Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128228
Endurance World Championship \. Round 6: Suzuka B Hour victorious Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards team in 2001, a year that required three-rider teams in the Suzuka 8 Hour due to new FIM rules prohibiting reserve riders. Most of the factory teams that year did not use the third rider, presumably to save on bonus money paid out. You had to feel sorry for the third riders that year who were required to be on the podium and in the podium winners' press conference in 2001. "I was at the podium two years ago, but I didn't feel comfortable," recalled Kamada. "I wanted to run away. I had a lot of mixed feelings. This time I'm more relaxed and feel very happy to be on the podium." Yamaha's Shinichi Nakatomi and Waturu Yoshikawa ran a c1e~n and cautious race to finish secoJld on their YZF-Ra, one lap behind. "I am very happy to Ibe at the podiurn," said Yoshikawa, "but I never thought the podium ceremony was this long! But I can finally now enjoy talking with previous podium winners, By TRACY HAGEN PHOTOS BY HIDENOBU TAKEUCHI obody could quite remember a more chaotic Suzuka 8 Hour than this one. The results sheets will tell you that Yukio Nukumi and Gaku Kamada, a pair of unheralded Japanese riders, lapped the field on their RC-51 and gave Honda its seventh successive victory in 'the prestigious Japanese endurance race. The truth is that the pair inherited positions all day long as the top ten qualifiers found misfortune in all forms. "I've not had a very successful racing career up until today," said 37 -year-old Nukumi, who had retired rom racing to become a businessman. "I'm glad J finally did something good in my career - even though I've already finished my career." "I have had only two wins in my career, and this is the second one," confessed Kamada, a 33-year-old test rider for Honda Racing. amada was a third rider for the N e because up until now I only listened; I never had the experience." Yoshikawa-san is a Yamaha MotoGP test rider after many years of racing for Yamaha in Japan, plus a few World Superbike races. Nakatomi-san is a 25-year-old rider in a Yamaha satellite team for the All Japan series. "I learned a lot from Yoshikawa," said Nakatomi. '" race in the All Japan championship, so all 1 learned here I will apply in my own experience." Third were Shinichi Ito, the one-lap qualifying supremo from Saturday's Special Stage, and Takeshi Tsujimura on a Honda CBR954RR, one I~ behind the Yoshikawa-Nakat"6mi Yamaha. They were happy to leave town with third, as their highly modified hot Honda needed unscheduled repairs three times. "We had trouble with the bike," was all that Ito wanted to say about lthe race. the fuel tank was replaced in one stop, and one Japanese jour- nalist asked Ito if there were problems with the Bridgestone tires. "You can call it a tire trouble, but I don't want to go into details," said fto. Reading between the words, that probably translates to: "Yes, and j'm too upset to talk about it." Just missing the podium were fourth-place finishers Jason Pridmore, James Ellison and Jimmy Lindstrom of Whirley Phase One. They were the highest finishers of the five regular World Endurance series competitors who entered the race and picked up 20 valuable championship points to cut their deficit to championship leader Zongshen 1 from 34 to 14 with two rounds remaining. ;::.-~-~ "I wanted to finis top fifteen, said Pridmore. "On a Super Productio bike that's aII the more you can as for. So to finish ourth is big thing. know there was a lot of aU ition, but we kept our noses clean." World Endurance championshi leaders Zongshen 1 dropped out wheri the frame of their Suzuki