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YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM FINISH 2ND IN THRILLING 2019 SUZUKA 8 HOURS

  |   News Racing

At the 42nd “Coca-Cola” Suzuka 8 Hours, Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark of the Yamaha Factory Racing Team took the #21 YZF-R1 to 2nd place, securing the fifth consecutive podium finish at Suzuka for Yamaha since the return of the factory team in 2015.

 

With 2019 marking the 21st year since the YZF-R1 was launched, the Yamaha Factory Racing Team entered the Endurance World Championship (EWC) finale on an R1 sporting a revival of the original Yamaha TECH21 Team livery from 1985. The eight-hour race saw the team engage their rivals in a fierce chase for the win from start to finish, with Nakasuga, Lowes and van der Mark faithfully carrying out their respective stints as planned. As the race approached its final stages and the team running in 3rd, Lowes was handed the TECH21 R1 for the last stint of the day.

 

The Briton made a pass to take 2nd on the 211th lap, but not long after, the leading bike crashed with just minutes left to the chequered flag. The race was subsequently red-flagged and ended, with the Yamaha Factory Racing Team initially taking the victory on the provisional race results. However, following scrutiny and discussion of the on-track events by officials, the provisional results were later amended with Yamaha taking 2nd place instead. Yamaha Motor requested an explanation of this amendment from FIM Race Direction, and upon hearing the background and reasoning for the judgement made by the FIM, Yamaha Motor accepted the decision.

 

Yamaha would like to express our deepest thanks to all of our sponsors and suppliers for their incredible support and to all of the fans that braved the summer heat to come to the circuit and cheer for the Yamaha teams competing in this year’s Suzuka 8 Hours.

 

Yamaha Factory Racing Team
Race result: 2nd (7:55’55.333, 216 laps)

 

Michael van der Mark – Yamaha Factory Racing Team: “It’s a bit of a strange end to what was an incredible race today. I think all three of us did the best we could today. We had quite similar pace but, of course, there are also areas in which we can look to improve, which is what we’ll do before returning next year when, hopefully, we can fight for the win once again.”