Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

At SS years of age, Hasaru Hizutani was the oldest rider in this year's 8 Hours, but he was far from being the slowest. A former SOOcc road racing champion in Japan, the Suzuki rider qualified 37th out of 80 teams. During his racing years, Mizutani was sponsored by Walter Wolf, and his GSX-RI 000 Superbike he raced at the 8 Hours featured Walter Wolf livery and a sticker commemorating the 20th anniversary of Suzuki's iconic RG500 GP replica street bike. Mizutani's pit crew featured some aging Japanese Suzuki mechanics that once worked with Barry Sheene, Randy Mamola and other Suzuki GP greats. "Maybe I can help bring back the 8 Hours fans from the 1980s," Mizutani said through an interpreter. The Suzuka Circuit remains homologated at FIM grade B, meaning that it can host World Championship Superbike, endurance and sidecar races but not a MotoGP race. According to Razso Bulcsu, the FIM jury president for the 200S Suzuka 8 Hours, the issues that remain with obtaining a grade-A homologation are the demands of the MotoGP riders versus the ability of Suzuka Circuit to comply. "One thing is sure: There is a safety commission inside of the [MotoGP] riders, and the riders are not happy with the present conditions with this circuit. I hope they will find a good solution and make a grade-A homologation in the future and the Grand Prix can come back. It is a traditional and very nice circuit. I think it is very important for everyone, but we have to accept the requirements from the riders on safety issues," Bulcsu said. Yamaha Phase One Endurance from the UK. Rider Paul Young had a big fall in morning warmup and another one during the race. "It was a big fall in morning practice," team manager Russell Benney said. "We broke the frame in the front and we had to plate it with a drill and tap. That was a big job to do, and that took us an hour and five minutes. But we missed the warmup lap, so the first job we had in the race was a stop-and-go penalty for our pre-race repair. The 30-second stop-and-go put us behind a bit. Then we had a fall mid race as well. The rider was fine and remounted, but it took us about three laps to fix it footrests and levers and that sort of stuff. Nothing big, but we lost whatever momentum we had at that point. We could never make that back, really, so our race fizzled from that point." Phase One sits third in the World Endurance championship at 37 points with two rounds remaining. Yoshimura Suzuki finished the race 10th overall. Kagayama had battled back to third during the hazardous conditions, but teammate Watanabe fell on the second lap of his wet session, which dropped the team to 18th place. "He wanted to win, he did not want a podium," Kagayama said for the non-English speaking Watanabe. "This is racing." For the second year in succession, the sole Yamaha factory entry finished out of the top 10. Shinichi Nakatomi and Wataru Yoshikawa were up to third before the rain arrived but finished their race in 12th with an incomplete comeback. "I feel very sorry and regretful that my fall cost us a good result," Nakatomi said through a press release. "I slipped on a place that was like a river from the rain on the track. I feel very sorry to our fans that I could not meet their expectations. Now I will seek payback in the second half of the All-Japan Superbike Championship." Yoshikawa thinks the team is simply jinxed. "I feel in the very last test before the Suzuka 8 Hours, when I think about it, that was the beginning of our bad luck," he said. '~fter the fall, I had a bad feeling that there was something wrong with the machine. For unknown reasons, this situation continues." Thus, it was yet again another day of dominance by Honda, and Michelin, and maybe by the final ride from the 32-year-old Ukawa. "It's nice to have the record for the most wins in the 8 Hours, but records are made to be broken," Ukawa said. I don't know if I will be able to extend the record, I'm too old now. But I know I don't want to be called 'Mr. 8 Hours,' because it sounds like I could only win the 8 Hours and not any other race." Actually, it sounds like Ukawa regrets the lack of competition he had in his 10 Suzuka 8 Hours races, as do many of the fans. eN SUZUKA CIRCUIT SUZUKA, JAPAN RESULTS: JULY 31, 2005 (ROUND 3) Coca~Cola Suzuka 8 Hours: I. Ryuichi KyonarVTohru Ukawa (Hen), 204 laps: 2. Katsuaki Fujiwara/Chris Vermeulen (Hon). 20 I laps; 3. Haruchika AokiITakeshi Yasuda (Han), 200 laps: 4. Osamu DeguchVYusuke Teshima (Hon), 199 laps; 5. Tatsuya YamaguchilKazuki Tokudome (Hon), 198 laps; 6. Yoshiyuki Sugai/Joshua Brookes (Han), 197 laps; 7. Keiichi Kitagawa/Vincent Philippe/Matthieu Lagrive (SUI), 196 laps: 8. Hiroake Kawase/Akira Tamitsuji (Han), 195 laps; 9. Gwen Giabbanillgor Jerman (yam), 194 laps; 10. Atushi Watanabe!Yukio Kagayama (Suz). 193 laps. The previous two Suzuka B Hours had track regulations that restricted tires to 10 sets for qualifying and the race. As tearns normally need eight sets for the race, they were left with only two sets for all of Friday qualifying. The rule was universally branded as stupid by the riders, and thankfully it was changed for 200S to limit tires to four sets on Friday qualifying and no restrictions in the race. "This is an FIM World Championship event. In the World Championship, there are no restrictions on the number of the tires. That's why it is open again," Bulcsu explained. "Friday is a qualifying day, but for the race, it is very important to be able to use tires. The FIM has taken care of this limit on the number of the tires." Meetings between the MotoGP riders and FIM representatives to discuss safety Issues with laguna Seca were scheduled for the German Grand Prix event, held the same weekend as the 8 Hours. "You know, in the United States, the mentality about safety is not the same as Europe and some other parts of the world," Bulcsu said. "The problem with Laguna Seca is that it is also a very old circuit. They've rebuilt it lots of times. The FIM had requirements for the World Superbike Championship, and it was modified again for the MotoGP. It's like Suzuka: It's impossible to make a new circuit. Some circuits are dangerous because, in general. motorcycle racing is dangerous. But okay, we must do everything for the safety issue." Other than the outcries about safety from GP riders new to Laguna Seca, Bulcsu thought the U.S. GP was a success. "Compared to the Formula One race in the United States, I think the MotoGP race was a success. The organization of the event was very good. The only issue was the safety." Total prize money available at the Suzuka 8 Hours was nearly $400,000. First place in the race was approximately $90,000, with approximately $18,000 and $9000 for second and third, respectively. First place in the Special Stage paid $9000, plus another $1800 for qualifying for the Special Stage. The highest top speed recorded during the 8 Hours race was from the Moto Map Supply-sponsored Suzuki GSXRI000 at 17S.S mph. Shinichi Ito's FCC Technical Sports Honda CBRIOOORR recorded 173.3 mph; the Ukawa/Kiyonari Honda CBR I OOORRW, the Yoshimura Suzuki and the second FCC Technical Sports Honda recorded 172.2 mph. Team Challenger YZF-RI was the fastest Yamaha at 170.0 mph. CYCLE NEWS • AUGUST 17,2005 39

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