YART Finishes First Free Practice in 2nd Overall with 2:06.408

The 43rd "Coca-Cola" Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race weekend has officially gotten underway, with the first free practice session now complete. Cloudy skies kept the temperatures relatively low during the two-hour session, but intermittent rain and several stoppages due to red flags made it challenging.

First on track for the Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team was Marvin Fritz (wearing the blue armband for the team), who rode to a best lap of 2:07.558 and kept a constant pace in the 2:07 to 2:08 range. His average pace over 14 laps makes it clear that he is riding in fine form at the moment.

Next up for the team was Niccolò Canepa (wearing the yellow armband), who completed 15 laps, first with a 2:10 and then consistently in the 2:08s. With a new tire on the YZF-R1 at the end of his run he did a time attack, setting a 2:06.912 first, and following it up with a 2:06.408 to let the competition know that YART is both fast and consistent around Suzuka Circuit.

At this year's 8 Hours, Karel Hanika (wearing the red armband) is making his return to Suzuka after four-year absence, but this has not stopped him from being fast right away. His average pace in the 2:07s was faster than his teammates', and when he put on a new tire near the end of his run he set a fastest time of 2:06.959. For the entire two-hour session, the fastest overall time was set by Team HRC at 2:05.823, with YART .585 behind in 2nd overall.

8H Free Practice

Pos.	No.	Team	Machine	Time
1	33	Team HRC	Honda	2'05.823
2	7	YART-YAMAHA OFFICIAL TEAM EWC	Yamaha	2'06.408
3	73	SDG Honda Racing	Honda	2'06.838
4	10	Kawasaki Racing Team Suzuka 8H	Kawasaki	2'07.100
5	1	Yoshimura SERT Motul	Suzuki	2'07.137
6	5	F.C.C. TSR Honda France	Honda	2'07.414
7	17	Astemo Honda Dream SI Racing	Honda	2'07.851
8	72	Honda Dream RT SAKURAI HONDA	Honda	2'07.912
9	37	BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM	BMW	2'08.050
10	9	Murayama.Honda Dream.RT	Honda	2'08.130
41	41	IRF with AZURLANE	Yamaha	2'14.891