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Suzuka 8 Hour results.
The 23rd running of Japans most hotly contested race event saw Honda get a record forth win in succession, but the day was not without drama. The winning tean of Daijiro Katoh and Tohru Ukawa finished more than a lap ahead of their nearest rivals on their RC51 Honda.
Ukawa got to the lead on the 42 laps near the end of the 2nd hour of the race. Slick riding and faultless teamwork in the pits made sure that they held the lead to the end. It was Ukawa\'s third win but he was full of praise for his teammate. After the race he said, \"Leading from so early in the race is never easy but I must say a big thank you to my teammate. It is Katoh\'s first win here and that is never easy to achieve.\"
Suzuki riders Akiro Ryo and Keiichi Kitigawa were 2nd home. They moverd up to 2nd when Kawasaki rider Hitoyasu Izutsu crashed after 61/2 hours. He was unhurt.
Peter Goddard and Tamaki Serizawa were third for Kawasaki.
The favored Castrol Honda team of Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi who are both in good form in their respective classes had a bad day. Edwards had led the race before handing over to Rossi who crashed on lap 32. \"It was a stupid mistake for me to make,\" said Rossi in a Castrol Honda press release. \"I lost the front, but I was pushing too hard when there was no need. I also think I was a little unlucky because a few laps later the pace car came out.\"
After repairs they got going again and rejoined the race in 35th place.With Edwards riding they battled back to eight place, before he too crashed on lap 125. This time there was too much damage to put right. And their race was over after 5 hours.
In a press release after the race Edwards said: \"My motivation was dented a little when Valentino crashed, but I got going again in my second session.\" Of his crash he said \"I don\'t know what happened, the front of the machine just slid away from me. I suffered a little bit of a burn on my back from sliding but apart from that I\'m okay,\" said Edwards. \"I\'m disappointed because Valentino and myself could have won.\"
Rossi commented: \"My crash was a stupid mistake on my part. But we\'ve just been unlucky today and there will always be another time. Like Colin, I\'m disappointed that we could not get a result for Honda, but Honda has won so it\'s not so bad.\"
The pole position had belonged to Noriyuki Haga but his team mate Wataru Yoshikawa crashed on the 16th lap and repairs took a long time and they restarted 6 laps down on the leaders.
