Aaron Morris recounts the Suzuka 8 Hour experience

Images by David Reygondeau

Aaron Morris finished a highly creditable 12th at the Suzuka 8 Hour last weekend. Originally slated to share the Team R2CL Suzuki GSX-R1000 with countryman Adrian Wagner and Swiss rider Sebastien Suchet, the triumvirate were instead reduced to racing as a duo, after Wagner injured himself in a motocross accident just before the event.

“It definitely has been a mix up from previous years this one. I never saw myself doing endurance racing but I think it has been a massive step forward in my career.

“Coming off a 4th at Le Mans in my first endurance race, then to a DNF in Portugal now to bounce back and claim 12th place at Suzuka is a great result.

“I haven’t been doing a lot of riding when I’m home, just training for the next event, but I make up for it each endurance race I go to.

Suzuka 8 Hours 2016 - Aaron Morris — Suzuka 8 Hours 2016 – Aaron Morris

“It was mine and Sebastien’s first time at Suzuka and we ran a similar pace all weekend. I qualified with a 2m11.3 and Seb at a 2m12.8. But overall in the race we were very similar. Aiden wagner was meant to also be riding but he crashed a few days prior and broke some ribs.

“I really enjoyed Suzuka. It’s an amazing track, but also a very difficult endurance track. Hard to pass, and a lot of tricky sections which saw the most crashes I have seen all year. We also changed from Dunlop to Pirelli on Thursday, so that made the weekend more difficult.