MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka

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MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Bridgestone

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka

24 pictures

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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MOTORRAD tester Karsten Schwers on the Superstock BMW S 1000 RR in Suzuka.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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PS tester Robert Gluck on the Superstock BMW S 1000 RR in Suzuka.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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PS tester Robert Gluck on the Superstock BMW S 1000 RR in Suzuka.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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PS tester Robert Gluck on the Superstock BMW S 1000 RR in Suzuka.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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PS tester Robert Gluck on the Suzuki GSX-R 1000 in Suzuka.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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PS tester Robert Gluck on the Suzuki GSX-R 1000 in Suzuka.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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PS tester Robert Gluck with the crashed Suzuki GSX-R 1000 in Suzuka.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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Track layout Suzuka.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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Tim Rothig (Bridgestone) and MOTORRAD tester Karsten Schwers (right).

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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PS tester Robert Gluck on the Superstock BMW S 1000 RR in Suzuka.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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Karsten Schwers.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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Long runs: Suzuka is best known for the legendary eight-hour race.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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Runs smoothly: The Ferris wheel is a landmark on the Japanese cult route.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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Runs well: Superstock BMW S 1000 RR as the perfect training device for long noses.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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MOTORRAD tester Karsten Schwers on the Superstock BMW S 1000 RR in Suzuka.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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MOTORRAD tester Karsten Schwers on the Superstock BMW S 1000 RR in Suzuka.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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MOTORRAD tester Karsten Schwers on the Superstock BMW S 1000 RR in Suzuka.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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MOTORRAD tester Karsten Schwers (right) and PS tester Robert Gluck (2nd from left) in Suzuka.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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PS tester Robert Gluck on the Superstock BMW S 1000 RR in Suzuka.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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Long-distance bike Suzuki GSX-R 1000 from the Yoshimura-Suzuki team.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka
Masakatsu Sato

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MOTORCYCLE tester Karsten Schwers (left) and PS tester Robert Gluck (right) in Suzuka.

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MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka

MOTORRAD tester on the road in Suzuka
Do not be afraid…

He controls even the most exclusive motorcycles confidently in the border area around the corner, competes with turbo bikes against wild dragsters and pedaling across the Alps on his MTB in one day. But on the Suzuka pit lane, MOTORRAD top tester Karsten Schwers also slipped his heart for a moment.

Karsten Schwers

03/13/2014

“If you do a shitty lap time here, they’ll just laugh at you tonight. But if you build scrap, they’ll still be laughing in ten years …!” Together with my test colleague Robert Gluck I stand in front of the Suzuka route map. His philosophy makes me think. So there seems to be other ways to somehow make a name for yourself in Suzuka. When we arrived the evening before, we fly in the Shinkansen high-speed train through the countryside south of Tokyo. With every kilometer in the direction of Nagoya, the metropolis near Suzuka, my nervousness increases. Even if it is “about nothing” tomorrow, we still have the fantastic opportunity to do a few laps in Suzuka during our visit to Japan.

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Do not be afraid…

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I leaf through the documents that I put together in Germany over and over again. Suzuka is not just any old racing circuit. For me, Suzuka is something very special. Just like the Nordschleife, Monza or the Isle of Man. Built in 1962 as a test track on behalf of Honda, designed by a Dutchman: Hans Hugenholtz, who also planned Zolder and the Hockenheimring. Above all, however, Suzuka is initially very far away from a European perspective. Something that even us test drivers don’t get under the wheels every day. In comparison, I even feel more at home on routes like Portimão or even Qatar.

A crazy course on paper

Again and again I look at the route profile on my printouts. A crazy course even on paper. It’s a crazy idea to have to complete one of the legendary eight-hour races here on a hot August. I drive the 5.8 kilometer lap with my finger, trying to memorize the quick changes. At some point I’ll give up. It doesn’t help, because the theory clearly lacks the dynamic. I know colleagues who train for weeks in front of the Playstation before such events in order to beat the tangle of curves of unknown racetracks into their brains. My friend Sergio from Spain trained on the computer for a year before he started TT on the Isle of Man. But how will it really feel to put the braking point in front of the blind Dunlop curve in Suzuka, how strong does the body have to hold back if I take the unique “130R” left-hand bend too quickly? My teeth grind as I try to imagine the Casio Triangle. In 2003, 250cc world champion Daijiro Kato had a fatal accident in the chicane. Since then, Suzuka has been removed from the MotoGP calendar. Maybe it was the fish for dinner too, but I sleep poorly at night.

“Just laugh at you tonight …”

The morning is cloudy when the shuttle takes us to Suzuka. The Ferris wheel in the neighboring Motopia amusement park stands out only faintly against the gray painted sky. Dozens of Japanese people bustle around in the pit lane. Numerous colleagues from Japanese newspapers are also on site to squeeze out the winning bikes of the Japanese championship races at the end of the season. Even with heavy snowfall on the Nurburgring, I would feel more comfortable now. Our hosts from Bridgestone smiling, pushing the motorcycle out of the box. After all, “local” material, a BMW S 1000 RR, which is used in the Japanese stock sport championship. Colleague Rob is allowed to answer first, blinks conspiratorially through the visor slit: “Just laugh at you tonight …”

He’s back much too early: “Is that awesome,” he yells into my helmet, “Have fun!” I turn out of the pit lane into “First”, the first corner after the start / finish, and open up a little. After the first, careful trial round, my trust grows enormously. Suzuka is awesome. If the braking points are correct, the first right-hand turns can be taken perfectly in an arc, and the following right-left combinations are also quickly memorable. Even the 180-degree “hairspin” can be clearly seen. But I still lack the rhythm, the 5807 meters are really tough. Round after round, I work on the tricky combinations, such as the long left curve in front of the “Spoon”, which can certainly be taken at an abnormal speed. The flag comes way too early, waves me back to the box.

No one will be laughing tonight

I take off my helmet, the tension is gone, the anticipation increases, only to be back on the track. This time with a GSX-R 1000 that is made for Suzuka: a real long-distance bike from the Yoshimura-Suzuki team. Rob would have to come back in with that. I tighten the chin strap, pull on my gloves, until I finally follow the stunned gaze of the crew: the image of a lonely pedestrian in the gravel flickers across the monitors in the box. Not a motorcycle to be seen anywhere. The Yoshimura-Gixxer must have hit the ground somewhere behind the stacks of tires. No one will be laughing tonight.

MOTORCYCLE tester in Suzuka

Super athlete


Yoshimura-Suzuki GSX-R 1000 in the track test

The hell of Suzuka

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