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27th July 2007 |
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Suzuka 8H - Comment - Photo Gallery Why are the permanent teams so far behind the leading teams at Suzuka? The best that normally in endurance dominant SERT Suzuki can manage in Suzuka qualifying is 15th, while the teams we are used to seeing chasing them are languishing in 30th, 34th and 38th place. What's going on? 1) The Competition is Tough: You can bet your mortgage that the bikes provided by Honda (who own the circuit) to Checa, Okada, Toseland, Kiyonari and Rea are the absolute best tools for the job that the biggest motorcycle manufacturer in the world can provide on the day. Full stop. If there was anyway HRC could make their bikes more competitive, they would do it. The same goes for Yamaha, who last year fielded Edwards and Haga on a full factory bike. 
Kawasaki always struggle at Suzuka. Now we know why; Gpz600 with no brakes and off-road tyres...
And lets just take a moment to think about those riders. Checa: ultra-experienced MotoGP rider and no stranger to Suzuka. Toseland: currently leading the World Superbike championship with a comfortable margin. Kiyonari: currently leading the British Superbike championship, and also an old-hand at Suzuka. So the best bikes and the best riders, combined with years of experience at this one particular race. 2) The Circuit is Tough: It's unusually long and it's got elevation changes combined with long series of corners that flow into each other and demand perfect precision. It's no coincidence that the more experienced permanent team riders are further up the qualifying table. 
Suzuka's notorious Spoon Curve. It's actually named after Hiroshi Spoon who designed the circuit....
3) The Logistics are Tough: For the Europeand races, most of the permanent teams will operate out of one if not two juggernaut sized trailers, bringing with them fuilly equipped workshops with tools and spare parts for every eventuality and enough team members to make sure that each job is done properly and done quickly. Racing at Suzuka means working out of a crate for a week with limited manpower and even more limited stocks of spares. The pressure is ratcheted up further by the fact that the next race is on the other side of the world in two weeks time; if anything goes wrong now, there's a good chance it'll impace the next round as well. 4) The Weather is Tough: It sounds petty, but a combination of extreme jet-lag (flying east is always worse than flying west) and incredibly hot and humid conditions must sap the stamina of even the fittest riders. They'll all deny it ("No, I feel great! I love racing here," they say, before connecting up the intravenous drip) but even the local teams go to great lengths to keep their riders cool (air-conditioned cabins in the back of the pit garages) and hydrated. 
Honda NR750 rider struggles to find front end grip despite using the latest compound tyres...
5) The Tyres arent' Tough Enough: Suzuka seems to make special demands on tyres, with local Dunlops apparently performing better than the ones normally used for endurance. There's also a strong Michelin presence, and their wet tyres in particular were worth a couple of seconds a lap in the rain last year. The permanent teams have two advantages, and over the course of the race these will come into play. Expect to see even the slower teams bubble up through the standings as the race progresses. 1) Quicker pit stops: The JSP rules limit the number of modifications that can be made to the local entrants for quick wheel changing. For the HRC boys this barely ahs an impact, but all of the permanent teams will shine when comes to getting a bike into pit lane and out again with new tyres, a fresh rider and a tank full of petrol. 2) Endurance Experience: For many of the local teams, this is their only major endurance race of the year. The permanent teams are much more experienced at developing strategies to deal with crashes, pace car sessions, changeable weather, refuelling and so on. Again, over the course of the race this experience will start to show. 
Suzuki's factory Katana GSX-1100 uses top secret traction control device fitted beneath engine...
The best comparison of the performance under race conditions perhaps comes from night practice. With the special qualifying tyres left in the pits and the permanent team riders on more familiar ground, we saw SERT in 9th place and Phase One 16th, ahead of Abe and Stauffer on the factory Yamaha. www.mobilityland.co.jp/result_s/2007/8tai/index.html 
Any more thoughts or comments? Got some World Endurance news? send it to info@redleg.co.uk |
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