夜の帳が下り、日中と比べると肌寒くなってきた鈴鹿サーキットで、AグループとBグループ合同のナイトセッションが行なわれた。走行時刻は、鈴鹿8耐決勝のラスト1時間と同じ18時30分から19時30分までの60分間。本セッションは、各チーム1台ずつの出走に限られている。
まずトップに立ったのは、EWCレギュラーチームで夜間走行の経験が豊富な#5 F.C.C.TSR Honda France(Honda,BS)。開始から15分経ったあたりで、同じくEWCレギュラーチームの#12 Yoshimura SERT Motul(Suzuki,BS)が2分06秒346で逆転する。セッション中盤には、#21 YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM(Yamaha,BS)が2分06秒台に入れて2番手に浮上。19時を過ぎると、鈴鹿サーキットは完全に暗闇に包まれた。#30 Honda HRC(Honda,BS)は2分08秒から2分09秒台で走行していたが、残り2分のときに2分07秒台で5番手、翌周には2分07秒台前半まで詰めて4番手に浮上した。次いで、#0 Team SUZUKI CN CHALLENGE(Suzuki,BS)、#40 TeamＡＴＪ with NTT docomo Business(Honda,BS)、#17 Astemo Pro Honda SI Racing(Honda,BS)が2分07秒台に入れ、上位7台をブリヂストン勢が占めた。
As night fell and the temperature dropped compared to the daytime, a joint night session for Group A and Group B was held at Suzuka Circuit. The session ran for 60 minutes from 18:30 to 19:30, the same time slot as the final hour of the Suzuka 8 Hours race. In this session, each team was limited to entering only one machine.
The first to take the lead was the EWC regular team #5 F.C.C. TSR Honda France (Honda, BS), which has extensive experience in night running. About 15 minutes into the session, another EWC regular, #12 Yoshimura SERT Motul (Suzuki, BS), took over the top spot with a time of 2:06.346. In the middle of the session, #21 YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM (Yamaha, BS) broke into the 2:06 range to move up to second place. After 19:00, Suzuka Circuit was completely enveloped in darkness. #30 Honda HRC (Honda, BS) had been lapping in the 2:08 to 2:09 range, but with two minutes remaining, clocked a 2:07 lap to move into fifth, and on the following lap improved further into the low 2:07s, rising to fourth. Following that, #0 Team SUZUKI CN CHALLENGE (Suzuki, BS), #40 Team ATJ with NTT docomo Business (Honda, BS), and #17 Astemo Pro Honda SI Racing (Honda, BS) also broke into the 2:07 range, resulting in Bridgestone-equipped teams occupying the top seven positions.
Pos.
No.
Team
Tyre
Class
Bike
Time
Gap
1
12
Yoshimura SERT Motul
BS
EWC
SUZUKI
2’06.346
-
2
21
YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM
BS
EWC
YAMAHA
2’06.549
0.203
3
5T
F.C.C.TSR Honda France
BS
EWC
Honda
2’06.714
0.368
4
30
Honda HRC
BS
EWC
Honda
2’07.073
0.727
5
0
Team SUZUKI CN CHALLENGE
BS
EXP
SUZUKI
2’07.572
1.226
6
40T
TeamＡＴＪ with NTT docomo Business
BS
EWC
Honda
2’07.787
1.441
7
17
Astemo Pro Honda SI Racing
BS
EWC
Honda
2’07.798
1.452
8
52
NCXX RACING with RIDERS CLUB
DL
SST
Honda
2’08.050
1.704
9
25T
Team Étoile
DL
SST
BMW
2’08.668
2.322
10
19
Team TATARA aprilia
DL
SST
Aprilia
2’08.948
2.602
11
21T
YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM
BS
EWC
YAMAHA
2’09.054
2.708
12
51
Honda Hamamatsu ESCARGOT with DREAMO
DL
EXP
Honda
2’09.817
3.471
13
88T
Honda Asia-Dream Racing with Astemo
BS
EWC
Honda
2’10.024
3.678
14
112
Honda Tochigi Racing & Kouyoukai Dream Racing Team
DL
EXP
Honda
2’10.194
3.848
15
23
KRP SANYOKOGYO ＆ RS－ITOH
BS
EWC
Kawasaki
2’11.012
4.666
16
41
Dafy-kaedear-Rac41-honda
DL
SST
Honda
2’11.082
4.736
17
93
TONE Team4413 BMW
DL
SST
BMW
2’11.118
4.772
18
23T
KRP SANYOKOGYO ＆ RS－ITOH
BS
EWC
Kawasaki
2’11.175
4.829
19
64T
Kawasaki Plaza Racing Team
DL
SST
Kawasaki
2’11.432
5.086
20
711
BAKUON!!＆Team NAGANO
BS
EWC
YAMAHA
2’11.594
5.248
21
45T
SHINSYU Re:N with TOTEC
BS
EWC
BMW
2’11.787
5.441
22
41T
Dafy-kaedear-Rac41-honda
DL
SST
Honda
2’11.926
5.58
23
50
MARUMAE Team KODAMA
BS
EWC
YAMAHA
2’12.420
6.074
24
26T
Verity & fenice with KIRINJISHI
BS
EWC
YAMAHA
2’13.153
6.807
25
828
Team FRONTIER
DL
EWC
BMW
2’13.231
6.885
26
112T
Honda Tochigi Racing & Kouyoukai Dream Racing Team
DL
EXP
Honda
2’13.273
6.927
27
3
SANMEI Team TARO PLUSONE with SDG
BS
EWC
BMW
2’13.346
7
28
411T
Team Matsunaga KDC × GEARS
BS
EWC
YAMAHA
2’13.611
7.265
29
78
Honda Blue Helmets MSC Kumamoto & Asaka
DL
EWC
Honda
2’14.688
8.342
30
20
Honda Suzuka Racing Team
BS
EWC
Honda
2’14.990
8.644
31
56
TEAM KOHSAKA & Takahon Racing
DL
SST
Honda
2’15.920
9.574
32
31
TEAM SUGAI RACING JAPAN
BS
EWC
Honda
2’17.504
11.158
33
58
MOTO WIN RACING
DL
SST
Honda
2’18.211
11.865
34
34
Honda緑陽会熊本レーシング
DL
SST
Honda
2’18.250
11.904
35
57T
HIMEJI NICHIRIN RACING
DL
SST
YAMAHA
2’19.481
13.135
36
71T
Team 桜井ホンダ
BS
EWC
Honda
2’28.307
21.961
37
71
Team 桜井ホンダ
BS
EWC
Honda
2’29.408
23.062