Suzuka 8 Hours Tyre Manufacturers’ Testing
Yamaha Factory Racing Team Finishes with Fastest Times

The Yamaha Factory Racing Team took part in a final two-day official testing session at Suzuka Circuit for the Suzuka 8 Hours to be held from July 23. After the first day of testing in fair weather, the dry conditions continued on day two for the 1.5-hour sessions in the morning and the afternoon, enabling the Yamaha teams to complete all of their scheduled testing successfully and head toward the upcoming 8 Hours race with confidence.

Throughout the two days of testing, Katsuyuki Nakasuga was evaluating things like tyre selection and fuel consumption, while his teammates Pol Espargaró and Bradley Smith concentrated mainly on verifying tyre performance and getting more familiar with the Suzuka course riding on the same machine. On the final day, they also rode the machine that Nakasuga had set up and had the opportunity to discuss set-up direction and work toward the settings they wanted.

During the two days of testing, all three teammates agreed that getting the machine to a point where all three of them could ride fast on it was the important thing, but they also found that there was not considerable difference in the directions each sought in the set-up. They eventually found a set-up they could be satisfied with and this gave them newfound confidence for the upcoming race. As proof of the good feeling they got, the team managed to record the fastest lap times on both days, with a 2’07.995 on the first day and 2’08.167 on the second. Their confidence was thus backed up by solid results.

During this session, the team also worked on simulating pit stops to polish their teamwork. In particular, this was the first time for Espargaró and Smith to be involved in pit work, but with the support of the team staff, who all have considerable experience in the Suzuka 8 Hours, they were soon performing their roles smoothly, demonstrating that they were reaching a high level of preparation as a team in areas other than riding.

As for the GMT94 YAMAHA team presently competing in the Endurance World Championship, this would be their first time working with the new YZF-R1 on Dunlop tyres, so they spent much of the two days working on improving machine settings. At the same time, this would be the first experience of using this new package on the Suzuka Circuit, so they focused on getting used to the feeling on the track and conducted a considerable amount setting changes by trial-and-error. As for their lap times, on both days they were in the 2’10 range, and like the regular and successful Endurance World Championship competitors they are, they made solid progress in overall team performance during the days of testing.