Yamaha Factory Racing Fly to Third Consecutive Suzuka 8Hour Pole

Action resumed again on track today for the 40th Anniversary of the 2017 Coca-Cola Suzuka 8Hours. The afternoon saw the top ten teams from provisional qualifying contest the Top 10 Trial to decide the first ten grid positions. The Yamaha Factory Racing Team proved unbeatable, taking pole with a scorching 206.038s lap.

After two previous years of the pressure of being the last rider out on track, Nakasuga was able to finally enjoy a less pressured Top 10 Trial today as the first YFRT rider to qualify. The local hero didn’t disappoint and had the Suzuka crowd on their feet as he turned each split time red on the timing boards on his way to the fastest lap of the day.

Third teammate Michael van der Mark was denied the chance for a proper ride in the day's earlier practice as a red flag brought the session to an early end. Despite this the Dutchman has already found a race pace to match both teammates, putting the threesome in a strong position to fight for Yamaha's third consecutive Suzuka 8Hours victory tomorrow.

Katsuyuki Nakasuga

Yamaha Factory Racing Team

"We're very happy with today, As a team I think any one of us could've gone out and taken pole and all three of us are at a really good level. I was pumped to see Alex going faster than me on his Top 10 Trial lap! He's fast in the places I'm not! It's the same R1 but depending on the rider, it can go faster in places you don't expect and that's really fun to watch. And you learn from it too, seeing that the bike can be ridden that way at that part of the track. Last year and the year before, I was the last one to go out so I was really nervous. I just didn't ride at my best and couldn't take pole. But this year I was able to and while that's good, what's important is tomorrow. Everybody on the team knows this; there's no point if we don't win the race and all three of us are focused on that. Together with the team staff, we'll put 100% into doing our best tomorrow and aim for the top step of the podium. The three of us are equally sharing the expectations and pressure, so I think we'll be able to put on a fun race for the fans!"

Michael van der Mark

Yamaha Factory Racing Team

It’s really good to see us take pole position. Nakasuga and Alex did amazing laps so I’m really proud of them. Of course it’s an endurance race so pole is not the main priority but it’s good that we can do a really fast lap, and also that we are really consistent in the normal runs. It’s going to be a tough race because many competitors are really fast but I have a good feeling. The bike is handling really well for the three of us, which is the key to success. I want to thank Nakasuga and Alex for their incredible laps today and I hope tomorrow we can finish the job.

Wataru Yoshikawa

Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager

We were able to take pole position today, so that’s obviously very happy for us as a team. This is our third time taking pole position and as we are going for our third straight win it’s a good lead in to the race. There was a lot of pressure for Nakasuga not to wreck the bike so I think he rode really well. Unfortunately we weren’t able to break the pole record but it was more than enough. Because Nakasuga had a good time already, The reason we have strength as a team is because all of them are accepting of each other’s abilities and also because they have trust in each other to cover. Michael was unfortunately not able to ride today because of the red flag in practice but I know his ability and I trust in it, with that in mind I asked him to take a difficult role today and sit out.