Suzuka 8H – Suzuka 8H 2017: victory for Yamaha Factory, the title for GMT94 – Used YAMAHA

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Suzuka 8H 2017: victory for Yamaha Factory, title for GMT94

Suzuka 8H - Suzuka 8H 2017: victory for Yamaha Factory, the title for GMT94 - Used YAMAHA

Yamaha signs a splendid hat-trick at the 8 hours of Suzuka 2017 with its official R1, while its famous French satellite team GMT94 crowns its third world crown on the occasion of this 40th edition of the Japanese endurance race. Full box for Iwata’s crest !

Dominators from the free practice of the Suzuka 2017 8H then during qualifying, Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark left their mark on this 40th edition on the YZF-R1 of the Yamaha Factory Racing Team. Homogeneous and fast, the crew fought for a long time with the Honda Musachi RT Harc-Pro, before a crash showered the hopes of the Honda n ° 634, finally 4th at the finish.

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Rid of its rival, the official Yamaha headed without further challenge to victory, its 3rd in a row at Suzuka. The Iwata factory structure becomes the second team with three consecutive successes on its land, after the Cabin Honda team between 2000 and 2002. In the process, Alex Lowes seizes the new lap record in the race in 2’06.932, which demonstrates the velocity of Yamaha n ° 21: the previous record, a second slower (2’07.943), dated 2012 !

Suzuka 8H - Suzuka 8H 2017: victory for Yamaha Factory, the title for GMT94 - Used YAMAHA

Yamaha won with 2min09 ahead of the Kawasaki Team Green ZX-10R, which stood out at the start by signing a splendid holeshot with Leon Haslam at the helm. The Honda FCC TSR completes the podium with Dominique Aegerter, Josh Hook and Randy de Puniet. The new CBR1000RR SP2 could even have claimed 2nd place if the start of a fire had not forced the French driver to return to the pits a few minutes from the finish. Infuriating !

Fifth behind the Musashi RT Harc-Pro Honda (Takumi Takahashi, Jack Miller and Takaaki Nakagami), the Yamaha of the YART signs a superb race with Broc Parkes, Kohta Nozane and Marvin Fritz. The Austrian team are ahead of powerful local teams like Honda Dream Racing (6th) and Yoshimura Suzuki Motul Racing (7th). 

Suzuka 8H - Suzuka 8H 2017: victory for Yamaha Factory, the title for GMT94 - Used YAMAHA

The latter also drove Sylvain Guintoli on the GSX-R1000 "Yosh" and had a nice comeback to 7th place after a crash at the start of the race. As for the official Honda Endurance Team CBR SP2, it finished 43rd at 23 laps, delayed by a crash followed by a clutch problem. First season complicated for the winged crest with its new Fireblade …

Two races in one 

The other attraction of this race, logically very popular with the four local manufacturers and Japanese fans (128,000 spectators) was its determining aspect for the EWC world title. The Suzuki of the SERT – title holder – and the Yamaha GMT94 indeed apprehended this last round of the season with a small difference in the standings (132 Vs 131), which means that the team that finished ahead of the other in Japan won the title !

Suzuka 8H - Suzuka 8H 2017: victory for Yamaha Factory, the title for GMT94 - Used YAMAHA

In the end, Christophe Guyot’s men were the fastest on the R1: David Checa, Niccolò Canepa and Mike Di Meglio finished in 11th place 6 laps behind the winner, when Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Sodo Hamahara crossed the line in 18th position, 9 laps behind the leader. The fall of the Japanese rider Hamahara in the second hour cost SERT dear, as did the aging of his motorcycle: the Le Mans team preferred to compete in this campaign with the old model – despite its 9 seasons on the clock – for lack of time to properly prepare the new GSX-R1000.

"This ‘old’ bike nevertheless dominated the championship standings until the last event!", Recalls Suzuki France proudly. Sure that the team with 15 world titles will be even more efficient next year at the controls of the latest version of the "Gex" !

However, the game was not easy for the GMT94, whose bike had a serious electronic problem: as a result, more anti-slip on the R1 n ° 94! "It’s a breakdown that we know because we have had it twice in two years", explains Christophe Guyot. "It is difficult to adapt to it… Nevertheless, we see that Mike di Meglio manages to drive at the same pace despite this breakdown. He left to have fun and has just done 2’11" 03 ", he described during the race.

Suzuka 8H - Suzuka 8H 2017: victory for Yamaha Factory, the title for GMT94 - Used YAMAHA

Thanks to this performance, the GMT94 caps its third world crown in Endurance after those of 2004 and 2014. In the championship, the GMT94 Yamaha is ahead of the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) and the YART. David Checa and Niccolo Canepa receive the 2017 world championship title, but not Mike Di Meglio: the Toulouse player joined the team during the season (which took place for the first time this year straddling two calendar years), after the Bol d’Or.

The former Grand Prix driver then replaced Lucas Mahias, who successfully started in the Supersport world championship. Mike nevertheless has the satisfaction of being the first rookie driver in the history of endurance racing to win the first three races in his first three participations: GMT94 has indeed won at the 24H of Le Mans, then at the 8H of ‘Oschersleben (Germany) and 8H Slovakia. Great consolation for Mike di Meglio !

The Bol d’Or, the next 16 and 17, will mark the first stage of the new 2017-2018 season.

Suzuka 8H - Suzuka 8H 2017: victory for Yamaha Factory, the title for GMT94 - Used YAMAHA

They said…

 Christophe Guyot : "This world title is the consecration of the energy, the determination, and the commitment of a whole team, mechanics, drivers, partners, who did not give up after a grueling Bol d’Or. loot in terms of points brought back. The victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans will remain the high point of a successful season. We can associate with it the happiness of having won the 8 Hours of Oschersleben for the third consecutive year and of have won the first edition of the 8 hours of Slovakia. These two events are great races, brilliantly organized and an immense passion for endurance. Finally Suzuka remains a special race. To be titled world champion against the manufacturer Yamaha, winner of the home event was a highlight for our team. "

Suzuka 8H - Suzuka 8H 2017: victory for Yamaha Factory, the title for GMT94 - Used YAMAHA

David Checa : "This is my third world champion title. I got them all with GMT94 and Yamaha. Thank you to this fantastic team, to my teammates. The race was very tough because the stakes were high. don’t make mistakes and don’t give in to pressure. I’m really happy. "

Niccolò Canepa : "We had an incredible season. Even though we won three events, we had a hard time. But we never gave up, we gave everything and we overcame everything. That’s what we are for. here. Because we never give up. Whether it’s the team manager, the mechanics and my teammates. That’s what I learned with endurance and GMT94. That’s what I live for It’s incredible."

Mike Di Meglio : "It was a fantastic race. The whole season has been fantastic. I would like to thank GMT94 and Yamaha for giving me this opportunity as I started in endurance racing. Can’t wait for next season!"

The arrival of the Suzuka 8H 2017 in video 

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