YART Suffers Issue Before Recovering from 43rd to Finish 23rd

In the timed qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday, Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team riders Niccolò Canepa, Marvin Fritz and Karel Hanika all set similarly fast times in the 2'05 range. In the Top 10 Trial that followed, Hanika clocked a team best 2'05.519, earning YART second position for the race start.

The strong form the team showed carried over into the start of the race, where Canepa had a smooth, quick launch. Ahead of him the Yoshimura SERT Motul team's Gregg Black got the holeshot, but Canepa was able to close the gap to him through the second lap. Then, on lap 3, Canepa made a pass on Black at the chicane to take over the lead. YART then continued to lead laps ahead of Team HRC with Japan Post's Takumi Takahashi, Black, F.C.C. TSR Honda France's Mike Di Meglio, and TOHO Racing's Takuma Kunimine.

Takahashi came past Canepa on the main straight on Lap 7, but Canepa retook the top spot on Lap 9. From that point on, Canepa and Takahashi were locked in a duel for the lead as they both pulled away from the trailing pack, before both returned to switch riders and end their stints. Then, just after 1:00 p.m., Hanika took over the YZF-R1 from Canepa and headed out on track. Following that however, Hanika suffered a machine issue on the back straight with his machine coming to a stop.

Hanika pulled the bike off track and started to push it toward the team garage with the help of a track marshal before finally making it back at 1:57 p.m. The team worked to find the cause of the issue, and were successful in getting the R1 repaired and ready to ride again by 2:03 p.m. Following Hanika was Marvin Fritz, who began YART's attempt at recovery from 43rd position.

Although there was another brief issue where a side fairing came loose and the Fritz had to return to repair it, all three riders lapped at a consistently fast pace and steadily made up positions.

The safety car came out after a crash on the back straight between 4:33 and 4:48 p.m. Then, rain fell around 6:00 p.m. and 10 minutes later the home straight was also hit by heavy rain. The rain soon let up however, and as a result, the teams that had stayed out on slick tires had the advantage as some of the teams that had switched to rain tires crashed or lost time.

After handling all of the disturbances well, YART had recovered to 28th position after riding an additional hour. Hanika, who was tasked with riding final stint, recovered even further to 23rd, where he took the checkered flag. In the end, YART finished the race in 23rd overall, and 19th in their class (excluding the NSTK finishers).

The IRF with AZURLANE team's starting rider Yoshiaki Endo, making his first appearance in the Suzuka 8 Hours, dropped three positions from his starting position to 44th on the first lap. From there, he started to recover places and made it into 31st before handing the YZF-R1 over to teammate Kento Kawana.

Kawana returned to the track in 37th then recovered to 31st before switching with teammate and veteran rider Motoaki Sawamura, who returned to the track in 34th and started setting the team's fastest laps in the 2'16s before finishing his stint and handing over the machine to Endo in 31st.

Endo kept the team in 30th and 31st position, but during Kawana's second stint, he had a machine issue just after 4:00 p.m. Though he avoided crashing, he ran off the track and had to make an emergency pit stop. The team worked hard to repair the damage, and he was able to return to the track around 4:50 p.m.

The team persevered to finish the race, with Sawamura and Endo riding stints before passing the R1 to Kawana for the final stint, where he took the checkers in 41st place overall.

The NCXX RACING with RIDERS CLUB team--managed by Tetsuya Harada--won the NSTK (National Stock) class, and was top Yamaha finisher in 15th place.

Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team, Final Result: 23rd (203 Laps)

Karel Hanika

"My first stint was in the 2'08-9 range, not fast, but I think we felt comfortable in second position. Then, when I had the bike issue I felt disappointed to lose out on the podium. Unfortunately, at the furthest Spoon Corner, the bike switched off and I couldn't restart it. I was hoping I could stop at the top of the back straight but I ended up at the bottom of the hill, which was the worst place. It was at the end of my stint so I was already very tired and hot, which made it harder to push. But I did make it back, and then I talked to the team and we decided to finish the race. Of course it was hard to stay motivated when we were past 40th place, but all the guys in the team and Mandy told us not to give up, and that gave me a lot of strength. At first we'd decided to take it easy to avoid any risks, but once we got out on the track, we all wanted to go faster, and we were able to push hard and in the end we got two points. I have to say that these were the hardest points of my life. Anyway, I'm so proud of my team and my teammates. For the fans, it was a disappointing result. Still, I hope they could enjoy what we showed in the Top 10 Trial and at the start of the race with Niccolò's first stint. I have to say thank you for coming to Suzuka and supporting us. Our goal now is to win the EWC title, so we'll do 100% at the Bol d'Or to achieve this."

Marvin Fritz

"The bike started great, Niccolò did an amazing first stint, and he stayed a long time with HRC and showed our potential. We were in front of F.C.C. and SERT made a mistake, so everything was going great for the championship. Bu then we had a problem with the bike... I couldn't believe it. But the team did an amazing job and repaired the bike in just a few minutes. When we restarted, we were 15 laps down, but YART's pit work was fast and the riders did their best to recover. We were able to show the level of our team, but we were just unlucky. In the end we got two points and the Bol d'Or has a lot of points on offer, so I'm not worried. We will be super strong again, and we will try for sure. Last year was a bit disappointing for the fans because of COVID, but this year we had so many fans come to see us and it was so great to meet them. Japan is special and I'm looking very forward to coming back next year."

Niccolò Canepa

I really enjoyed the first stint and the start, we showed that we are there and that we can fight with the top teams. But the race did not go as planned. We had a problem and it was very unlucky. Karel stopped in the worst possible place. It was a coincidence and bad luck. But my teammates did a great job and we were able to catch up and get some points. To all the Japanese fans, thank you for your support. I saw many blue shirts in the stands during the race and walking around the track. I saw some shirts with my name written on it, and for me it was so special to see this. Next year we'll aim for the podium again and we won't give up. For the EWC title, the championship is not over until its over. We love the Bol d'Or and it suits R1 just like Suzuka does, so we'll give it our all like we always do."

Mandy Kainz

"I'm very disappointed. As I've said many times, the only thing that can stop YART is bad luck, and unfortunately that's exactly what happened to us, even though the riders and the team did a fantastic job. Even after our issue, we were able to close the gap to the leaders, but getting on the podium this year was impossible. In the end, we decided to finish out the race for the fans. What happened was that we had a faulty main switch, and then unluckily Karel stopped where he had to push the bike uphill and we lost about 25 minutes. Suzuka is very challenging every time. So, we'll have to save our podium finish for next year's Suzuka 8 Hours. To the fans, I think we showed you today what our motto always is: Never Give Up."

Final Results

Pos.	No.	Team	Machine	Laps
1	33	Team HRC with Japan Post	Honda	216
2	73	SDG Honda Racing	Honda	213
3	1	F.C.C. TSR Honda France	Honda	213
4	76	AutoRace Ube Racing Team	Suzuki	213
5	71	Honda Dream RT SAKURAI HONDA	Honda	213
6	37	BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM	BMW	212
7	88	Honda Asia-Dream Racing with SHOWA	Honda	212
8	95	S-PULSE DREAM RACING -ITEC	Suzuki	212
9	17	Astemo Honda Dream SI Racing	Honda	211
10	40	Team ATJ	Honda	211
14	86	NCXX RACING with RIDERS CLUB	Yamaha	209
21	50	TEAM KODAMA	Yamaha	204
22	7	YART Yamaha Official EWC TEAM	Yamaha	203
24	65	Motobox Kremer Racing #65	Yamaha	202
25	13	Taira Promote Racing	Yamaha	201
27	99	KM 99	Yamaha	200
35	55	NICHIRIN RACING NOIZ	Yamaha	194
40	41	IRF with AZURLANE	Yamaha	185
41	411	Team MATSUNAGA KDC & YSP NAGOYA KITA	Yamaha	184
43	74	AKENO SPEED	Yamaha	169