Suzuki with Denso 12 was leading the qualifying for a long time, thanks to the 2’07’‘984 lap signed by Daisaku Sakai this morning, but Shinichi Itoh took him over on the FCC TSR Honda 2 later this afternoon.
Shinichi Itoh did his best lap in 2’07’‘657. Itoh and Sakai are the only two riders under the 2’08 mark and they are close to the best lap signed by 2007 “Special Stage” winner Carlos Checa, a Superpole that is unique in Endurance to the Suzuka round.
Third is 2007 winners Yoshimura Suzuki with Jomo 34, followed by Yamaha Racing 218 and the two official Dream Honda Racing 11 and 33, all lapping inside the 2’08 bracket. World Championship leaders SERT are in 19th position.
Qualifying: 1 F.C.C.TSR Honda (CBR1000RR) T .TSUJIMURA/ S.ITO 2’07.657. 2 YOSHIMURA SUZUKI with DENSO (GSX-R1000) D.SAKAI / A.WATANABE 2’07.984, 3 YOSHIMURA SUZUKI with JOMO (GSX-R1000) Y.KAGAYAMA/ K.AKIYOSHI/ N.AOKI 2’08.284, 4 YAMAHA RACING (YZF-R1) Y.SATO/ K.NAKASUGA/ Y.TAKEDA 2’08.290, 5 DREAM Honda Racing Team (CBR1000RR) 2’08.626. 19 SUZUKI ENDURANCE RACING TEAM (GSX-R1000) V.PHILIPPE / J.DA COSTA/ M.LAGRIVE 2’11.775.
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