Source: Yamaha Racing.

The Yamaha Factory Racing Team blew away the competition on Saturday with a stunning 2m06.000s lap on the YZF-R1 to claim a superb pole position for the 38th Suzuka 8 Hours.

Yamaha’s chosen riders for the pole position shoot-out Katsuyuki Nakasuga and Pol Espargaró stunned the Suzuka crowd in the afternoon’s Top 10 Trial.

Espargaró was the first YFTR rider to hit the clear track and set a hot lap, using all his MotoGP experience to set a stunning 2m06.000s lap for provisional pole.

Then it was local Yamaha hero Nakasuga’s turn to step aboard the YZF-R1, setting an impressive lap just 0.059s off Espargaró.

Team Green Kawasaki was second ahead of Casey Stoner and the MuSASHI RT HARC-PRO Honda outfit, while Josh Waters’ Yoshimura Suzuki team claimed fourth.

Of the remaining Aussies in the shootout TSR Honda’s Josh Hook was impressive alongside Dominique Aegerter, the pair securing sixth on the grid.

Sakurai Honda fielded Jason O’Halloran and Naomichi Uramoto in the Top 10 Trial, with Uramoto placing them in ninth for Sunday’s race.

Australian viewers will be able to catch all the action from 11:45am Sunday, 26 July, on Eurosport Australia.

2015 FIM Endurance World Championship
Round two – Suzuka 8 Hours, Japan

Qualifying results:
1. Yamaha Factory Racing Team (Pol Espargaro) 2m06.000s
2. Team Green Kawasaki (Kazuki Watanabe) 2m06.287s
3. MuSASHI RT HARC-PRO Honda (Casey Stoner) 2m06.335s
4. Yoshimura Suzuki (Takuya Tsuda) 2m06.516s
5. Team Kagayama Suzuki (Yukio Kagayama) 2m07.990s
6. TSR Honda (Dominique Aegerter) 2m08.076s
7. TOHO Racing with Moriwaki Honda (Tatsuya Yamaguichi) 2m08.382s
8. EVA RT Test Type-01 Trick Star Kawasaki (Erwan Nigon) 2m08.950s
9. Honda Dream RT Sakurai Honda (Naomichi Uramoto) 2m09.409s
10. MotoMap Supply Suzuki (Hideyuki Ogata) 2m11.019s