suzuka

Michael van der Mark says he faced the toughest race conditions he's encountered at the Suzuka 8 Hours during his stints helping the #21 Yamaha Factory Racing Team to a fourth consecutive victory, while securing his own fourth win at the event.

PJ Jacobsen gave an honest review of his steep learning curve having been a late call-up for the factory Honda team at the Suzuka 8 Hours having narrowly missed out on victory.

Jonathan Rea has been left frustrated by his Suzuka 8 Hours crash which dented his Kawasaki Team Green’s victory hopes but still feels positive having demonstrated the team’s strong pace at the iconic event.

Alex Lowes tells Crash.net how the #21 Yamaha Factory Racing Team delivered a fourth consecutive team win despite losing Katsuyuki Nakasuga to injury before the race.

The #21 Yamaha Factory Racing Team has survived a frantic Suzuka 8 Hours to defend its title with Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark sharing rider duties with the absence of injured team-mate Katsuyuki Nakasuga, creating history with a fourth consecutive victory for the team.

Bradley Ray feels his #12 Yoshimura Suzuki Motul squad can take the fight to the factory Honda efforts at the Suzuka 8 Hours but concedes fighting with the Kawasaki and Yamaha teams may prove difficult.

Jonathan Rea has followed up yesterday’s lap record at Suzuka by securing pole position for the #11 Kawasaki Team Green for this year’s iconic endurance race with #33 Red Bull Honda with Japan Post slotting into second in front of defending champions Yamaha.

Alex Lowes feels his #21 Yamaha Factory Racing Team’s gains in consistency with its race pace puts the team in a strong position to defend its Suzuka 8 Hours crown despite the lap record pace from Kawasaki on Friday.

Jonathan Rea says he wasn’t expecting to blow away the previous Suzuka qualifying lap record by almost a full second but feels the lap will ultimately not prove to be too important given the challenge of the eight-hour endurance race.

Defending Suzuka 8 Hour champions Yamaha Factory Racing Team has started quickest on the opening day fractionally ahead of the factory Kawasaki squad.

PJ Jacobsen has been promoted to the Red Bull Honda with Japan Post rider line-up to replace the injured Leon Camier, while Randy de Puniet has taken the American’s vacant role at MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO Honda entry.

Leon Camier will miss the Suzuka 8 Hours after suffering a vertebra fracture during testing for the iconic endurance event with the factory Red Bull Honda with Japan Post squad.

Bennetts British Superbike championship star Bradley Ray will make his Suzuka 8 Hours debut next month with the Yoshimura Suzuki squad alongside former BSB teammate Sylvain Guintoli and Japanese duo Takuya Tsuda and Kazuki Watanabe.

Yamaha will target a record-breaking fourth consecutive Suzuka 8 Hours victory this year with an unchanged rider line-up of World Superbike pair Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark alongside Katsuyuki Nakasuga for the #21 Yamaha Factory Racing Team running its iconic 20 th anniversary l

Max Verstappen doubts he would have been able to pass Lewis Hamilton for Formula 1 victory in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix despite going a late charge that was ultimately halted by traffic.

Sebastian Vettel says he is not looking for any positives after retiring early from Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix and falling to 59 points behind Formula 1 title rival Lewis Hamilton, adding that the blow to his championship hopes "hurts".

Sebastian Vettel's Formula 1 championship hopes look all but over after being forced to retire early from the Japanese Grand Prix due to an engine issue, giving Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton a chance to take a huge step towards the title.

Carlos Sainz Jr. will make his Renault Formula 1 debut in the United States Grand Prix later this month after completing an early move up from Toro Rosso following Jolyon Palmer's departure.

Kimi Raikkonen has become the fifth driver to receive a grid penalty for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix after Ferrari was forced to change the gearbox on his Formula 1 car following a crash in final practice at Suzuka.

Carlos Sainz Jr. is poised to start this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix from the back of the grid after the Formula 1 race stewards at Suzuka confirmed a 20-place grid drop for the Spaniard.

Follow all of the action for Friday practice for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. CLICK HERE for live updates from Crash.net...

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