The Yamaha factory team, consisting of Jack Miller, Katsuyuki Nakasuga, and Andrea Locatelli, finished fifth in Friday's qualifying rounds for the Suzuka 8 Hours race, behind HRC. HRC, with its trio of Jonathan Rea, Somkiat Chantra, and Takumi Takahashi, was the fastest team in qualifying, leaving behind the R1 riders who finished second last year by 0.458 seconds.
Qualifying format and Yamaha's results.
According to the qualifying format of the Suzuka 8 Hours, the average of the fastest laps of each team's two fastest riders determines Saturday's Top 10 Trial standings. At Yamaha, Locatelli recorded the fastest lap at 2 minutes 4.971 seconds, while Miller finished in 2 minutes 5.422 seconds and Nakasuga in 2 minutes 5.984 seconds. The average of Locatelli and Miller's laps placed the team in fifth place. Miller, the only full-time MotoGP rider on the field – Johann Zarco is out this year due to injury – finished third and fifth in the qualifying sessions.
Pilots' evaluations
Miller openly expressed his disappointment after qualifying: “Qualifying didn’t go as I expected. I felt good doing the free practice this morning on used tires, but I couldn’t maintain that in qualifying. The track surface is different from last year and doesn’t seem to match our baseline setup. We need to find out exactly why. I’ll be able to go out on track in the Top 10 Trial, but I’m not happy with today’s fifth place. I’ll continue looking for where the speed is hidden in night practice.”
Locatelli painted a similar picture: “I did my best, but it wasn’t enough. The fact that I didn’t get a good overall feeling might be related to the track being re-asphalted. It feels quite different from last year, so we need to make some adjustments for the race.”
Nakasuga, who was part of Yamaha's team during their last Suzuka victory in 2018, said: ’I feel we had good team chemistry, but it was a bit frustrating not being able to translate that into results. My single lap time wasn't good enough, but our average lap time was good and our teamwork was solid. I think the race will be different.“
Recovery during night training
Friday night's practice session was more favorable for Yamaha. Nakasuga finished eighth in the Blue group, Miller took first place in the Yellow group, and Locatelli set the fastest lap in the Red group, securing first place in both his group and the entire session. It was noted that the rain, which interrupted free practice sessions earlier in the week, continued to pose a threat over the weekend.