2018 Suzuka 8 Hours Entry List | Preview

2018 Suzuka 8 Hour Entry List

Suzuka 8 Hours teams prepare for EWC finale

The 2018 Suzuka 8 Hours is quickly approaching, with manufacturers announcing their line-ups, with the event sure to be a competitive one, with any of a number of teams in with a good chance.

Yamaha has high hopes for Suzuka

The Yamaha Factory Racing Team will return to challenge for a record-breaking fourth consecutive Suzuka victory. They will be contesting alongside the Endurance World Championship (EWC) regulars: the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team and the defending EWC Champions, the GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team.

Making a sensational debut in 1998, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the YZF-R1 production superbike, and to highlight the occasion the race bikes for all three teams will sport a special red-white livery. The colour scheme is adorned with the iconic “YZF” and “R1” logos of the first-generation R1, as well as a special commemorative 20th anniversary logo. As Yamaha seeks an unprecedented four consecutive wins as well as a second back-to-back EWC title, the slogan for this year’s Suzuka 8 Hours is “R1evolution: The “R” Evolution Sparking a Revolution”.

The Yamaha Factory Racing Team that secured Yamaha’s first-ever hat trick of wins at the 8 Hours will once again feature Japanese racing legend Katsuyuki Nakasuga and World Superbike stars Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark. The team will again be led by Wataru Yoshikawa, the manager of Yamaha’s factory team in the All Japan Road Race Championship.

Michael van der Mark – Yamaha Factory Racing Team

“I’m really honoured to be asked again to be a part of the Yamaha Factory Racing Team for the Suzuka 8 Hours. We had an amazing race last year and I have the feeling that, together with my teammates Alex and Nakasuga-san, we can have another good result in the race to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Yamaha YZF-R1!”

Riding for the GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team, in their quest for a second straight title, are endurance racing specialist David Checa, former Moto2 and MotoGP rider Mike Di Meglio and 2017 EWC Riders Champion Niccolò Canepa. The French team is currently second in the standings, with just a 10-point margin to first thanks to a fantastic win at the Bol d’Or, a second place at the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring, and a third at the 8 Hours of Oschersleben.

David Checa – GMT94 Yamaha Official EWC Team

“I love racing in Japan and coming to Suzuka is always a great pleasure. I’m so excited for the race!”

The YART Yamaha Official EWC Team’s roster to handle pre-race tests and the gruelling eight-hour race features long-time veteran Broc Parkes, 2016 German IDM Superbike Champion Marvin Fritz, former World Superbike racer Max Neukirchner and young Japanese superbike racer Takuya Fujita. Despite some unlucky DNFs, their win at the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring puts them 13th in the standings before the race in Suzuka.

Parkes Broc Parkes – YART Official Yamaha EWC Team

“I’m really looking forward to Suzuka this year. We have a strong team and our bike is a lot better this year, and with Bridgestone tyres I think we have a good chance to battle with the guys at the top.”

Honda to make strong showing

Honda is back with a vengeance this year to put an end to Yamaha’s winning streak.

Team HRC is returning to the fray after a 10-year absence, with Takumi Takahashi, Takaaki Nakagami and Leon Camier in the saddle of the CBR1000RR SP2.

Like Yamaha, Honda is looking not just to win the Suzuka 8 Hours with the factory machine, but also to earn a first-ever FIM world championship title for a Japanese team: F.C.C. TSR Honda France, who arrive in Suzuka at the top of the standings with rider trio Freddy Foray, Josh Hook and Alan Techer.

Masakazu Fujii – F.C.C. TSR Honda France Team Manager

“This season, our most important target was clear. Our ultimate goal is to win the world championship. If there is any chance we can win at Suzuka, we will obviously go for it, but our main objective is to win the championship. The Suzuka circuit is our home ground. Our factory is only 500 metres from the circuit. So we don’t ever want to lose at Suzuka. We will only be able to win the FIM EWC championship title if we finish before GMT94, and that’s our goal. But, of course, we’ll also try to win the race: that’s just what you do in Endurance. So we’ll do our utmost to finish in the best possible position.”

A veritable fleet of Hondas will be lining up on the grid: Musashi RT Harc-Pro Honda (Dominique Aegerter, PJ Jacobsen and Ryo Mizuno), a three-time winner at Suzuka; KYB Moriwaki Motul Racing (Ryuichi Kiyonari, Yuki Takahashi and Dan Linfoot), Au&Teluru MotoUp RT (Kosuke Akiyoshi, Tetsuta Nagashima and Isaac Viñales) and Honda Dream RT Sakurai (Sodo Hamahara and Shinichi Ito).

Honda will also field Honda Asia-Dream Racing with Troy Herfoss, Indonesian Andi Farid Izdihar and Malaysian Zaqhwan Zaidi making for an all south-east Asia trio.

Suzuki and Kawasaki to make focused effort

Yoshimura Suzuki Motul Racing will be the Suzuki spearhead, with Takuya Tsuda, Sylvain Guintoli, Bradley Ray and Kazuki Watanabe riding (the final trio will be announced later).

Yohei Kato – Yoshimura Suzuki MOTUL Racing Team Manager

“Yoshimura Suzuki MOTUL racing is going to take part in the 41st FIM Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance World Championship. Yoshimura Suzuki MOTUL Racing is calling four riders, Sylvain Guintoli & Takuya Tsuda, the Suzuki MotoGP test riders, Bradley Ray, one of the most distinctive riders in the British Superbike, and Kazuki Watanabe, the new Yoshimura JSB1000 rider. Yoshimura Suzuki MOTUL Racing will select three riders to make the strongest package for the final race. Suzuka 8 hours this year will be the one of the hardest races because in addition to the Yamaha Factory team who have won for the past three years, Honda has a reorganised factory team and Kawasaki will take a part with a world champion rider. Yoshimura and Suzuki worked together more than ever to make the GSX-R1000R faster to challenge these rival teams. In 2017, our crash in the second lap made Yoshimura Suzuki supporters really disappointed. This year, I make a promise to all who supports us that Yoshimura Suzuki MOTUL Racing will beat the factory teams with great riders and powerful teamwork. Let’s enjoy two years’ worth of Suzuka 8 hours. Thank you very much for your great support of Yoshimura Suzuki MOTUL Racing. I’ve Got The Power!”

MotoMapSupply’s GSX-R with Yoshihiro Konno, Josh Waters and Nobuatsu Aoki in the saddle will also be worth keeping an eye on. This with be Waters’ eighth Suzuka 8 Hour campaign, the Mildura based reigning Aussie Superbike Champion finished second twice, in 2011 and 2014.

Then there is Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (Vincent Philippe, Etienne Masson and Gregg Black), who will be going all out to wrest back a spot in the championship Top 5.

Aaron Morris is joining the R2CL squad for the Suzuka 8 Hour to make for yet another Aussie on the grid.

Kawasaki have already made a splash by announcing the Kawasaki Team Green line-up of Kazuma Watanabe, Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam.

While Eva RT Webike Trick Star (Anthony West and Osamu Deguchi) will also be flying the flag for Kawasaki.

BMW holding its own

Mercury Racing (Karel Hanika) and NRT48 (Kenny Foray, Peter Hickman and Julien da Costa) will be competing to be the best-placed BMW in the championship standings, but two other S1000RR-mounted teams – BMW Motorrad 39 (Daisaku Sakai with brothers Damian and Alex Cudlin) and BMW Financial Services (Shinya Takeishi, Michael Laverty and Christian Iddon) are worth keeping an eye on too.

While there are quite a number of BMW teams there is only a single Ducati and a single Aprilia entry up against the Japaneses hordes.

A round of tests is scheduled at Suzuka in early July, but the real face-off of the Suzuka 8 Hours will take place on 27 July when the first official test gets underway.