Team HRC with Japan Post hit back from its Top 10 Trial defeat on Saturday to complete the 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race on Sunday with a third consecutive victory – the 30th for Honda – in Japan’s round of the FIM Endurance World Championship.
Starting in third position on the packed grid, lead rider Takumi Takahashi began to inch ahead halfway through his first stint before team-mates Teppei Nagoe and MotoGP star Johann Zarco combined to secure first place ahead of Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team and Suzuki-powered Yoshimura SERT Motul.
However, Team HRC’s winning margin was a slender 7.860s after a 40-second penalty was applied due to a pitstop infringement in what proved to be an anxious finish for the squad as darkness fell.
“I feel totally relieved and honestly very exhausted,” Takahashi said. “I’m very happy to have won my sixth Suzuka 8 Hours and for Honda their 30th win. I really need to thank my team-mates who are two fantastic riders, all of us together were able to accomplish our goal.”
For 34-year-old Japanese rider Takahashi, the result marked a record sixth victory in the Suzuka 8 Hours, the first coming back in 2010. Another record was set with both Team HRC and YART covering 220 laps to beat the previous benchmark of 219 set by Team Cabin Honda in 2002.
“Now I’ve done six wins the only way is up and I wish to continue,” Takahashi said. “I hope I get an offer next season and in which case I will be here. But I wasn’t focused on my sixth win, I just wanted to get a gap and keep a good average pace. In my last stint I was a bit too relaxed maybe, it was hard to focus towards the end in the dark and I was getting cramps. In the last lap, at the 130R corner, I rode over a yellow armband, which a rider must have dropped, I almost slipped and that was a bit scary.”
Following his EWC debut win on his first Suzuka appearance, Zarco said: “I feel good because when you fix this target and you have the victory it’s a big relief. I feel happy, proud and it gives big satisfaction. I’ve been very impressed by the pace of Takumi and his control of the race. I’m so happy with the progress Teppei made form the test to the race. The three riders were necessary for this victory because with the heat we all needed to control the energy.”
Having arrived in Japan one point behind Yoshimura SERT Motul in the 2024 championship standings, YART will return to its Austria base with an advantage of six points after it bagged five points for winning Saturday’s Top 10 Trial, plus 24 points for its first Suzuka podium courtesy of riders Niccolò Canepa, Marvin Fritz and Karel Hanika.
Canepa had led after overtaking early pacesetter Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team) just before the completion of the opening lap but reckoned his “gamble” to fit a soft-compound front tyre counted against him as the opening stint unfolded amid track temperatures just short of 60 degrees centigrade.
“I realised we chose the wrong front tyre and I realised immediately I didn’t have a good feeling with the bike.” Canepa said. “I tried to stay in front as much as I can because I knew if they passed me, they would go away and I tried to pass back every time they passed me until Takahashi-san was too fast to pass him back. He did an amazing first stint and I regret that it was partly my mistake to choose this front tyre because I would like to have fought with him longer. I think we had the package to do it.”
Ducati Team Kagayama’s Ryo Mizuno also held top spot during a frenetic opening hour with first place switching between the #2 machine, Takahashi’s #30 entry and Canepa’s #1 bike.
In its first Suzuka 8 Hours with Ducati power, Team Kagayama lost vital ground when Hafizh Syahrin was delayed restarting the Panigale V4R at the first round of pitstops. Having slipped out of contention for second place, Ducati Team Kagayama then became embroiled in a thrilling battle for third with Yoshimura SERT Motul, which wasn’t decided until the final 30 minutes of racing.
Despite the latter losing ground after serving a ride-through penalty – handed out when it emerged the fuel tank cover cap hadn’t been replaced following a pitstop – Japan’s Cocoro Atsumi, who learned to ride at Suzuka Circuit in his youth, produced a spectacular final stint to take third place as the clock ticked down. He was joined on the podium by team-mates Dan Linfoot and Moto2 rider Albert Arenas, a Suzuka rookie prior to Friday morning’s Free Practice.
“I’m really happy to be here on the podium for the first time,” Atsumi said. “I’ve been with Yoshimura SERT Motul as a fourth rider and I’ve been checking and learning a lot. I was asked to join this race and I’m very pleased to have this opportunity. We’re fighting for the championship with YART and finishing in third position means the gap is small and we’ll be in a good position at the Bol d’Or to keep fighting for the championship.”
As he did in the 8 Hours of Spa Motos last month, Markus Reiterberger swept into an early lead. But the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team rider couldn’t keep the chasing Canepa at bay and was behind at the entry to the chicane before the opening lap was done. The Belgian squad, which qualified a Suzuka-best fourth finished a Suzuka-best fifth.
The F.C.C. TSR Honda France trio of Mike Di Meglio, Josh Hook and Alan Techer spent the race adapting to their 2024-specification bike, which they were using in competition for the first time. An electronics issue, falls for Hook and Di Meglio and a stop and go penalty, which was issued after work was carried out on the #5 machine during refuelling, left the 2022 EWC title-winning team a distant 34th to compound a frustrating season so far.
Tati Team Beringer Racing’s first Suzuka 8 Hours with Honda power netted 15th to strengthen its status as the EWC’s top independent team, while KM 99 achieved its target of a top 10 finish in 10th place. Motobox Kremer Racing failed to cover more than 15 laps of its 10th Suzuka 8 Hours.
It was a challenging Suzuka 8 Hours for Kawasaki Webike Trickstar. After Grégory Leblanc was ruled out of the race through injury following a crash in this morning’s Warm-Up, Christian Gamarino and Román Ramos were set to race as a pair until Ramos was taken ill, leading to a lengthy stop before the team eventually returned to the track.
Team Suzuki CN Challenge won the Experimental class in a fine eighth overall with a factory-supported GSX-R1000R CN SPEC, which used 40 per cent bio-sourced sustainable ELF Moto R40 FIM fuel, plus other eco-friendly products. They included a bio-sourced base oil from Motul, a catalytic converter developed by Yoshimura, low-dust brake pads from Sunstar Engineering, tyres from Bridgestone with an increased ratio of recycled materials, front and rear fenders made from a natural flax fibre supplied by Bcomp, plus bodywork provided by JHI and utilising recycled carbon materials.
TONE RT SYNCEDGE 4413 BMW TAKES SUPERSTOCK GLORY
Rookie Hannes Soomer helped TONE RT Syncedge 4413 BMW to victory in the Dunlop-equipped FIM Endurance World Cup, which included the Suzuka 8 Hours on its schedule for the first time. Partnered by Japanese riders Tomoya Hoshino and Ainosuke Yoshida, the Estonian was making his Suzuka debut and overcame a late gear issue to triumph ahead of Team Étoile, which beat Taira Promote Racing to second place on the final lap by 2.213s.
“I came here on Tuesday for the first time and now I’ve ended up winning.” Soomer said. “Every motorcycle racer wants to be on this podium and now I’m on the first step I’m very, very happy.”
Teramoto@J-Trip Racing’s bid to convert its Superstock pole position into victory unravelled when Takeru Murase inflicted substantial damage by crashing at Turn 8 after 30 minutes. National Motos Honda FMA finished fifth but a crash for Gino Rea exiting the second Degner Curve in the opening 20 minutes dropped Wójcik Racing Team out of contention.
WHAT’S NEXT? Circuit Paul Ricard hosts the season-deciding Bol d’Or from 12-15 September.
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