Tag Archives: Graeme Crosby

Kenny Roberts Yamaha OW60 GP Racer

1982 Kenny Roberts Yamaha OW60 GP Racer

With Phil Aynsley


Yamaha’s first foray into the 500cc GP class came in 1973 with the piston-port, in-line four-cylinder OW19. The company stuck with this basic design up until 1980 (although the final version, the OW48R, had the outside two cylinders reversed) when they decided that to stay competitive, a new, rotary-valve engine design would be required.

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OW Yamaha PA YamahaOW

1982 Kenny Roberts Yamaha OW60 GP Racer

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OW Yamaha PA YamahaOW

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OW Yamaha PA YamahaOW

The new motor was a square-four very much like Suzuki’s RG500, but with the cylinders inclined at 45-degrees. The OW54 subsequently won three races in 1981, two for Roberts, one for Sheene.

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OW Yamaha PA YamahaOW

1982 Kenny Roberts Yamaha OW60 GP Racer

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For 1982 the bike was heavily revised with an upgraded motor and a completely new chassis. The frame featured square section alloy tubing (with additional reinforcing bottom rails welded in place. Likewise on the bottom of the swing arm. Plates also boxed in the steering head tubes. A new progressive-rate bell crack rear suspension was used.

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OW Yamaha PA YamahaOW

1982 Kenny Roberts Yamaha OW60 GP Racer OW Yamaha PA YamahaOW

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1982 Kenny Roberts Yamaha OW60 GP Racer

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Eight bikes were constructed, with two each for Roberts, Sheene, Graeme Crosby and Marc Fontan (Sonauto Yamaha). However Roberts only rode the OW60 twice, firstly in the ’82 Daytona 200 (DNF – motor), then in the GP season opener in Argentina, which he won (with Sheene second), before switching to the completely new OW61 V4. Crosby finished second in the Championship on the OW60 however.

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1982 Kenny Roberts Yamaha OW60 GP Racer

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The OW60 featured four seperate crankshafts contra rotating in opposed pairs, Teflon coated steel rotary discs and housings. YPVS power valves were also fitted. Output was 156 hp at 10,600 rpm. Wet weight (half a tank of fuel) was 121 kg with a top speed of 290 km/h. For comparison the OW48R made 102 hp and weighed 135 kg.

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OW Yamaha PA YamahaOW

1982 Kenny Roberts Yamaha OW60 GP Racer

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OW Yamaha PA YamahaOW

A bored and stroked version, the 695cc OW69, was used at Daytona in ’83 and ’84 with Roberts winning both events.

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OW Yamaha PA YamahaOW

1982 Kenny Roberts Yamaha OW60 GP Racer

The bike seen here is fitted with the ’82 Daytona bodywork , although the “European” bodywork is also owned.

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OW Yamaha PA YamahaOW

1982 Kenny Roberts Yamaha OW60 GP Racer

OW Yamaha PA YamahaOW

OW Yamaha PA YamahaOW

OW Yamaha PA YamahaOW

OW Yamaha PA YamahaOW

Source: MCNews.com.au

Suzuka 8 Hour Winners List | Results | Roll of Honour

Suzuka 8 Hour Results

Suzuka 8 Hours History

While the 5.821km Suzuka circuit itself was opened in the September of 1962, the Suzuka 8 Hour first came about in 1978.

It quickly became the most important race for production based bikes in the world.

American duo Wes Cooley and Mike Baldwin won that inaugural duel on July 30, 1978, on a Yoshimura backed GS1000 Suzuki.

Australia planted its flag at Suzuka in 1979 when a Team Honda Australia squad consisting of Tony Hatton and Mick Cole rode a CB900 to victory.

New Zealand took their first top step on the rostrum the following year when Kiwi Graeme Crosby partnered with American Wes Cooley to win the race on a Yoshimura GS1000 Suzuki.

While the race was a Japanese affair largely contested between Nippon manufacturers, it was not untiul 1982 that Japanese riders themselves tasted the champagne. That year the race was reduced to six hours due to an incoming typhoon and standing atop the podium were Shigeo Iijima and Shinji Hagiwara.

Honda RVF Suzuka Hours
1985 Suzuka 8 Hour winning RVF750

Wayne Gardner won the first of his quartet of Suzuka 8 Hour victories in 1985 while sharing the riding duties on the RVF750 Honda with Masaki Tokuno.  Gardner went on to win again the next year, 1986, while partnered with Dominique Sarron.

1987 was the first time Yamaha took top honours and it came thanks to the talents of Kevin Magee, who became the fourth Australian to win a Suzuka 8 Hour. Magee won in partnership with German Martin Wimmer in 1987, the following year, 1988, the Horsham Hurricane’s victory was taken in conjunction with a then 28-year-old Wayne Rainey. The American also won his first 500cc GP race victory that year.

Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan won in 1991 on an RVF750 Honda.

Daryl Beattie then shared the victory podium with Gardner in 1992 on the Oki Honda Racing Team RVF750.

New Zealand’s Aaron Slight then won three on the trot with a different partner each time. The first victory in 1993 coming on a Kawasaki with Scott Russell, followed by two wins on the RC45, the first with Doug Polen and the second with Tadayuki Okada.

1993 also signalled the change from F1 or TT style motorcycles as the premier category at the Suzuka 8 Hour to ‘Superbikes’.

Colin Edwards and Noriyuki Haga put Yamaha back on top in 1996 before Honda then went on a ten-year winning streak that stretched all the way from 1997 through to 2006.

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Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards won the 2001 Suzuka 8 Hour

The first three of that decade long Honda winning streak were won on RC45s, the next four on VTR-SP twins, including Valentino Rossi’s 2001 victory with Colin Edwards on the Cabin Honda VTR-SP1, while the Fireblade took top honours in 2004/05/06.

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2006 – Suzuka 8 Hour – Takeshi Tsujimura

Yukio Kagayama and Kousuke Akiyoshi broke Suzuki’s 24-year drought in 2007.

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Yukio Kagayama – 2007 Suzuka 8 Hour

Carlos Checa and Ryuichi Kiyonari put the Fireblade back on top in 2008.

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Carlos Checa and Ryuichi Kiyonari – Suzuka 8 Hour – 2008

2009 saw the introduction of three-rider teams and another all-Japanese victory for Yoshimura Suzuki.

2012 Suzuka 8 Hour
2012 Suzuka 8 Hour winners Kousuke Akiyoshi, Tadayuki Okada and Jonathan Rea

2010 saw Honda’s Fireblade kicked off another winning streak that carried right through to 2014.

2013 Suzuka 8 Hour
2013 Suzuka 8 Hour winners Takumi Takahashi, Michael Van der Mark and Leon Haslam

Winners for Honda in this period included Leon Haslam, Takumi Takahashi, Jonathan Rea, Takaaki Nakagami, Tadayuki Okada and Michael Van der Mark.

2015 marked a new era of domination by the Yamaha Factory Racing Team and the YZF-R1M.

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Katsuyuki Nakasuga – Suzuka 8 Hour – 2015

Japanese hotshot Katsuyuki Nakasuga has been part of all those victories while Pol Espargaro (2015/16) helped him to two, as did Alex Lowes (2016/17), while Bradley Smith (2015) and Michael Van der Mark (2017) played their parts in Yamaha’s recent string of success also.

Katsuyuki Nakasuga and Pol Espargaro
Katsuyuki Nakasuga and Pol Espargaro – 2015 Suzuka 8 Hour

In 2018, Nakasuga again partnered with Alex Lowes and Michael Van der Mark and the trio went on to claim Yamaha’s fourth successive victory.

Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Alex Lowes and Michael Van der Mark
Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Alex Lowes and Michael Van der Mark victorious at the 2017 Suzuka 8 Hour

Suzuka 8 Hour Most Successful Riders

Only five riders have taken four victories at the prestigious race. Wayne Gardner (1985-1986-1991-1992), Ryuichi Kiyonari (2005-2008-2010-2011), Shinichi Itoh (1997-1998-2006-2011), Katsuyuki Nakasuga (2015-2016-2017-2018), Michael Van der Mark (2013-2014-2017-2018).

The most successful rider at the Suzuka 8 Hour is Tohru Ukawa. The Japanese rider has five victories to his name (1997-1998-2000-2004-2005). All five were won on Honda machinery, two on the RC45, one on the VTR1000 and two more on Fireblades.

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2004 Suzuka 8 Hour – Tohru Ukawa

Suzuka 8 Hour Most Successful Manufacturers

Honda are the leading manufacturer with 27 wins. Next best is Yamaha with eight victories while Suzuki have five wins.

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Ryuichi Kiyonari – 2008 Suzuka 8 Hour

Kawasaki has only ever won the prestigious event once and that was some 25 years ago when Aaron Slight and Scott Russell piloted a ZXR750R to victory.


Suzuka 8 Hour Results

Roll of Honour


Source: MCNews.com.au