YART Completes 2 Day Official Test with Time in 2:06s
On July 5-6, the official test for the 43rd Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Road Race, which is Round 3 of the 2022 FIM Endurance World Championship season, was held. The Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team (hereinafter referred to as "YART") traveled to Japan for the test.
With Typhoon Aere cutting across Okinawa and approaching the Japanese mainland in the leadup to the test, it was assumed that conditions would be severe. Luckily the typhoon turned into a tropical storm midway through, and did not have as much of an effect as expected. The first session on the morning of the 5th was wet, but the track dried out and the afternoon and night sessions were held in the dry.
This was the first visit for the YART team to Suzuka Circuit since 2019. Riders Marvin Fritz and Niccolò Canepa had not visited in three years, and for teammate Karel Hanika it had been four years. As the first session was wet, the first 45-minutes were spent focusing on re-adapting to the track. After running 31 laps with both bikes, the team set a best lap of 2:22.578 to take 4th fastest behind the Honda and Kawasaki factory machines.
Once conditions had dried out in the afternoon, the team switched to slicks and upped their pace. The focus was on tire selection and adjustments to electronics for the race. As they worked on the testing menu, the three riders continued to re-acclimate to the track, and by the end of the second session had completed 38 laps with a best time of 2:08.376. They did 40 laps in the third session setting a 2:7.533, and in the final night session completed 30 laps with a quickest time of 2:07.341. Their solid lap times were a clear indication that the test was progressing well. Overall, the team's fastest time on Day 1 was a 2:07.341.
Despite intermittent light rain on Day 2, the track remained dry so that the team could get through the testing items for the day. As the bike setup improved, the lap times did as well. In the first session of Day 2, Fritz got extremely close to a time in the 2:06s with a 2:07.077, and in the day's final session he did break into the 06s with a team best 2:06.662. Hanika accomplished the same feat with a 2:06.800, while Canepa got held up in traffic and could not join his teammates in the 06s, but with a time in the low 07s set earlier, he was certainly on the pace.
The YART squad also did long-run simulations and were able to lap consistently in the 2:07-10 range, showing that they were on par with rival teams. The team plans to analyze the data gathered to further improve the electronics setup, with the goal of arriving at the main event with an even faster pace.
Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team: 2:06.668
Marvin Fritz
"I'm very satisfied with this test. Niccolo said it too, but we didn't think we'd be fast like this right away. The whole team did a fantastic job and my teammates helped me a lot. Our lap times show our hard work. Our race pace is really good and the factory teams are fast too, but they have already been here many times for testing and have huge team structures, while we have only been here two days and already set these kinds of lap times. I think we can go even faster once come back here for the race. We have a few weeks off before the race, so I want to prepare myself physically, for the heat and everything. We still have some stuff to improve with the bike, and I think the engineers have some ideas for that, so we should be able to go even faster in the race. The Suzuka 8 Hours will be an amazing event and an amazing show. We're all happy to have this race on the calendar again, and I think after 3 years the fans are waiting to come back. I think the competition at the front will be very tight, so I hope everyone enjoys it."
Karel Hanika
"First of all it was good for me to ride Suzuka again because it has been 4 years since I was last here. I needed to get used to the track again, and it was my first time to ride the YZF-R1 here, so I also had to get used to a different riding style. In the test we concentrated on tire selection and bike setup and it was very positive, I think. We need to improve the electronics a little bit because the stint here is one hour and we have to find a way to save the rear tire in the heat here. Other than that though, I think we're ready, but that part is very challenging. I would like to invite all of the fans to come to this race, because we will for sure need their support. For us riders the fan support is so important. We'll take that support and fight with the factory teams to achieve our goal."
Niccolò Canepa
"Before coming here we didn't expect that we could be so fast, so it was a great test. Unfortunately I could not make a 2:06 because I found some traffic on the last lap. I did the first two sectors the fastest, so it was possible to be in the mid 2:06s. But my race simulation was really good, and was the best in the team so far. We still have some things we can improve. We need to work especially on tire life, because after a few laps the tire pressure goes up. But we already know how to improve this, and this will allow us to be faster in the second part of the stint. I'm looking forward to seeing all the fans in the grandstands cheering for Yamaha once again!"
Mandy Kainz
"In reality we didn't have any problems. The riders did well, the tires worked perfect. So really the test was perfect! We were just surprised with the result. We expected the other teams to go much quicker, but maybe they're saving it for the race weekend. Compared to the factory teams with big team structures, we brought only five staff members here for this test. And of course, we received a lot of support from Yamaha Motor here, so I'm grateful for that. To be honest we only need to swap the engines out for the race weekend, because we already have a really good package. We hope that nobody will get sick, injured or catch COVID before the race. That's all, to be honest. I think we have done our job here to the maximum, so all we have to do is wait for the race. I know some fans will be sad that there is no Yamaha factory team this year. But, YART is here! So please come. We will do our best to replace the factory team, and we will make some action!"
