2023 FIM Endurance World Championship
Round Three – Suzuka 8 Hours
The ambient temperature at Suzuka was already in to the low 30s while the brutal humidity was broaching 75 per cent and rising towards a forecast 90 per cent by the time this 44th running of the Suzuka 8 Hours would be over on Sunday evening. There was also a threat of some afternoon or evening storms to complicate things further.
Gregg Black on the Yoshimura Suzuki blasted off the line ahead of HRC’s Takumi Takahashi, YART’s Niccole Canepa and F.C.C. TSR Honda’s Mike Di Meglio.
While Black had a little ground on his pursuers and a clear track in front of him, his pursuers were dusting each other up. Takahashi got beaten up the worst as FIM EWC regulars Canepa and Di Meglio pulled no punches in making their way past the Factory HRC entrant.
Late on lap two it was Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda up front but just before they started lap three Canepa put his Yamaha up front after dispensing with Black. Di Meglio was third for F.C.C. TSR but just about had the fairings sucked off by the Team HRC Fireblade as Takahashi blasted past him down the straight to move back up to third. Takahashi then got the better of Black to move up to second place before then setting his sights on race leader Canepa on the YART bike.
The front group were lapping riders after only six laps of the 5821 metre long circuit. In some cases slicing and dicing their way past either side of slower riders. It was also around this time Takahashi managed to gain the advantage on Canepa to put HRC back in front.
Canepa though was not content to let that stand, pushing the YART bike back through to the front on the following lap. Black on the SERT GSX-R1000R was still right behind them but Mike Di Meglio on the F.C.C. TSR Honda had started to lose touch with the leading trio after getting tripped up by a backmarker.
Di Meglio continued to lose time over the following laps, losing more pace with each lap as the electronic aids on the bike stopped working after eight laps, and that of course not only means no traction control and the like, but also no quick-shfiter. By lap 12, around halfway through the first stint, he was circulating five-seconds off the pace of the leaders, and had slipped down to eighth position. Two laps later he was down to tenth. Four laps later he was down and in the dirt after a soft front end lose, he managed to pick the bike up and continue in 20th rather than head straight back to the pits. Di Meglio continued to circulate for another few laps before rolling the Fireblade into the pit garage on lap 23 for the crew to get to work on the bike as he gave his feedback about the electronic failures on the bike. The well practiced crew leapt into action and had Alan Techer leaving pit-lane less than two minutes later and he was quickly back on the pace.
Niccolo Canepa entered the pits on the YART bike for fuel and Karel Hanika took the controls of the YZF-R1M for the second stint. Out on track Takumi Takahashi was still circulating and was 20-seconds ahead of second placed Gregg Black. Both came into pits after 26 laps, with Tetsuta Nagashima taking the reins of the HRC bike for the second stint, while Sylvain Guintoli took his turn on the Yoshimura Suzuki.
With the second stint well and truly underway it was HRC leading YART by 20-seconds, and SERT a further 13-seconds behind in third, all of them having plenty of traffic to deal with. Nagashima was setting a scintillating pace and relentlessly pulled away from his pursuers.
The primary upset during that second stint though was the YART entry rolling to a stop 43 laps into the race with an electrical failure while running second, 45-seconds behind HRC. Hanika then had the arduous task of pushing the YZF-R1M a long way down the blacktop and then along the grass before getting to a point where the bike could be safely retrieved from a pick up point. Good job it wasn’t hot and humid and that the bike hadn’t stopped at the furthest point from the pits…. After a lengthy delay in the pits Marvin Fritz then rejoined the race a long 13-laps behind the race leaders just after the two-hour mark, a quarter of the way through the race.
Tarran Mackenzie took the controls of the F.C.C. TSR Honda for the third stint and joined the track behind Xavi Vierge who had just started his first stint on the Factory HRC Fireblade. The last of the top runners to make their second pit stop was the SERT Motul Suzuki, Sylvain Guintoli handing over to Etienne Masson and the Suzuki rejoined the circuit around 90-seconds behind the leading HRC entrant. F.C.C. TSR Honda France were climbing their way steadily back up the leaderboard after their early troubles, the defending World Champions in 16th place, two laps down on the leaders.
Further drama struck the YART entry two and a half hours into the race. The right-hand fairing flapping and curling up in the wind to a degree that forced him to return to the garage for bodywork repairs. Those fixes took longer than you would expect, the team losing another lap through the mishap.
The first of the front runners to make their third rider change was the race leaders, Team HRC. Xavi Vierge returning to the pits on the 79th lap of the race, while 1min-45secs ahead of SERT Motul Suzuki. A lightning quick stop for the HRC squad with Takumi Takahashi jumping back onboard for his second stint. Tarran Mackenzie brought the F.C.C. TSR Honda in while running in 14th place, two laps behind the leaders, a good stop for the defending champions with Mike DiMeglio back out on track quickly and setting a great pace. Second placed SERT stayed out a couple more laps before Masson returned to the pits to hand the GSX-R1000R back over to Gregg Black.
Takahashi continued to extend the lead for HRC, dipping in to the 2m08s quite regularly when traffic allowed. That helped to push their advantage over Yoshimura Suzuki out to a full two-minutes by the 100 lap mark.
At the four-hour, halfway mark, Team HRC led SERT by over a lap. TOHO Racing Honda were in third place ahead of S-Pulse Dream Suzuki. Defending champions F.C.C. TSR Honda were almost three laps down in 13th place, while current Championship leaders YART were down in 14th place, 13 laps behind the leaders.
A crash on the West straight causes safety cars to enter at 1633. Once the safety cars left the track at 1649, the race order on Lap 144 was Vierge (Honda) followed by Étienne Masson (Suzuki) and Takuya Tsuda (Suzuki).
At the six-hour, three-quarters mark, the situation was much the same. HRC leading Yoshimura SERT Motul Suzuki by more than a lap. TOHO Honda in third place as Autorace Ube Suzuki moved back to fourth ahead of Honda Dream RT Sakurai Honda. Defending FIM EWC Champions F.C.C. TSR Honda were up to ninth, while current points leaders YART were 34th.
With just over 90 minutes left though big dark clouds loomed large which accelerated the light drop towards dusk and brought out the lack of adhesion flags as rain seemed imminent. Teams started preparing wets and nails were being bit down to the quick as yet another factor entered the fray…
15 minutes later the showers started….
The front runners stayed out when the rain started falling, their lap times though slowing dramatically, Takahashi out front went from lapping in the 2m08s to circulating in 2m33s…. On track for TOHO Honda at this stage was Ryuichi Kiyonari, the perfect man for the job in these conditions, the three-time British Superbike Champion was lapping 12-seconds faster than the race leaders…
Second placed Yoshimura Suzuki came in for wets, but shortly after rejoining the circuit Gregg Black went down despite his new wets… The GSX-R1000R tumbled through the dirt and had its screen smashed but Black was still able to pick the bike up and limp back to the pits….
Black pulled the Suzuki straight into the pit garage and the well honed crew were all over over the bike and repairing the damage. The delay though was long enough for Kiyonari and the TOHO Honda squad to take that second place, and Kiyo was now lapping 23-seconds faster than race leaders Team HRC….
The race leaders then pitted with just over an hour remaining… Nagashima taking the controls but it was not a new wet going into the back of the Factory Honda, but another Bridgestone slick… The track was wet but the rain had stopped and it looked as though the shower had passed…. The out-lap though was nearly a minute slower than Kiyonari….
Sylvain Guintoli left pit-lane on the SERT Motul Suzuki with 58-minutes remaining in the race, after slipping from a solid and secure second place, all the way down to 12th place… At this point YART were back up to 28th and fighting valiantly for points…. After all looked lost early on for F.C.C. TSR Honda they were now running fifth…. How fortunes change….
The track quickly dried despite the humidity and slicks were the rubber to be on. Nagashima on the leading HRC entrant was back down to 2m10s and again lapping faster than second place Kiyonari. Team HRC were back in control, but it was still sketchy out there and then drizzle started again at a few points on the circuit with just over 50-minutes to run…
That precipitation was small and short lived though and was not enough impetus to change tyre strategies. With 20-minutes remaining it was Honda 1-2-3-4…. HRC led Toho Honda by two laps, SDG Honda was in third place another two laps in arrears, and after their early disaster World Championship leaders F.C.C. TSR Honda were on course for a fourth place finish. It’s never over until it’s over…
The run to the chequered flag though was largely uneventful and indeed it was a Honda 1-2-3-4 at the flag.
Team HRC were on another planet from the get go. Underlining their outright potential was a 2m06.902s fastest lap, almost a second faster than any other entrant. They were the only ones to dip into the 6s. YART were the only team to get even close with a best of 2m07.735.
The big winners though when it comes to the championship was F.C.C. TSR Honda France. Tragedy early on with electronic gremlins, but they bounced back from 16th place and soldiered on to take a fourth place finish and with that move into the World Endurance Championship points lead. After the event though second place finishers TOHO Racing were found to have run a fuel tank of more capacity than allowed, which subsequently led to their disqualification which promoted F.C.C. TSR Honda onto the podium.
Yoshimura SERT Motul Suzuki crossed the line in 12th while fellow FIM EWC Championship challengers YART were 23rd at the flag.
Thanks to the five points they picked up during qualifying, the YART Yamaha team leave Suzuka second overall with 123 points, 14 behind leaders F.C.C. TSR Honda France.
With the unique scoring system the EWC uses, there are still 85 points available to teams at the final round of the season, the Bol d’Or. This is because the points awarded at the end of the last race of the year are multiplied by 1.5, with the winner standing to collect 60, which, when added to the ten on offer at the eight and 16-hour marks during the race, plus the five up for grabs during qualifying, mean anything can still happen at the championship decider.
Bol d’Or takes place at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, southern France, from 14-17 September when the FIM Endurance World Championship and FIM Endurance World Cup titles will be decided
RESULTS AMENDED AFTER DISQUALIFICATION OF TOHO RACING WHO HAD FINISHED SECOND
2023 Suzuka 8 Hours Results
- Team HRC – Honda
TOHO Racing – Honda +1 lapSDG Honda – Honda +3 laps
- F.C.C. TSR Honda France – Honda +3 laps
- AutoRace Ube – Suzuki +3 laps
- Honda Dream RT Sakurai – Honda +3 laps
- BMW Motorrad – BMW +4 laps
- Honda Asia Dream Showa – Honda +4 laps
- S-Pulse Dream ITEC – Suzuki +4 laps
- Astemo Honda Dream – Honda +5 laps
- Team ATJ – Honda +5 laps
- Yoshimura SERT Motul – Suzuki +5 laps
- Kawasaki WeBike Trickstar – Kawasaki +6 laps
- Honda Viltais – Honda +7 laps
- NCXX Riders Club – Yamaha +7 laps
Tetsuta Nagashima – Team HRC – P1
“I really didn’t know if I could race in the Suzuka 8 Hours this year because of my injury. I was also worried that I would not be fast enough. Without the speed, I would not be selected, and if I was selected, I had to win. There was a lot of pressure, so I’m relieved we won. Last year’s Suzuka 8 Hours was the first time for me so everything was new, and I relied on Takumi a lot and just rode as fast as I could, but this year I’m a bit more mature, and managed to pace myself in the last stint, which I think helped in winning. I’m grateful to everyone at HRC for giving me this opportunity.”
Takumi Takahashi – Team HRC – P1
“I’m relieved we won. It started to rain in my final stint, so I thought fate was against us. My lap times were very slow, but I had to stay upright, so I avoided taking any risks. Tetsuta and Xavi both had great pace, which led to our victory. I’m grateful to everyone in the team. I also managed to equal the most Suzuka 8 Hours wins for a rider. I had many chances up to now but failed, so if I have the chance in the future, I’d like to extend my record.”
Xavi Vierge – Team HRC – P1
“Being able to race in the Suzuka 8 Hours was the best experience. It was my first time, but I had the best teammates, and learned a lot. The safety car came out during my stint, and I didn’t know what to do because I didn’t have the experience. But I rode carefully, because I could not fail. Takumi and Tetsuta both had tough stints in the rain. I believe we could overcome these difficulties because we worked as a team. I’m grateful for the team’s support as well. I’ll gladly come back to Suzuka as many times as I can to have this amazing experience again!”
Mike Di Meglio – F.C.C. TSR Honda France – P4
“I’m sorry for the team that I crashed, but I managed to get back on track. So when the conditions suddenly changed towards the end, I did my best to get up to fifth place. It was always a dream of mine to be on the podium, but I am very happy that I was able to finish in 4th place here. I want to decide the champion at the Bol d’Or.”
Alan Techer – F.C.C. TSR Honda France – P4
“It was good for us to finish in 4th place. We got a lot of points. We only care about winning the championship, so now we can focus on the next Bol d’Or. I want to win and take the championship.”
Tarran Mackenzie – F.C.C. TSR Honda France – P4
“My first Suzuka 8 hours was difficult. At first I didn’t think I would be racing but I’m relieved that I was able to finish the race safely. Thank you to all the fans who supported us.”
Marc Bongers – BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director – P7
“Taking the tremendous commitment of the Japanese manufacturers into account, as well as the strong line-up of competitive Japanese teams and riders on home soil, we can be extremely pleased to secure seventh place, being the best European team. This becomes even clearer when you see where our main world championship rivals finished. We dropped a few points to FCC, but got closer to YART and moved further ahead of SERT. This means that the world championship is still wide open, as one-and-a-half times the points will be awarded at the season finale. So, we are confident! The team gave another faultless race performance that underlines our consistency. The rain made the final hours somewhat tricky. We also had a few minor technical issues during the last stint, which cost us in terms of lap times but not positions. The performance of the tyres in our package must be regarded as critical. The statistics don’t lie. But we performed well, thanks to support from Dunlop, and Dunlop Japan in particular. We are working hard on further improvements with our partner, which we hope will allow us to battle for the world championship at the next race, the Bol D’Or season finale. The omens are good!”
Werner Daemen – Team Manager BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team – P7
“Before the race I said that a top-eight result would be perfect because we did not have the strongest package here. I think we are world champions in changing the wheels as we always have been the fastest. I am very proud of that. Also the riders did a tremendous job. They made no mistake, no crash and P7 in the end is really great. Now I am pretty exhausted but very much looking forward to the last race of the season where everything is possible.”
Markus Reiterberger 0 BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team – P7
“I am relieved and happy. We were aiming for a top ten finish. Of course, the top five would have been even better, but we finished right in between and that is a good result. All three of us had a good race. I made a great start but then had a minor problem with the bike, which cost me a few positions. However, we were able to move up again. The third and final stint was draining, physically and mentally. It repeatedly rained and then dried out. I wasn’t sure whether to head to the pits or not. Luckily, we chose to stay out and our communication was good using the pit board. That enabled me to make up a few places. We really achieved the best possible result and finished ahead of all but one of our world championship rivals. That was important for the finale at Le Castellet too. A big thank you is due to the team for delivering superb pit stops once again and working so well, and to everyone who was cheering for us and helping us. That was a tough, demanding week, but everyone gave their all.”
Ilya Mikhalchik – BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team – P7
“For sure I am really happy and I want to say a big thank you to everyone in the team. The race was really difficult. In the first two hours, it was really hot. We also struggled a bit with the grip. But apart from that, we tried to have a good pace, to focus, and all three riders made a really good job. The last part of the race was the most difficult but we managed to finish in P7 and I am really happy about that. Thanks to BMW, they’ve made a big step with the bike from last year. Also here in the heat, the bike was perfect and I enjoyed riding it. We can be more than satisfied because our target was to finish in the top ten and we achieved that and have been quite close to the top five. That shows that we did a good job.”
Jérémy Guarnoni – BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team – P7
“It was really good. Maybe we could have fought for the top five but in these kind of conditions, when it was raining, we lost a bit. It has been like a roulette, like a game. But we did our race and we bring home a lot of points for the championship. We have seen that it has been difficult to finish the race as some of our competitors made mistakes or had problems. We are really happy. We are the best European team and we have the best European tyre. That shows that we did our job. Before the race we said that we want to be in the top ten and we finished in P7. We all three riders and the team did a great job. We now are looking forward to the Bol d’Or where we clearly can win the world championship. The fight will be there.”
Karel Hanika – YART – P23
“I am a bit lost for words. We attacked right from the start. Niccolò had a great first stint, and when I took over, I did not feel 100% confident with the front end, so I didn’t risk too much but could maintain a good pace and manage the gap. Then, five laps before the end of my stint, the bike stopped, and it was in the worst possible place, just before Spoon Curve. I had to push the bike a long way, as there was no service road here, but I did my best to bring it back as quickly as possible. It is such bad luck to have the issue happen there. From then on, we mounted our comeback. We have such a good spirit in the team; there was no way we were going to give up. We pushed every lap and showed what we were capable of, closing down the leaders by one and a half laps and making up 20 places. My teammates did a superb job, Niccolò was incredible in the mixed conditions, and Marvin was fast on every lap; they inspired me to want to keep on pushing. I want to thank everyone in the team; they should all be proud of their efforts. Obviously, it is the Bol d’Or next, but we are already looking forward to returning to Suzuka next year.”
Marvin Fritz – YART – P23
“It’s a shame, as we had the potential for the podium. We showed great pace all week, and Niccolò made an awesome start. Then we had the electrical problem, and Karel did an amazing job returning the bike to the pits. The team worked brilliantly to identify the issue in less than a minute and get us back out on track, so we decided to try and focus on scoring some points. My teammates pushed hard, and we closed the gap to the winners from 15 laps to 13.5 by the end, showing we had the pace to fight for victory. Niccolò did great in the mixed conditions, deciding to stay on the slick tyres and making up lots of time. While we feel disappointed to miss out on a potential podium, the whole team can be proud of our efforts. We are only 14 points behind in the championship standings, and with so many points available at the Bol d’Or, everything is still to play for.”
Niccolò Canepa – YART – P23
“We are disappointed with the final result, but we are pleased with our performance as a team. We were really strong during the whole race week, and we carried that pace into the race. My first stint was great, and I really enjoyed fighting at the front. Then we had the electrical issue that cost us a lot of time, but we fought back superbly. The fact that we managed to close down the gap to the leaders by so much shows the potential we had. I chose to stay out on slicks when it started to rain, and this turned out to be the right one, as I pushed hard and could make up a lot of time on the other teams. I am so proud of the effort from my teammates and everyone in the YART Yamaha squad. Obviously, we are a bit disappointed, but the most important thing is that we are still in the championship battle. Bring on the Bol d’Or.”
Mandy Kainz – YART Team Manager – P23
“The result is difficult to take, as we deserved so much more. The riders did a perfect job. The R1 was running great, and our pit-stop tactics would have given us an advantage. Unfortunately, an electrical issue with the bike caused us to lose about 35 minutes. When the bike stopped, Karel was about as far away as you could be on track. He had to push it back all the way, and because he could not cross the circuit, this included going uphill and through the tunnel. It was an amazing effort. After that, we had another slight issue, but all the riders showed incredible determination and pace to mount a tremendous comeback. I am so proud of them and every member of the team. We never gave up; we fought for every position and showed our true potential by making up over one and a half laps on the winners. I want to thank Yamaha, Bridgestone, and every one of the YART Yamaha team for their efforts. Our championship hopes are still alive; it just means our choice of tactic for the Bol d’Or is a lot simpler now, full attack.”
2023 Endurance World Championship Standings
Points TBC
- F.C.C TSR Honda France – 138
- Yamaha Austria Racing Team – 125
- BMW Motorrad World Endurance – 100
- Yoshimura SERT Motul Suzuki – 77
- Kawasaki WeBike Trickstar – 65
- Honda Viltais Racing – 64
- Tati Team Beringer Kawasaki – 46
- ERC Ducati – 38
- Motobox Kremer Yamaha – 30
- KM99 Yamaha – 27
