makoto Tamada (Keihin Kohara RT): 2nd
“I am not satisfied with our result and also with my riding. I was hoping to support Ito-san, yet I ended up relying on him. I feel sorry for him and the team. I was not able to perform fully, so if I have another chance, I want the opportunity for revenge in the next Suzuka 8 Hours!”

Kosuke Akiyoshi (F.C.C TSR): 3rd
“I enjoyed this Suzuka 8 Hours a lot. I didn’t get such a great start, so when I got into the first corner with a lot of rivals, I touched another rider, which bent my clutch lever. Also, I got two stop-and-go penalties which I had difficulty understanding why they happened. I felt sorry to pass the machine to Jonny under such conditions, after losing time. However, Jonny fought his best. The bike worked very well, so we were able to perform at full power and fight back to third position. I thank the team and all the fans who supported us.”

Jonathan Rea (F.C.C TSR): 3rd
“First of all, I want to thank all my team and the Japanese fans. Today was a tough day.  We had some unexpected troubles and mistakes, so to be honest I am not so happy. Yet working well together with Akiyoshi and repeatedly telling myself ‘never give up, keep going’, we were able to get into third place. If I have a chance, I want to participate in the Suzuka 8 Hours again!”


PREVIOUS HONDA WINNERS OF THE SUZUKA 8 HOURS
 
1979: Tony Hatton, AUS/Michael Cole, AUS - Honda CB900
1981: Mike Baldwin, USA/Dave Aldana USA - Honda RS1000
1982: Shigeo Iijima, J/Shinji Hagiwara, J - Honda CB900F
1984: Mike Baldwin, USA/Fred Merkel, USA - Honda RS750R
1985: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Masaki Tokano, J - Honda RVF750
1986: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Dominique Sarro - F Honda RVF750
1989: Dominique Sarron, F/Alex Vieira, Por - Honda RVF750
1991: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Mick Doohan, AUS - Honda RVF750
1992: Wayne Gardner, AUS/Daryl Beattie, AUS - Honda RVF750
1994: Doug Polen, USA/Aaron Slight, NZ - Honda RVF/RC45
1995: Aaron Slight, NZ/Tadayuki Okada, J - Honda RVF/RC45
1997: Shinichi Ito, J/Tohru Ukawa, J - Honda RVF/RC45
1998: Shinichi Ito, J/Tohru Ukawa, J - Honda RVF/RC45
1999: Tadayuki Okada, J/Alex Barros, Bra - Honda RVF/RC45
2000: Tohru Ukawa, J/Daijiro Kato, J - Honda VTR1000SPW
2001: Valentino Rossi, I/Colin Edwards, USA - Honda VTR1000SPW
2002: Daijiro Kato, J/Colin Edwards, USA - Honda VTR1000SPW
2003: Yukio Nukumi, J/Manubu Kamada, J - Honda VTR1000SPW
2004: Tohru Ukawa, J/Hitoyasu Izutsu, J - Honda CBR1000RRW
2005: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J/Tohru Ukawa, J - Honda CBR1000RRW
2006: Shinichi Ito, J/Takeshi Tsujimura, J - Honda CBR1000RR
2008: Ryuichi Kiyonari, J/Carlos Checa, E - Honda CBR1000RR


Results

Pos	Team	Riders	Bike	Laps	Total Time	Delay	Best
1st	MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO.	R.KIYONARI; T.NAKAGAMI; T.TAKAHASHI	CBR1000RR	215	8:01'13.428	156.04km/h	2'09.503
2nd	Keihin Kohara Racing Team	S.ITO         M.TAMADA	CBR1000RR	214	8:01'46.497	1

Lap	2'09.898
3rd	F.C.C.TSR Honda	K.AKIYOSHI  J.REA Y.TAKAHASHI	CBR1000RR	213	8:01'37.492	2Laps	2'08.705