Reigning Bridgestone Canada Superbike Champion Ben Young, the points leader in this year’s national series with six of ten races completed, continues to show well in World Endurance Championship action at Suzuka, Japan. In his second outing at the prestigious Coca-Cola Eight-Hour round, Young has joined the Suzuka Honda effort, a team built around a core of Honda employees at the Honda-owned venue in a city full of Honda business.
Young’s first Friday session at the daunting 21-turn Suzuka was in high temps and blazing Sunshine at high noon, the Canadian No. 1 placing 33rd best with a lap at 2:09.31 – close to the required race pace. Fastest in the opener was Nico Thoni on the Pirelli shod Team Bollinger Switzerland Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja at 2:08.25. The field is close, and the pace hot – although practicing fast can be risky, as proven by several incidents.
The ultimate lap record at the venue is an incredible lap of 2:04.29 set by MotoGP veteran Johann Zarco on a Honda during Qualifying in 2005. Zarco will miss this year’s event due to leg injuries suffered on the Grand Prix trail in a first turn restart in Barcelona; but his works HRC Suzuka team will compete with Takumi Takahashi, Jonathan Rea and GP works rider Somkiat Chantra aboard. The core of this group is aiming for a fifth straight success – but without venue superstar Zarco.
With sessions split based on planned riding order for the race, the “second set” group produced the ultimate (so far) lap prior to tomorrow’s Top Ten Trail, slated for 14:30 local time. Rea, now retired, was an 8 Hour winner with Honda in 2012 and Kawasaki in 2019, and lapped at an impressive 2:04.42, using Bridgestone slicks.
Takahashi’s opening effort was a 2:04.76, and with Chantra close at 2:05.46, it seems Honda are ready to win at home again.
Second was the works BMW of Marcus Reiterberger, Steven Odendaal and former World Superbike race winner Michael Van der Mark, using Bridgestones. ELF Marc VDS (also Bridgestone) was third for Yamaha, just ahead of the full time works YART YZF-R1 squad. The official factory Yamaha entry was next in fifth, featuring the only full time MotoGP ace in this year’s event, Jack Miller. Use to Michelin spec rubber in MotoGP on his Pirma Pramac Yamaha, Miller rides on Bridgestones at Suzuka.
Meanwhile, Young placed 28th overall in his second, brief session, dealing with heavy traffic.
Young explained that it was a hurry-up and wait kind of day, given the team need to manage resources, including engines and certainly tire allotment – the Bridgestone race tires are marked and inspected before each session.
“They don’t want me to ride too much,” smiled Young of the odd situation with three Pro racers scheduled to ride one bike for eight hours on Sunday afternoon, rain or shine.
“I’m comfortable with where we’re at and interested to see where we get to with new tires. The bike is quite soft right now, power wise; it isn’t the kick in the pants you might expect – I think that has to do with the Traction Control, tire management and multiple riders.
“Strangely, it feels a bit slow compared to my Canadian CBR, odd given this is probably a higher spec in terms of the internals. It’s not gnarly, the way you might expect with a Superbike.
“The chassis feels good; you just have to use lots of lean angle to slow down (to get the best braking to yield a good lap time-Ed).” This technique is standard practice on smooth Grand Prix style tracks (including Suzuka) and shown to the max by the likes of Australian hero Miller, back from the World Championship in MotoGP to ride a works YZF-R1 for the factory.
“I’m not able to get the most when we put on new tires,” continued Young; “I must get used to that. The second stint should suit me better; I’d prefer to start with a used rear.” Each dry stint is likely to last 24 laps, with a pit board, a low fuel light (as well as on-board timing) available for Young to chart his progress and plan his time.
When off the bike, riders do their best to cool off and rehydrate, although the conditions Sunday could be partially or occasionally wet – stressful for team and competitors. Young runs a hydration pack in his Alpinestars suit back hump and has learned how to install the required plumbing in his HJC helmet.
Young will likely begin the first race shift on a fresh set of Bridgestone slicks on Sunday. The run-to-your-bike (Lemans start) begins at 11:30 am local time, 10:30 pm Eastern Time in Canada.
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