Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 4: Suzuka 8-Hour Suzuka 8-Hour Suzuka City, Jepan Results: July 28, 1996 (Round 4 of 5) Fogorty/T. Aoki (2,10.862); 6. C. Edwards !lIN. Haga (2,11.013); 7. S. Tsukamotol A. Ryo (2,11.045); 8. K.· Fujiwara/K. Kitagawa (2:11.621); 9. A. Yanagawa/S. Takeishi (2:11.8'77); 10. W. Yoshikawa/No Fujiwara (2,11.901); II. S. Russell/T. Rymer (HI.969); 12. M. DuHamel IT. Ukawa (2,12.198); 13. K. McCarthy/). ReynOlds (2,12.332). RACE, 1. C. Edwards !lIN. Haga (Yam) 214 laps; 2. A. Gobert/S. Crafar (Kaw) 214; 3. C. Fogarty IT. Aoki (Hon) 213; 4. S. Tsukamotol A. Ryo (Kaw) 213; 5. A. Yanngawa/S. Takeishi (Kaw) 211; 6. K. Fujiwara/K. Kitagwa (5uz) 211; 7. N. Aoki/H. Aoki (Hon) 211; 8. M. DuHamel/T. Ukawa (Hon) 210; 9. D. Polen/E. Gomez (Suz) 209; 10. K. McCarthy/). Reynolds (Suz) 209; 11.5. Ito/S. Tsujimoto (Hon) 209; 12. T. SerizanalT. Hamaguchi (Suz) 208; 13. Y. Takahashi/T. Kimura (Kaw) 208; 14. K. Takahashi/Y. Kondo (Yam) 206; 15. S. Nakatani/S. Imai (Kaw) 206; 16. Y. Sugai/H. Noda (Hon) 206; 17. K. Akiyoshi/T. Yamaguchi (Suz) 205; 18. s. Emmett/K. Hasegawa (Yam) 205; 19. K. Sato/N. Tomita (Hon) 205; 20. O. Nisbijima/H. lzutsu (Kaw) 204. Time: 8 hr., 2 min., 6.441 set::. Distance: 214 laps, 777.989 miles. Average Speed: %.825 mph. Margin of Victory: 1 min., 9.595 sec. Fastest Lap: Takuma Aoki, 2:11.600, lap 3. QUALIFYING, 1. A. SI;ght/T. Ok.d. (HO.386); 2. S. Itoh/S. Tsujimoto (2:1O.707); 3. 1': Honma/K. Haga (2,10.761); 4. A. Cobert IS. Cnl.r (2,10.834); S. C. Final Round: Round 5 - Paul Ricard, France, September 15 spots. Even three out of the four semifactory Kawasakis finished the eight hours. "Winning is the only reason why I came here," Edwards said after the race. "It's been a long week. We've been putting in the times when we needed to. We knew today was going to be tough, but we had luck on our side:' Indeed, Lady Luck does seem to be on Yamaha's side at Suzuka this year, as she has seen fit to bless Yamaha's Colin Edwards, Noriyuki Haga and, early in the year, Norifumi Abe with their first victories in international competition. CN Briefly_·_.--'---.. (Above) The factory Suzuki team (9) consisting of Scott Russell and Terry Rymer trail Edwards. The team did not finish, the result of an engine seizure. (Right) Toru Ukawa was teemed with Miguel DuHemel on a factory Honda. Ukawe creshed when a beckmarker moved Into his peth end the team rode to an eighth-place finish. (Below) The pit crew for World Superblke champion Cer! Fogerty and teemmBte Takume Aokl work on the bike. The teem was leading when Fogerty crashed in the chicane; they finished third. conservative, running 2:13s - I was just dead." Gobert and Crafar were gradually being caught by the other factory Kawasaki of Yanagawa and Shinya Takeishi. Yanagawa whittled away on' Crafar from laps 137 to 146. Takeishi tried to overtake Crafar on several cor. ners of laps 146 and 147 with no success, but finally made the pass on lap 148 and pulled out a four-second advantage on Crafar by the time the top teams started pitting again, during laps 159 to 161. During the final two hours the running order was largely constant, with Edwards/Haga in front, unchallenged,· followed by the Kawasakis of Yanagawa/Takeishi and Gobert/Crafar. Fogarty / Aoki were fourth, still on the lead lap, primarily due to Aoki's determination. The third factory Kawasaki of Shoichi Tsukamoto and Akira Ryo was fifth, a lap down from the leaders, yet a lap ahead of the sixth-place Lucky Strike Suzuki of Katsuaki Fujiwara and Keichi Kitagawa. Another lap behind were the Aoki brothers, Nobuatsu and 125cc GP world champion Haruchika, on a semifactory Honda RC45. The last significant change in the running order happened 12 laps from the end, when the second-place Kawasaki· had to pit for front brake problems. The team rejoined the race in fifth Place and gave Kawasaki the noteworthy honor of being the only brand which had every factory bike finish the race, in the process taking three out of the top five <

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