by claiming the runner-up spot,
only for Gregg Black to crash
nearing the seven-hour mark.
Having led early on, Black's
Suzuki-powered team respond
-
ed to late-race rain by switching
the UK-born French rider onto
wet weather tires.
Returning to the track for what
would have been a double stint
in the hot and humid conditions,
Black slid off at the 'S' Curves
and the team lost eight minutes
in the pits while repairs were
made. Sylvain Guintoli complet
-
ed the race for the team in P12.
Yoshimura SERT Motul's mis-
fortunate let in TOHO Racing for
second onboard its Honda after
it had clocked the third-fastest
time in Saturday afternoon's Top
10 Trial.
AutoRace Ube Racing Team
relied on two riders—Britain's
Dan Linfoot and Japan's Takuya
Tsuda—following an injury
to Hafizh Syahrin in pre-race
testing to finish fifth behind
F.C.C. TSR Honda France, which
dropped out of contention with
a sensor issue that contributed
to a fall for Mike Di Meglio in the
opening hour.
The BMW Motorrrad World
Endurance Team scored some
decent EWC points in seventh,
one place behind Honda Dream
RT Sakurai Honda. Honda Asia-
Dream Racing with Showa fin
-
ished eighth followed by S-Pulse
Dream Racing-ITEC and Astemo
Honda Racing Dream SI Racing,
which completed the provisional
top 10.
Team Kawasaki Webike
Trickstar finished 13th after it
was delayed by two unsched-
uled pitstops. Honda Viltais
Racing came home 14th as
Motobox Kremer Racing equaled
its previous best finish of 25th.
KM99 was delayed by more than
20 minutes, however, when its
Yamaha ran out of fuel.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France now
leads the series by 14 points
over YART, which finished 23rd
following electrical gremlins on
the Yamaha YZF-R1. The FIM
Endurance World Championship
now heads to the Circuit Paul
Ricard finale from September
14-17.
CN
(Right) Karel Hannika is shattered
after pushing his R1 halfway around
the track in sweltering conditions to
get it back to the pits. (Bottom) F.C.C.
TSR Honda (1) retook the EWC points
lead with fourth place at Suzuka.
VOLUME ISSUE AUGUST , P41