Yamaha Factory Racing Press Release: The Yamaha Factory Racing Team has a dream start and come forth as a key protagonist at the first day of the 38th “Coca-Cola Zero” Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Road Race weekend.
Riders Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Pol Espargarò and Bradley Smith hit the ground running in the first one and half hour session with a very stable basis set-up and despite difficult conditions, they soon rose to a provisional first place, before dropping back to third. The second session saw more of the same from the new, yet solid team. They needed only a few laps around Suzuka Circuit to get used to the changed track conditions before scorching to the top of the standings with a strong 2‘07.282. Monster Energy Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART) and reigning World Champion GMT94 Yamaha faced some challenges during their first day at the Suzuka 8 Hours weekend, but also booked great progress. YART showed the incredible potential of the YZF-R1 in the morning, when rider Broc Parkes, Sheridan Morais and Iván Silva rode the racing machine to a strong third place in mixed conditions. The grip at the Suzuka Circuit went down a little in the afternoon, causing the bike‘s rear wheel to spin, but this was not a problem for the vastly experienced team and they climbed to tenth place in the afternoon session, 4.041s from the Yamaha Factory Racing Team. In an effort to keep their prestigious FIM Endurance World Championship title campaign on track, GMT94 has made various changes to their YZF-R1 since the previous race in Le Mans and picked the fruits of their labor today. Despite being in Group B, which enjoyed slightly less fortunate weather, and suffering a crash in the first private practice the French team did well to claim seventh. The minor complications did not get the team‘s spirit down and in the second session they were immediately back on the pace to claim fourth, 0,470s from the front, in their slot. Tomorrow the Yamaha teams will be back on track for the free practice and qualifying sessions, starting at 8AM, track time. 
Katsuyuki Nakasuga - Rider: “From (last week‘s) pre-race tests, I have been working on the machine set-up and we have had Pol [Espargarò] and Bradley [Smith] concentrating on getting used to the Suzuka track and the machine. We have done this because we think it is best from the team‘s standpoint. The riding position is set according to my preferences, but with regard to the machine settings, since I have been doing development work on the MotoGP machine, we know a lot about the preferences of Pol and Bradley. So, we have been working on the set-up with those preferences in mind, and in fact they both appear to be riding it without feeling any significant problems. This morning‘s practice was in the rain, but the afternoon session was run on a dry track and all three of us were able to get good times. So, we were able to end the first day of practice feeling good about the way things are going. Still, even though we know that Pol and Bradley are MotoGP riders of the highest level, we can‘t help but be impressed by the fact that after only having run here at Suzuka a few times, they are already recording lap times in the 2‘07 range. We three riders all respect each other and have all taken our roles on the team to heart. And, with their speed and me being pulled along by them, I feel an amazing synergistic effect. The team is undoubtedly at a very high level.” Pol Espargarò - Rider: “I think I made good progress. The bike was very good and we improved some points we found during the test. I think today the track was competitive, because it wasn‘t really hot or slippery. I did the fastest lap time today, so the bike and the team are working well and it all looks really good. I have some confidence, but the race is another thing, in the tests you can make mistakes without many consequences, but in the race you have to be consistent and pay a lot of attention to make sure you don‘t crash, as after all this is a team. The YZF-R1 gives us no excuses as riders, it‘s working so good and so are the team. All my teammates are really fast and our pace is good for the race, I can‘t ask for anything more. I have a good feeling with the bike. It‘s not easy to ride with so many riders on the track, but we are adapting to this other type of racing. It‘s a characteristic of this race that there are many riders on the track and if we want to win, we have to compete with them and we are learning to overtake and not be too aggressive and crash, but overtake them fast. Nakasuga set up the base setting and he did a really good job. Bradley and I gave a little bit of input, coming from MotoGP, thinking this could help a little bit, but mainly Nakasuga did the job as he is always riding the bike. Maybe the one with the most challenges is Bradley, because he is tall, while Nakasuga and I are of similar height and weight. Bradley weighs about the same, but is a little bit taller, for sure his style is a bit different, but it was no problem, he is adapting really well and is fast like me. The balance of the team is really good and we all have the same pace and riding similar lap times and it‘s all really good.” 
Bradley Smith - Rider: “Today was good. I think it was good to train in the rain again this morning, because we tested here in the wet on the first two days of the first test and it was nice to refresh our memories, also to gain a little bit of information in case it does rain on raceday. We got a few different ideas on settings and tire strategy in case it does rain, that was interesting. In this afternoon the conditions were really good with the lower temperature on the racetrack. It looks like we have a more or less clear which direction to go for with the race tires, which is also good. Obviously we have to confirm that over the next two days and check the track and ambiance temperature. From what we learned from the last test and this afternoon I think we are 95% ready for the race. I was a little bit nervous this morning, because this is not the same structure that I‘m used to, so I woke up this morning a didn‘t know exactly when I was going to ride or the program, because I ride as the third rider. Small details, like trying to get ready and the time to get into your leathers is difficult to judge, also being here in a slight different environment, are small details that make you feel abnormal and when you go inside the garage you know there are big expectations and you see all the riders riding here so it‘s a little bit different. I‘m sure tomorrow and day by day it will get easier, but this race means a lot and is really important for our team and Yamaha. When you want such a good job you feel a bit of pressure and nerves but it‘s good for performance. Today we were the top three riders, so from that point of view it seems to be working.” Wataru Yoshikawa - Team Manager: “In the afternoon session Nakasuga, Pol [Espargarò] and Bradley [Smith] all ran times in the 2‘07 range, which shows that all three are very fast. As for the machine, we are getting a variety of requests from Pol and Bradley, and since Nakasuga knows the R1 so well, we are having him deal with their requests and verifying what needs to be done. Through our tests until now, we have made good progress in the machine development and set-up. Today we worked hard on the final aspects of the set-up, and of course this work will continue in tomorrow‘s sessions. The atmosphere on the team is very good and the riders respect each other. All three of them are specialists in sprint races, and that means they naturally have a strong desire to be the fastest. But this time, for the sake of the team effort, they are restraining themselves in that respect. I really want to see us win the race with this fantastic team.” For more information: www.yamaha-motor.co.jp 
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