Official Qualifying 2: Locatelli Puts YFRT into 5th with Time in 2'04s, YART Provisionally 4th

The second official qualifying sessions of the day began with air temperatures of nearly 30°C and track temperatures around 50°C. Yamaha Factory Racing Team rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga, who was wearing the blue armband for the team, kicked things off with his first run. On his opening lap he clocked what would become his fastest lap of the session with a 2'06.256, placing him 14th.

YART's Karel Hanika set a 2'05.565 on his first outing, coming close to his fastest time from the previous session. On his second attempt, he shaved off even more time, ending with a 2'05.189 to move into 4th. However, he dropped one spot after a rival set a faster time, ultimately closing out the session in 5th; 0.101 behind the leaders.

Following Nakasuga's run, the Yamaha Factory Racing Team was provisionally in 6th overall. With that, Miller rode the R1 out of the pits for the final session to temporarily move up to 2nd with a time of 2'05.687. He then attempted another run, slightly improving his time to 2:05.616 to be 5th, but was unable to match his first run's time of 2'05.422.

Fritz, who missed out on setting a time in the first official qualifying session due to mechanical issues, clocked a 2'06.834 on his first run. However, he further improved his time to a 2'05.578, and--as if to shake off his earlier frustration--improved even more, reaching 2nd in the session with a 2'05.150, and at the same time significantly lowering his average lap time.

For the final session of the day, Andrea Locatelli, who normally rides a YZF-R1 in WorldSBK, showed his determination to finish out strong. On his first lap, he broke into the 2'04s with a 2'04.971--his fastest time of the day--to take the lead. Two riders subsequently surpassed his time before the session ended. Although he finished the session in 3rd, his time secured a provisional 5th place overall, qualifying the team for tomorrow's Top 10 Trial.

Leandro Mercado, who took on the final session for YART, rode to a 2'05.698, bettering his previous best of 2'05.945 to be 5th in the session. After a temporary interruption by a red flag, Mercado went on to set a new personal best of 2:05.634 and move up to 6th. This improved the team's average lap time, putting YART in provisional 4th overall.

Today, the top-placed Yamaha team was the "Elf Marc VDS Racing Team/KM99,"--who are regular competitors in the Endurance World Championship--in 3rd overall. As a result, there will be three teams riding YZF-R1s competing in the Top 10 Trial scheduled for Saturday, July 4, from 2:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. local time.

2nd Qualifying Rider Blue

Pos.	No.	Team	Machine	Time
1	30	Honda HRC	Honda	2:05.088
2	76	AutoRace Ube Racing Team	BMW	2:05.119
3	17	Astemo Pro Honda SI Racing	Honda	2:05.147
4	37	BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM	BMW	2:05.161
5	1	YART Yamaha Official EWC Team	Yamaha	2:05.189
6	12	Yoshimura SERT Motul	Suzuki	2:05.248
7	99	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team/KM99	Yamaha	2:05.523
8	11	KWT Kaedear	Kawasaki	2:05.711
9	40	Team ATJ with NTT docomo Business	Honda	2:05.800
10	73	SDG Team HARC-PRO. Honda	Honda	2:05.944
14	21	YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM	Yamaha	2:06.256

2nd Qualifying Rider Yellow

Pos.	No.	Team	Machine	Time
1	30	Honda HRC	Honda	2:04.422
2	1	YART Yamaha Official EWC Team	Yamaha	2:05.150
3	99	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team/KM99	Yamaha	2:05.208
4	5	F.C.C. TSR Honda France	Honda	2:05.310
5	21	YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM	Yamaha	2:05.616
6	37	BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM	BMW	2:05.724
7	71	Team SAKURAI HONDA	Honda	2:05.980
8	76	AutoRace Ube Racing Team	BMW	2:06.076
9	0	Team SUZUKI CN CHALLENGE	Suzuki	2:06.209
10	11	KWT Kaedear	Kawasaki	2:06.303

2nd Qualifying Rider Red

Pos.	No.	Team	Machine	Time
1	37	BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM	BMW	2:04.485
2	99	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team/KM99	Yamaha	2:04.712
3	21	YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM	Yamaha	2:04.971
4	30	Honda HRC	Honda	2:05.465
5	12	Yoshimura SERT Motu	Suzuki	2:05.524
6	1	YART Yamaha Official EWC Team	Yamaha	2:05.634
7	73	SDG Team HARC-PRO. Honda	Honda	2:05.759
8	71	Team SAKURAI HONDA	Honda	2:05.805
9	5	F.C.C. TSR Honda France	Honda	2:05.828
10	0	Team SUZUKI CN CHALLENGE	Suzuki	2:05.979