≪ SUGO round suffered from unexpected high temperature ≫
■ Race Event Name: 2019 MFJ All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round 3 SUPERBIKE RACE IN SUGO
■ Race Date [Qualifying RACE1] May 25th (Saturday) 2019/Weather: Sunny/Course: Dry
[WUP RACE 2] Sunday, May 26, 2019/Weather: Sunny/Course: Dry
■ Race Venue: Miyagi Prefecture Sportsland SUGO (1 lap = 3.7375km)
■ Audiences: 7750 people (total for 2 days)
■ JSB1000 Rider: Takuya Tsuda
■ Motorcycle: SUZUKI GSX-R1000
■ Qualifying Results RACE 1: 17th place (1 minute 28.694 seconds) / RACE 2: 18th place (1 minute 28.999 seconds)
■ Final Result RACE 1: DNF/RACE 2: 22nd
■ Annual Series Ranking 16th (total points earned 26pts.)
All Japan Road Race Championship which reached the 3rd round of the series.
The races held at Miyagi Prefecture and Sportsland SUGO has a nice weather that has been lacking in recent years, It was also hit by heat from the sun that did not seem to be in May. The JSB1000 class is also held in two races this time, with a schedule of Qualifying Race 1 on Saturday and Race 2 on Sunday. The SUGO round is the last in the first half of the series, and once this race is over, attention will be drawn to the Suzuka 8 Hour Endurance Road Race.
In the preliminary test conducted two weeks ago, Tsuda thought that he could do the best race this season because he had sorted the tires, advanced the machine set-up, and had a good feeling of the machine response.
On the first day of the race week, the temperature was higher than in the pre-test, but within the expected time he continued to run around at 1:28,10 with the best time. However, on Saturday, the road surface temperature rise up to nearly 50 degrees. In the morning's official qualifying session, it was expected that the race would be tougher than Friday.
It was race 1 that was contested in 25-laps. Tsuda carefully raises the position with a good start. In the 3rd laps, an accident occurred in front and raised 2-positions. While he was running at the Top 5 riders and the race was coming to finished at the Horse Back Corner on the 17th lap. He fell over while applying the brake. It was not able to restart it, and he leave the race as it was, but it was fortunate enough that he did not have any injuries.
"On Sunday, as expected, the temperature rises further, and the road surface temperature reach 53 degrees, the heat of the mid summer. It will be clear that the situation is more severe than expected when having a morning warm-up ride. In the race 2 that we encountered, while having the 2-degree Pit stop, he continued to make laps while watching the situation around, but it ended up that it was dangerous to run further than this at the end. He finished the pit stop in the race."
After the first half of the series, the challenges of Tsuda's riding and matching with Dunlop tires are becoming clearer. After this, the team will work together to clear the problem towards Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Road Race.
Takuya Tsuda's Comments
"I joined the race week and the temperature was so high that I did not expect, my team and Dunlop, so it was in SUGO round that I could not cope with the condition. Somehow, the temperature was still the same around Friday but the temperature rises everyday, so I think it is still dangerous to run on Sunday. I would like to continue the race in good condition in preparation for Suzuka resistance and the second half of the series."
Coach Masahiko Saito's Comments
"The temperature was higher than I expected compared to the pre-test, and it was completely beyond the expected range. The team is trying variously to match the riding style of Tsuda, but the current situation is in the midst of being troubled, and I want to manage somehow as a team. After this, test riding for Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Road Race will begin soon, so I would like to test in hot conditions. "
See Accessories of DUNLOP
See SUZUKI Moto Index Page
See Accessories for SUZUKI GSX-R1000 (Gixxer ,GSXR)
