Detail

The make-up of three main Yamaha teams that will compete in the 29th Coca Cola Suzuka 8-Hour Endurance Road Race, round 5 of the FIM 2006 World Endurance Championship Series, to be held at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture, Japan on July 30, have been decided.
The three Yamaha teams being entered will be the YAMAHA BLUE RACING, the YSP Racing Team sponsored by PRESTO Corporation and Team Cha-llenger. They will compete in the JSB1000 class and use the Yamaha YZF-R1SP as their race machine. The team riders are as follow.

The riders for Yamaha's top team, YAMAHA BLUE RACING will be the current MotoGP star Colin Edwards and current World Superbike competitor Noriyuki Haga. This is the same pair that won the Suzuka 8-hour of 1996.
Colin Edwards, who returned Yamaha last year and is currently competing in the MotoGP, has won the Suzuka 8-Hour three times and has twice been the Superbike world champion. He is known for his steady riding and is now breaking the record for scoring points in the most consecutive MotoGP rounds. Colin's entry is the first in seven years by a non-Japanese current Yamaha GP rider, since Regis Laconi in 1999.
Colin will be pairing with Noriyuki Haga, who returned to Yamaha in 2005 and is presently competing in the World Superbike Championship. Like Edwards, Haga has a wealth of experience in Superbike, GP500 and MotoGP competition. In the 2004 and 2005 seasons he ranked 3rd in the World Superbike Championship.

The YSP Racing Team sponsored by PRESTO Corporation will enter the pair of Katsuyuki Nakasuga, who is competing this season in the JSB1000 class of the All Japan Championships, and Shinichi Nakatomi, who is competing this season in the World Superbike series. Nakasuga was entered as the substitute rider for this same team at the last Suzuka 8-hour, but this will be his first time actually competing in the race. On June 11, Nakasuga just won attention by running the full 52 laps of the Suzuka 300 km Road Race alone to finish 4th. This race is known as a preview of the Suzuka 8-hour.
Pairing with Nakasuga will be Shinichi Nakatomi, who will be running in his seventh Suzuka 8-hour. We hope to see him show the results of the experience he has gained racing on the international circuit this season.

This team was launched in 2002 with YSP Members Club consisting of the nationwide Yamaha sports bike retail franchise YSP (Yamaha Sports Plaza) as its parent organization and the domestic distributor of overseas Yamaha motorcycle products, PRESTO Corporation, as its main sponsor. This will be its fifth year competing in the Suzuka 8-hour, and it is the team that placed 2nd overall and won the JSB1000 class in the 2003 Suzuka 8-hour with the pair of Nakatomi and Wataru Yoshikawa.

The Yamaha-supported Team Cha-llenger will enter with riders Norihiko Fujiwara and Nobuyuki Osaki. In the recent Suzuka 300 km Road Race, this pair showed excellent teamwork in finishing 5th. Fujiwara is a veteran racer who is competing this year in the All Japan ST600 series as a rider and team manager, and in the past he has won three consecutive championships in the All Japan GP500 class and he has experience competing in GP racing in Europe and worked as a development rider for the Yamaha MotoGP machines. Osaki is also a veteran with 16 years of racing experience and is competing this year in the All Japan ST600 series, where he is always among the leaders and presently ranked 2nd.

This team has the Yamaha Motor group company Soqi H-S Inc. as its parent organization and is now in its sixth Suzuka 8-hour. The team is sponsored by companies located in the same area of Kakegawa city, Shizuoka Pref. where Soqi headquarters are and Numazu city where its factory is located. The team takes its name from the famous tea (Cha) of Shizuoka prefecture and the challenge of Yamaha's spirit of challenge. The team has finished as high as 5th in the Suzuka 8-hour in 2002.
Also, plans call for the current AMA Formula Xtreme competitor Jason DiSalvo (currently ranked 1st) and the All Japan ST600 competitor Yuji Sato to serve as the substitute riders.
This is part of Yamaha's efforts to nurture talents young riders.

Colin Edwards Name: Colin Edwards Nationality: USA Born: Feb. 27, 1974 Racing team: YAMAHA BLUE RACING Racing career: 1993: 6th in AMA Superbike 1994: 6th in AMA Superbike 1995: 11th in World Superbike Championships 1996: 5th in World Superbike Championships 1997: 12th in World Superbike Championship 1998: 5th in World Superbike Championship 1999: 2nd in World Superbike Championship 2000: Champion of World Superbike Championship 2001: 2nd in World Superbike Championship 2002: Champion of World Superbike Championship 2003: 13th in MotoGP World Championship 2004: 5th in MotoGP World Championship 2005: 4th in MotoGP World Championship 2006: 8th in MotoGP World Championship (as of Rd.6) Suzuka 8-hour results: 1996: Winner (with Noriyuki Haga) 1999: 2nd (with Aaron Slight) 2001: Winner (with Valentino Rossi) 2002: Winner (with Daijiro Kato)

Noriyuki Haga Name: Noriyuki Haga Nationality: Japanese Born: Mar. 2, 1975 Racing team: YAMAHA BLUE RACING Racing career: 1993: 13th in All Japan Championships 250cc class 1994: 9th in All Japan Superbike Championships 1995: 10th in All Japan Superbike Championships 1996: 8th in All Japan Superbike Championships 1997: Champion of All Japan Superbike Championships 1998: 6th in World Superbike Championship 1999: 7th in World Superbike Championship 2000: 2nd in World Superbike Championship 2001: 14th in FIM World Motocross Championships 500cc class 2002: 4th in World Superbike Championship 2003: 14th in MotoGP World Championship 2004: 3rd in World Superbike Championship 2005: 3rd in World Superbike Championship 2006: 3rd in World Superbike Championship (as of Rd.5) Suzuka 8-hour results: 1993: Retired from final (with Junichi Matsushita) 1994: Retired from final (with Masaya Hirayama) 1995: 22nd (with Yasunori Kondo) 1996: Winner (with Colin Edwards) 1997: Finished 17th (with Kensuke Haga) 1998: Finished 6th (with Simon Crafar) 1999: Finished 4th (with Regis Laconi) 2000: Finished 18th (with Wataru Yoshikawa) 2001: Retired from final (with Anthony Gobert)

The Endurance spec version of the YZF-R1SP in YAMAHA BLUE RACING colors * Photo is an image shot only, details will differ from the actual machine

Katsuyuki Nakasuga Name: Katsuyuki Nakasuga Nationality: Japanese Born: Aug. 9, 1981 Racing team:  Racing team: YSP Racing Team sponsored by PRESTO Corporation Racing career: 2000: 11th in All Japan Championships 250cc class 2001: 20th in All Japan Championships 250cc class 2002: 5th in All Japan Championships 250cc class 2003: 8th in All Japan Championships 250cc class 2004: 5th in All Japan Championships 250cc class 2005: 12th in All Japan Championships JSB1000 class Suzuka 8-hour results: Has not competed in final (experience entered as the substitute rider)

Shinichi Nakatomi Name: Shinichi Nakatomi Nationality: Japanese Born: Oct. 30, 1978 Racing team:  Racing team: YSP Racing Team sponsored by PRESTO Corporation Racing career: 1996: Champion in the Kyushu Championships GP250cc class 1997: 15th in All Japan Championships International A 250cc class 1998:  11th in All Japan Championships International A 250cc class Champion in Western Japan Championships 250cc class 1999: 4th in All Japan Championships International A 250cc class 2000: Champion in All Japan Championships International A 250cc class 2001: 11th in All Japan Championships International A 250cc class 2002: 8th in All Japan Championships International A 250cc class 2003: 6th in All Japan Championships JSB1000 class 2004: 3rd in All Japan Championships JSB1000 class 2005: 4th in All Japan Championships JSB1000 class 2006: competing in World Superbike Championships Suzuka 8-hour results: 1998: Finished 10th (with Makoto Tamada) 2000: Finished 4th (with Yuichi Takeda) 2002: Finished 29th (with Yukio Nukumi) 2003: Finished 2nd [Champion In JSB class] (with Wataru Yoshikawa) 2004: Finished 14th [9th In JSB class] (with Wataru Yoshikawa) 2005: Finished 12th [5th In JSB1000 class] (with Wataru Yoshikawa)

Norihiko Fujiwara Name: Norihiko Fujiwara Nationality: Japanese Born: Oct. 8, 1966 (39) Racing team: Team Cha-llenger Racing career: 1986: 6th in All Japan Championships GP500 class 1987: All Japan Championships GP500 class Champion 1988: All Japan Championships GP500 class Champion 1989: All Japan Championships GP500 class Champion 1990: 2nd in All Japan Championships GP500 class 1991: 2nd in All Japan Championships GP500 class 1992: 3rd in All Japan Championships GP500 class 1993: 3rd in All Japan Championships GP500 class 1994: 4th in All Japan Championships Superbike class 1995: 5th in All Japan Championships Superbike class 1996: 3rd in All Japan Championships Superbike class 2006: competing in All Japan Championships ST600 class Suzuka 8-hour results: 1992: Finished 11th (with Yasutomo Nagai) 1993: Finished 32nd (with Yasutomo Nagai) 1994: Retired from final (with Wataru Yoshikawa) 1995: Finished 4th (with Wataru Yoshikawa) 1996: Retired from final (with Wataru Yoshikawa) 1997: Finished 8th (with Wataru Yoshikawa) 1998: Finished 8th (with Scott Russell) 1999: Finished 14th (with Jamie Hacking) 2001: Finished 7th (with Noriyasu Numada) 2002: Finished 5th (with Tekkyu Kayo) 2003: Retired from final (with Tekkyu Kayo) 2004: Retired from final (with Nobuyuki Osaki) 2005: Finished 50th (with Nobuyuki Osaki)

Nobuyuki Osaki Name: Nobuyuki Osaki Nationality: Japanese Born: Mar. 8, 1971 (35) Racing team: Team Cha-llenger Racing career: 1991: Debuted in SP125 racing 1992: Western Japan Road Race Championships GP125 class Champion 1993: Super Cup Western GP125 class Champion 1994: 23rd in All Japan Road Race Championships GP125 class 1995: 14th in All Japan Road Race Championships GP125 class 1996: 11th in All Japan Road Race Championships GP125 class 1997: 4th in All Japan Road Race Championships GP125 class 1998: 4th in All Japan Road Race Championships GP125 class 1999: 6th in All Japan Road Race Championships GP125 class 2000: 8th in All Japan Road Race Championships GP125 class 2001: 2nd in All Japan Road Race Championships GP125 class 2002: 4th in All Japan Road Race Championships GP125 class 2003: 10th in All Japan Road Race Championships JSB1000 class 2004: 14th in All Japan Road Race Championships JSB1000 class 2005: 9th in All Japan Road Race Championships ST600 class 2006: 2nd in All Japan Road Race Championships ST600 class (as of Rd.4) Suzuka 8-hour results: 2004: Retired from final (with Norihiko Fujiwara) 2005: Finished 50th (with Norihiko Fujiwara)