WIND
IN THE
P42
van der Mark, who started
fourth, encountered disaster
midrace when a loose footpeg
triggered a crash. Though the
team rejoined the race, the inci
-
dent derailed any podium ambi-
tions, and they would eventually
finish fifth, three laps adrift.
A pivotal moment came in the
final stretch, when the number
55 National Motos Honda trig-
gered a safety-car period fol-
lowing an off-track excursion.
With the field bunched back up,
Yamaha threatened to challenge
for the lead, but the Honda duo
used traffic and their tire strat-
egy to extend their advantage,
growing a two-second gap into
five within a few laps.
After eight hours and 217 laps,
the number 30 Honda crossed
the finish line with a 34.243-sec
-
ond cushion over Yamaha's
factory entry. Third place went
to Yoshimura SERT Motul,
whose effort was high
-
lighted by a gritty recovery
after Dan Linfoot crashed
early in the race. The team
climbed through the field to se-
cure the final podium spot.
"[We had] good pace; it's al-
ways a good race when you can
control a gap," Zarco said on the
television broadcast after the
race. "But just doing it [with two
riders], it's difficult because it's
too hot, you sweat a lot, and the
recovery time is too short. It's
tough sometimes when you go
back on the bike, but at the end,
the pace was quite good. We
got two safety cars. That always
changed, a bit, the game, but we
could keep an advantage.
"Thanks to Takumi, because
he's always doing the job, every
stint, and that's so impressive.
And then I try to do the same, and
I hope next year we will be three,
because we'll be better."
CN
OVERALL (Top 10)
1. Honda HRC (Hon) 08:00:26.580
2. Yamaha Racing Team (Yam)
+34.243
3. Yoshimura Sert Motul (Suz) +1 lap
4. SDG Team HARC-Pro (Hon) +1 lap
5. BMW Motorrad World Endurance
Team (BMW) +2 laps
6. AutoRace Ube Racing Team (BMW)
+3 laps
7. TeamATJ with Docomo Business
(Hon) +3 laps
8. Kawasaki Webike Trickstar (Kaw)
+4 laps
9. Elf Marc VDS Racing Team /
KM99 (Yam) +4 laps
10. Honda Asia-Dream Racing
with Astemo (Hon) +4 laps
(Above) The green flag waves. Ahead lay eight
grueling hours on one of the best racing circuits on
the planet. (Right) MotoAmerica King of The Baggers
star Loris Baz shows the kind of exhaustion the riders
endure as he hands over his BMW during a pit stop.
