SAKAI ON AUTOPOLICE PODIUM
 Team
Yoshimura Suzuki's Daisaku Sakai raced to his first podium
at the weekend's fourth-round All Japan Superbike Championship
race at Autopolice circuit in front of 35,000 fans.
Sakai - in his first full Superbike season - qualified fourth
ahead of team mate Atsushi Watanabe but the fastest time was
set by Suzuki factory test rider Kousuke Akiyoshi who also
smashed the lap record in the process during the first Superpole-style
shoot out which was introduced for the first time.
In the race, Kawasaki's Akira Yanagawa took the lead from
Akiyoshi and Sakai with Watanabe seventh. Sakai moved into
second position by lap two and took the lead from Yanagawa,
but the Kawasaki rider fought back to the front.
Ten laps into the race Akiyoshi touched machines with Sakai
and fell although Sakai survived the incident to race to third
position.
He said: "I felt very comfortable in the race and I
could follow front runners. But when Akiyoshi touched me in
the middle of race, my muffler touched my swing arm and I
couldn't up my pace. But I felt comfortable on my bike and
I did my best! I am now looking forward my next race, the
"300Km Endurance" with Watanabe."
Result: 1 Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Yamaha), 2
Akira Yanagawa (Kawasaki), 3 Daisaku Sakai (Yoshimura Suzuki),
4 Norick Abe (Yamaha), 5 Kazuki Tokudome (Honda), 6 Atsushi
Watanabe (Yoshimura Suzuki), 7 Yusuke Teshima (Team HRC),
8 Tatsuya Yamaguchi (Moriwaki Honda), 9 Yuki Hatano (Suzuki),
10 Takashi Yasuda (HarcPRO Honda).
Championship Points: 1 Yanagawa 74, 2 Watanabe
72, 3 Yamaguchi 71, 4 Abe 67, 5 Yasuda 59, 6 Sakai 55, 7 Kameya
49, 8 Akiyoshi 49, 9 Teshima 49, 10 Tokudome 41.
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