The Suzuka 8 hour Preview

July 26, 2018 July 26, 2018

The Suzuka 8 hours what some dub the “Greatest motorbike race in the world” is this weekend and in this article I hope to give you a bit of insight into the event overall.

The 8 hour is held in the highest regard by all of the Japanese factories with each of the big 4 (Honda,Yamaha,Suzuki and Kawasaki) fielding the strongest lineups of machines and riders as your are likely to find anywhere in the world.

Yamaha:

In recent years it has been the Yamaha factory which has dominated the event taking the 3 previous wins, Yamaha’s win in 2015 was their first in 19 years this was the event that the brand new R1 was bred for and the rider choice proved how seriously Yamaha were taking the event with Moto GP riders Bradley Smith and Pol Espargarò accompanying All Japan Road race champion Katsuyuki Nakasuga. This year sees Yamaha sticking with the same lineup that dominated the 2017 event with WSBK duo Michael Van Der Mark and Alex Lowes again teaming up with Nakasuga in an attempt to keep their stranglehold on the 8 hours.

Honda:

Apart from this recent domination by Yamaha the 8 hours has always been a Honda event they lead the way in overall wins with 27 Yamaha has 7, Their last win came in 2014 the introduction of the new R1 from Yamaha meant that Honda’s ageing Fireblade wasn’t able to compete, 2017 saw the brand new edition of the Fireblade be unveiled despite this and even with the MotoGP talent of Jack Miller onboard they still weren’t able to match the Yamaha factory . For 2018 the full might of HRC Honda officially returns to the event after a 10 year absence and have drafted in Takaaki Nakagami from Moto GP and American PJ Jacobsen from WSBK ( Leon Camier had been due to ride but is ruled out due to injury), Honda are not only looking to win the 8 hours this year but also end their barren spell in the world endurance championship with F.C.C TSR Honda currently leading the way in that championship.

Suzuki:

Suzuki is the 3rd most successful manufacturer with 5 wins, With recent Yamaha domination and a renewed full factory support from Honda Suzuki have decided to up their game and with the new GSXR in its second year of development they feel they have the bike to compete. Grand Prix test rider Sylvain Guintoli heads up the challenge this year just as he did a year ago in 2017 he is again joined by Takuya Tsuda also part of the GP test program he along with Guintoli brings a tonne of Suzuka experience, The 3rd rider for the team is BSB sensation Bradley Ray.

Kawasaki:

Kawasaki has only the solitary Suzuka win but comes into 2018 off a 2nd place finish at the 2017 event the main reason for that result was BSB front runner and now WSBK KRT rider Leon Haslam who did 5 stints equalling out to almost half of the race distance, Haslam and Kazuma Watanabe who competes in the JSB 1000 championship return this year again to tackle the event but they will be supported not only by the Kawasaki factory but also possibly the biggest name at this years event 3 time WSBK champion Jonathan Rea. Rea makes his Suzuka return after 4 years away from the event he like Haslam is a previous winner with Honda the pair actually rode together to win in 2012. This is the biggest commitment Kawasaki have put into Endurance racing in a long time and they will be hoping to go 1 better than last years result and with Jonathan Rea they have as good an opportunity as they will ever have.

For British Superbike fans there is plenty to watch out for apart from the obvious race between the factory outfits, Peter Hickman,Michael Laverty and Christian Iddon will all be competing on BMW machinery with Hickman riding for the NRT48 squad a team he has ridden for in other endurance events this year. Iddon and Laverty will be riding together for the BMW Financial Services 135 squad they both have previous Suzuka experience but without real support from BMW will struggle to match the Japanese factories. Other riders from BSB competing include Hickman’s team mate Slyvain Barrier, new Motorapido Ducati rider Tommy Bridewell, Dan Linfoot had been due to ride but unfortunately an injury suffered last weekend has ruled him out.