YRT and YART Qualify 3rd and 5th, Advance to TOP 10 Trial

The Yamaha Racing Team (YRT) is attracting attention with its powerful lineup of a MotoGP rider, a WorldSBK rider, and a multi-time All Japan JSB1000 champion. They captivated fans with their aggressive riding in the qualifying sessions on Friday.

The first qualifying session began at noon, and kicked off with a run by Katsuyuki Nakasuga, who wore the blue armband for the team. As soon as the session got underway, a fierce struggle to set the fastest lap ensued. While riding with preparation for the race in mind, Nakasuga marked a time of 2'05.893 in his first lap early in the session, securing the 2nd fastest time.

MotoGP rider Jack Miller wore the yellow armband for YRT. While exploring the limits of the YZF-R1, he finished fourth fastest having set a time of 2'06.276. "There are still some areas I haven't fully gotten used to yet, but riding the R1 at Suzuka is really fun," he commented.

Rider Red was Andrea Locatelli, who normally competes in WorldSBK. Although he is used to riding the YZF-R1, this is his first time racing at Suzuka Circuit with other bikes on track. He finished second fastest in his session with a lap time of 2'06.110.

The second qualifying session started at 3:30 p.m. In it, Nakasuga, Rider Blue, was focused on fine-tuning the bike's settings. He finished 11th with a 2'07.154. Miller, with the yellow armband, clocked the third fastest time with 2'05.816, but crashed immediately after in Turn 1. He was uninjured and came back to the pits with a smile saying, "I pushed a little too hard."

Rider Red Locatelli showed off his mastery of the YZF-R1, recording a fast 2'05.262, which was the fastest time in the red armbands' second session.

The official qualifying order is determined by the average times of each team's two fastest riders. Overall YRT is in 3rd for the day. They will aim to jump further up the order in tomorrow's Top 10 Trial.

In the night session starting at 6:30 p.m., YRT was second with a fastest time of 2'06.638. The factory team's preparations for the race are progressing smoothly.

The YART team once again focused on race pace during the morning Free Practice session but faced challenges completing long runs due to multiple red flags. They concluded the session in 10th place in the EWC class with a best time of 2'07.034.

Karel Hanika kicked off proceedings for YART, setting a 2'06.366 for fifth place in the EWC class in the blue rider group. He followed it up with a 2'06.001 in an even hotter second session, securing third place.

Marvin Fritz was up next in the yellow armband group. He clocked a 2'06.678 in the first session for eighth place in the EWC category. In the afternoon, the YART leader showcased his experience - he set a 2'05.925 that briefly placed YART in provisional pole until YRT's Jack Miller improved on it by 0.109 seconds before crashing, triggering a red flag. A second red flag after that brought Fritz's second qualifying session to a close. He finished it in fourth place.

O'Halloran was the final YART rider to take center stage as part of the red EWC group. He posted a 2'07.201 in Session 1 and a 2'06.339 in Session 2. The lap times earned him fifth and sixth place respectively in the qualifying sessions.

YART's top times - Marvin Fritz (Session 2: 2'05.925) and Hanika (Session 2: 2'06.001) - secured fifth place overall with a 2'05.963 average best lap. This puts them onto the Top 10 Trial entry list for Saturday alongside YRT.

In the evening, the YART team had a brief opportunity to return to the track during the night session, where they set a 2'06.845 for third place.

Tomorrow, the two red and white Yamaha teams will be back in action for the Saturday Free Practice session from 14:15-15:00, followed by the Top 10 Trial from 15:30-17:00.

YAMAHA RACING TEAM

Katsuyuki Nakasuga

"To be honest, the second qualifying session didn't go as well as I had hoped. I wasn't able to put everything together how I wanted to. But, I did set a good time in the first session, even while I was trying out some things. Jack and Loka are both setting good lap times every time they go out. Our average time is steadily getting better, so I think we're ready for the race. Our rivals are fast for sure, but today and tomorrow are just qualifying sessions. All that matters is if we're up front at 7:30 PM on Sunday. If we stay calm and do what we need to do, I believe the results will follow."

Jack Miller

"I pushed a little too hard. I bottomed out and crashed in Turn 1. Maybe the front was too soft for my riding style. But I'm satisfied with the attack lap I did just before that. I made a mistake in the final sector, but I still managed to set a decent time. It's a shame that everything wasn't perfect, but I think I can do better tomorrow. Switching from the YZR-M1 I usually ride in MotoGP over to the 8 Hours spec YZF-R1, I had to adjust a lot. In endurance racing you have to adjust the bike's setup to suit all three riders. But I'm enjoying the challenge! From tomorrow onward, I'm sure we'll be able to show how strong we are, together with my teammates!"

Andrea Locatelli

"With so many bikes on the track, it was hard to get a clear lap! Unfortunately, we didn't have so much opportunity to test, so I haven't been able to fully get used to the 8 Hours spec R1. Especially for me, this is my first time riding at Suzuka Circuit with other riders. Just before my second qualifying session, Miller had a crash, so I had to use the spare bike with a slightly different feel. Despite all the challenges in qualifying, I'm really happy the team managed to set a good time. Overall, I think we're doing a great job. We are going against some strong teams, but if we can maintain our pace, we can reach the podium and even the win. For tomorrow's Top 10 Trial, of course I want to ride in it, but that's not something I can decide on my own (laughs). What we know is that whoever does ride it, we'll be able to get a great result!"

Team Manager Wataru Yoshikawa

"Everything is going smoothly for the most part. The riders are communicating more and giving advice to each other at a high level, so the atmosphere is getting better and better. Earlier Miller crashed in his second qualifying session. I guess when it comes to the race weekend, MotoGP riders' 'super-high' (too high?) potential comes out (laughs). He was riding beyond the limits of the machine. For us, because Miller is fine physically, there's absolutely no issue. This kind of thing is within our expectations. Locatelli, as expected of a specialist who's used to riding the YZF-R1 in WorldSBK, is adapting well to the 8 Hours-spec bike. Nakasuga, who was affected by a crash during the private test, is keeping himself in check, trying to make sure he's fit for the race. He's also helping with adjustments to the setup. As I said earlier, all three riders are communicating more closely than before, and their level is steadily improving. While our rivals' speed is noticeable this year, our main focus remains the race on Sunday. We're making solid progress with our preparations."

YAMALUBE YART YAMAHA EWC Official Team

Karel Hanika

「"It was a positive day, I would say. After Wednesday's test, we worked mainly on the race setting. Maybe we did struggle a little bit to find our one-lap performance again. We always had this going for us in the past, but this time, when we worked, it was all concentrated on the race pace. So, perhaps we are not so strong in qualifying as usual, but nevertheless we made good steps in terms of performance over one lap today. We improved in the second qualifying, and the lap time is decent. We are almost one second from what we managed to do last year, but I believe we can do another step in the Top 10 Trial, and we will be in the fight for the points, which is important."

Marvin Fritz

"Today it was important to be in the top 10 for tomorrow's top 10 trial. We got fifth place overall today, which is not where we want to be, but all in all we're happy because after Session 1 we wanted to tweak the set-up of the bike. So, we made some changes for Session 2, and it was better. For Session 2, everyone also had a new set - well, I had a new rear and the front from Karel. Overall, it was not bad. I only got one lap in because soon after there were two red flags again. But overall, we're happy."

Jason O'Halloran

"The first qualifying was quite good. I obviously used the tire of Karel and Marvin, so we knew the lap time was going to be a little bit off. But I had a really good feeling, and the first qualifying went well. For the second qualifying, I had the new tire, but I had become so used to riding with old tires that I didn't extract the best out of the new tire. It took me three or four laps to get the feeling. I pitted because I thought there was a red flag. The board was flashing red in Turn 1, so I pitted, but it wasn't a red flag, it was a red and yellow, I think. So, I went back out and did my best lap, but there were too many laps on the tire to go any faster. I tried again at the end, and I was a little bit up on my best time, but I ran off in the last chicane. Overall, I'm a little bit disappointed that I didn't put together a better lap, but I'm happy with how I'm riding."

Team Manager Mandy Kainz

"I think that qualifying was quite positive. We are happy with these lap times. We knew that our strengths this weekend would not be the one-lap action. We found quite a good set-up for the race pace, but it's not really a qualifying set-up. We only concentrated on the race pace during our testing and in all the free practices. So, qualifying didn't have the priority. Nevertheless, it's nice to still be in the top 5, so it's okay. Like for everyone here in Suzuka, the red flags play a part. The red flags killed one of our fast laps and our tire strategy, but this is the same for everyone. You just have to get lucky with your slot, and then all is good."

Overall Qualifying Ranking

Pos.	No.	Team	Machine	Avg. Best Lap
1	30	Honda HRC	Honda	02:05.187
2	76	AutoRace Ube Racing Team	BMW	02:05.346
3	21	YAMAHA RACING TEAM	Yamaha	02:05.539
4	1	YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL	Suzuki	02:05.674
5	7	YART - YAMAHA	Yamaha	02:05.963
6	17	Astemo Pro Honda SI Racing	Honda	02:06.066
7	3	SDG-DUCATI Team KAGAYAMA	Ducati	02:06.096
8	73	SDG Team HARC-PRO. Honda	Honda	02:06.411
9	37	BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM	BMW	02:06.485
10	40	TeamATJ with docomo Business	Honda	02:06.624
17	50	MARUMAE Team	Yamaha	02:07.398
18	99	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team / KM99	Yamaha	02:07.446
22	59	Team BabyFace Titanium Power	Yamaha	02:07.962
30	711	BAKUON!!RPT NAGANO & RT MATSUNAGA	Yamaha	02:08.470
33	52	NCXX RACING with RIDERS CLUB	Yamaha	02:09.316
40	56	AOSHIMA MEGU with HAMAGUCHI Racing	Yamaha	02:11.237
41	65	Motobox Kremer Racing #65	Yamaha	02:11.336
42	13	Taira Promote Racing	Yamaha	02:11.428
43	57	NICHIRIN RACING	Yamaha	02:12.055
48	15	IWATA RACING FAMILY	Yamaha	02:13.326
51	16	Team Etching Factory	Yamaha	02:14.621
53	411	Team Matsunaga KDC&YSP Nagoya kita	Yamaha	02:14.978
54	26	Verity OIL & fenice KT with KIRINJISHI	Yamaha	02:15.277