Carlos Checa and Ryuichi Kiyonari win prestigious endurance event, despite 30-second penalty and torrential thunderstorm
A THIRTY second long stop-go penalty for speeding in the pit-lane couldn't stop Carlos Checa and Ryuichi Kiyonari taking the win comfortably at the Suzuka 8-Hour race at the weekend.
The WSB Ten Kate team-mates took the lead on lap two and virtually stayed there for the duration of the race, they eventually finished the race a full lap ahead of BSB Rizla Suzuki regular Atsushi Watanabe and Daisaku Sakai who, like the rest of the field, had to ride through a thunderstorm at one point.
Yukio Kagayama was the only other rider to make their way to the front of the race, but he crashed from top spot leaving Checa and Kiyo free to set the pace to the line.
Johnny Rea was forced to retire with mechanical problems after five and a half hours while Cal Crutchlow and Leon Haslam crossed the line in sixth and ninth.
2008 Suzuka 8-hour Results
1 11 EWC DREAM Honda Racing Team 11 H-CBR1000RR 214 8:00'20.726 155.60km/h 2'08.428 R.KIYONARI C.CHECA
2 12 EWC YOSHIMURA SUZUKIwithDENSO IRIDIUM POWER S-GSX-R1000 214 8:01'39.626 1'18.900 2'08.416
D.SAKAI A.WATANABE
3 73 EWC Kyubo.com team HARC-PRO. H-CBR1000RR 210 8:02'16.360 4Laps 2'11.265 Y.KONISHI T.TAKAHASHI
4 34 EWC YOSHIMURA SUZUKIwithJOMO S-GSX-R1000 209 8:00'26.157 5Laps 2'08.417 K.AKIYOSHI Y.KAGAYAMA
5 218 EWC YAMAHA RACING Y-YZF-R1 209 8:00'56.222 5Laps 2'10.937 Y.SATO K.NAKASUGA Y.TAKEDA
6 19 EWC MORIWAKI MOTUL RACING H-CBR1000RR 208 8:00'21.168 6Laps 2'11.523 T.YAMAGUCHI C.CRUTCHLOW J.OHALLORAN
7 48 EWC PLOT FARO PANTHERA S-GSX-R1000 207 8:01'54.467 7Laps 2'12.652 Y.KONNO K.TERAMOTO
8 32 EWC MotoMap SUPPLY S-GSX-R1000 205 8:02'19.802 9Laps 2'12.816 Y.HATANO H.OGATA T.NAMEKATA
9 10 EWC Team SAKURAI HONDA 10 H-CBR1000RR 205 8:02'30.445 9Laps 2'11.670 C.KAMEYA L.HASLAM
10 71 EWC Team SAKURAI HONDA 71 H-CBR1000RR 204 8:00'36.960 10Laps 2'12.778 K.TSUDA J.BROOKES
11 7 EWC YAMAHA AUSTRIA RACING TEAM #7 Y-YZF-R1 204 8:00'51.676 10Laps 2'14.630 I.JERMAN S.MARTIN S.PLATER
12 4 EWC YMES FOLCH ENDURANCE Y-YZF-R1 204 8:01'53.811 10Laps 2'14.914 D.RIBALTA P.LUIS VALLCANERAS
13 3 EWC PHASE ONE ENDURANCE Y-YZF-R1 204 8:02'04.025 10Laps 2'14.676 R.PENZKOFER S. SMART D.CUDLIN
14 1 EWC SUZUKI ENDURANCE RACING TEAM S-GSX-R1000 202 8:00'30.962 12Laps 2'12.117 J.DA COSTA M.LAGRIVE
15 5 EWC TRICK?STAR RACING K-ZX-10R 202 8:01'01.932 12Laps 2'13.546 S.TAKEISHI R.TSURUTA K.EGUCHI
16 25 EWC HONDA SUZUKA RACING H-CBR1000RR 201 8:01'55.029 13Laps 2'12.693 N.YUNOKI T.MORII I.NAMIHIRA
17 14 EWC Maco Motoracing Team Y-YZF-R1 200 8:02'27.030 14Laps 2'15.529 W.NOWLAND J.PRIDMORE
18 38 EWC ENDURANCE MOTO 38 Y-YZF-R1 200 8:02'33.272 14Laps 2'16.180 J.MILLET C.BRIVET H.GANTNER
19 666 EWC DIABLO666BOLLIGER K-ZX-10R 199 8:01'12.851 15Laps 2'16.552 J.HUTCHINS A.CUDLIN G.MASON
20 41 EWC Honda HAMAMATSU ESCARGOT&SAYAMA&H-TEC(E) H-CBR1000RR 198 8:01'08.412 16Laps 2'18.380 M.IIDA M.KUBOYAMA S.NOYORI
21 30 EWC AKAISANRINSYA RACING CLUB H-CBR1000RR 198 8:01'08.805 16Laps 2'17.462
Y.YAMAZAKI T.OKI
22 221 EWC CLEVER WOLF RACINGTEAM Y-YZF-R1 198 8:01'38.258 16Laps 2'16.898
T.FUKAMI M.SAITO K.MINAMIKAWA
23 55 EWC GAGNER H.M.F S-GSX-R1000 198 8:01'41.743 16Laps 2'16.020
Y.TAKAHASHI Y.TAKAMIYA S.SUMA
24 17 EWC BEET LUMIX RACING ZIPATSU K-ZX-10R 198 8:02'17.345 16Laps 2'15.621
O.NISHIJIMA K.HASEGAWA
25 62 EWC Z-TECH·SBS KIDANI·KM? S-GSX-R1000 197 8:01'24.239 17Laps 2'14.480
K.HONDA T.KUNIMATSU
