Bradley Smith part of winning team in Suzuka 8 Hour
Last Updated: 26/07/15 1:22pm
Britain's Bradley Smith claimed victory for Yamaha in the Suzuka 8 Hour in partnership with Pol Espargaro and Katusyuki Nagasuka.
Smith was handed the honour of crossing the line for victory in the Japanese endurance race, which featured a number of leading MotoGP riders, past and present.
Britain's Alex Lowes led in the early stages for the Yoshimuri Suzuki team but it proved a race full of drama, with six periods under the safety car for on-track incidents.
One of those saw Australian great Casey Stoner make a painful early exit, the double MotoGP champion falling at the Hairpin Corner after his throttle stuck open and led to a bike-destroying crash.
Stoner suffered a broken shoulder and a fractured shin in the crash but tweeted a photo of himself looking in good spirits, as well as an apology to the rest of his team for the incident.
The race soon developed into a battle between the Smith/Espargaro/Nagasuka team and that of Josh Hook, Kyle Smith and Dominique Aegerter for Honda.
Smith had to overcome a 30-second penalty for one of his team-mates overtaking under yellow flags mid-race but the Yamaha was always the quickest bike on show and his team came home in front by more than a minute.
“It’s a really special moment to give the Yamaha factory its first win in 19 years with the work that has gone in - us riders haven’t really done much. A hundred people worked behind this project and we stood there on Tuesday and promised them this trophy. I am glad we were able to deliver,” said Smith.
The podium was completed by the all-Japanese Suzuki team of Yukio Kagamaya, Noriyuki Haga and Ryuichi Kiyonari.
