Yoshmimura Suzuki ended the second lap of yesterday’s 40th Suzuki Eight-Hours in dead last after Takuya Tsuda went down at the hairpin after colliding with another machine but the team charged through the field to end the day in seventh place, picking up the Anthony Delhalle EWC Spirit Trophy for their efforts.
Even though the team, which included Josh Brookes and Sylvain Guintoli, didn’t have the outright pace of Yamaha and Kawasaki, their consistently-fast pace on race rubber had set them up for at least a podium spot but with Tsuada’s crash, it proved too much.
“I think it is a bit sad that we had a fall but there was a lot of pressure with this race. And I understand, you know, it’s easy to make mistakes with so much responsibility. So, I am not angry or upset with Takuya, but upset for the situation,” said Brookes.
“Anyway, we went from the back all the way to seventh, so this is a good education for all the spectators and Suzuki fans to see the potential of the team and bike is still strong. I am sure we did not get the race and the position we wanted, but if you look at the position we came back to, it is really strong. For this, I am happy.”