Honda win 2022 Suzuka 8 Hours

2022 Suzuka 8 Hours

Whilst there might have been drama and heartbreak behind, it was a dominant win for #33 Team HRC in 43rd Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours with the line-up of Tetsuta Nagashima, Takumi Takahashi and Iker Lecuona taking the chequered flag by over a lap in the third round of the FIM Endurance World Championship.

This win marks Takumi Takahashi’s fourth Suzuka 8 Hours win, and a first for Tetsuta Nagashima and Iker Lecuona.

Tetsuta Nagashima – HRC

“I’m simply happy! I’m glad to have had the opportunity to be involved in developing the CBR1000RR-RSP in 2021 and 2022, realise its potential, and show the world. Honda’s engineers have tested the bike over and over, and were rewarded by our Suzuka 8 Hours victory. I am grateful to be a part of the development, and grew with each test we did. I believe we demonstrated a strong Honda at the first Suzuka 8 Hours in three years.”

Takumi Takahashi – HRC

“I’ve always been unhappy with the 2019 Suzuka 8 Hours, so I’m glad we won today. I’m relieved that I managed to play my part, as Nagashima developed the bike, and I had to become accustomed to it and bring out its potential, otherwise I would hold him back. This was the first Suzuka 8 Hours for Iker [Lecuona], and he did a great job. The HRC team gave us solid support including pit work. I am grateful to everyone involved. This is my fourth Suzuka 8 Hours victory, and if I get another chance, I will aim for the record of five victories held by Toru Ukawa.”

Iker Lecuona – HRC

“I am really, really, really happy to win my first Suzuka 8 Hours. It felt amazing when Nagashima was met by the checkered flag. Everything has gone well since the Suzuka tests, the bike developed by Honda and Nagashima was superb, and I think I managed to bring out the performance of the bike. I was worried when the safety car entered the track that I would lose the gap our other two riders had built up, but we got through fine. I am grateful to the best team and my team-mates. If I have the opportunity next year, I’d like to be back at Suzuka.”

There had been late drama and a safety car in the final hour of the race after the leading season-contender #7 YART – Yamaha Official Team YZF-M1 got caught up with the #74 Akeno Speed – Yamaha Superstock bike at T13 such that rider Marvin Fritz had to dig the Yamaha out of the air barriers to get it back to the pits.

The late issue for the #7 gifted the championship leading #1 Yoshimura SERT Motul with the two-rider line-up of Gregg Black and Kazuki Watanabe taking maximum series points and third on the overall podium.

Ahead of the Yoshimura SERT bike on the all-Bridgestone shod podium was the #10 Kawasaki Racing Team Suzuka 8H ZX-10R of Jonathan Rea, Alex Lowes and Leon Haslam, with a T12 slow low-side for Rea in the fourth hour seeming the only real cause for concern over the 8 hours.

Jonathan Rea – KRT

“It has been a really enjoyable week here in Suzuka with my team. All the team staff, plus my team-mates Leon and Alex, meant that the atmosphere has been incredible. We have worked really well together, everybody from back room staff, strategy people, caterers, nutritionists, doctors – every single person in the team worked so hard with a busy schedule to get here. It is not easy to have two goals in a single season – the WorldSBK championship and also the Suzuka 8 Hours. We had huge competition here, and did our best. I feel we just came up short but we can be proud, and really proud of my team-mates and everyone else for their hard work. It is a little bit bitter sweet coming second best but I think we can fly home knowing we gave it our best shot. There were a few mistakes in the race, a few issues, but that is Endurance racing and we can stand on that podium and be proud of our efforts. Thanks to Kawasaki and all of our sponsors for making this happen and no doubt we will be back again to try and go one better.”

Alex Lowes – KRT

“It was a tough race but it has been a tough ten days for me, coming from the Most WorldSBK round, where I did not feel at my best. In the race I did the best I could. I am a little bit disappointed because I feel I probably could have done a little bit better but we were not fast enough today. Second was about the best we could do. I want to say a big thanks to the whole Kawasaki Racing Team. They have had a tough schedule, including the tests we have done here, and it is a big challenge to take on such a big event as the Suzuka 8 Hours. A massive thank you to all of them for the hard work and big respect to Leon and Johnny my team-mates, who have done a great job all week. It has been a pleasure to be here with them. Thank you very much guys. I hope we can come back in the future and do one better.”

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Leon Haslam – KRT

“The Suzuka 8 Hours is always a pleasure to come to. The team this year was absolutely fantastic. The effort from every single person – both my team-mates Johnny and Alex – was great. I think we maximised what we did and we can go home proud. For sure we wanted to win and there are a few areas we want to obviously try to improve on to do that. But for this 8 Hours we all gave our maximum; the atmosphere was great, the team was fantastic so big thanks to everyone. I am happy to stand on the podium again at the Suzuka 8 Hours.”

Guim Roda – KRT Team Manager

“It has been a very good experience here at Suzuka. Thanks to KMC for trusting in the KRT WorldSBK project to manage the 8 Hours race. We did it with big support and big help from all the KMC engineers, and we took hundreds of notes where we need to improve. Only when you stay in the action can you really learn perfection. Honda did very well, and we have to congratulate them. The second Pace Car appearance threw away the show in this 8 Hours, because for just few seconds we could not pass them to stay in the same slot as Honda. We missed nearly 40 seconds there and then it was impossible to recover the time to Honda given the level they rode at. Jonathan’s fall while trying to put pressure on them, when passing two slow riders, finally made us lose all our possibilities. Alex, in fairness, was not in his best shape after his illness. Leon made a great job and added his speed and experience. Massive thanks to all the KRT and KMC guys; they made an incredible job. And special thanks to Mr. Nishiyama, KMC Senior Engineer responsible for the WorldSBK project, who made massive efforts. Let’s see if we have second chance in the future.”

After another late visit to the pits for a Stop and Go penalty for the #7 with Karel Hanika on board, the YART bike still came second of the full season runners – and seventh overall – with Niccolò Canepa the third of the rider line-up.

Karel Hanika – YART

“Obviously, I am disappointed. We did not put a foot wrong for seven hours, were by far the fastest EWC team, and were even involved in a battle for second with the KRT Team. The team did an amazing job. During the race, we struggled a bit with the front tyre in the hotter conditions, but I felt good on the bike, and our pace was excellent. We did the maximum that was possible for today. I feel sorry for Marvin, as he rode brilliantly, and these things can happen in endurance racing, but we will be back to Suzuka next year, and now we are focused on the Bol d’Or in September.”

Marvin Fritz – YART

“I don’t really have much to say right now. I want to say sorry to the whole team and everyone from Yamaha. The podium was in touching distance, but with less than an hour to go, I went to overtake a back marker and crashed. I was not even pushing that hard at the time; I was just focusing on my rhythm. I went to make the pass up the inside at Turn 13 as he left a gap, but then he moved back across the track, and we were both on the same racing line. We made contact and went down. The bike was damaged a lot, but the team did amazingly to repair the bike in under ten minutes. I am just sorry for the team, as we worked hard all week, and everyone deserved the podium. We were fast in every session, and it hurts to finish like this. I know our time will come, and we are already looking forward to the Bol d’Or.”

Niccolò Canepa – YART

“Honestly, I am a bit lost for words. We finished in seventh, but that wasn’t the result we wanted or deserved. After the issue at the start, I had to fight back from 25th place on the opening lap and recovered to third by the time my first stint was over, which was amazing. Our pace was excellent, and the YART Yamaha R1 felt really good. Everybody did an awesome job, and we were just unlucky. Our dream has always been to finish on the podium at Suzuka, and we were so close, but these things happen in endurance racing. We will come back even stronger next year, but first, we turn our attention to the Bol d’Or to ensure we finish the season in the best way possible.”

Mandy Kainz – YART Team Manager

“It is hard to put into words the feelings I have right now. Obviously, I am disappointed, but I am also very proud of the whole team. We do not have as many resources compared to our factory rivals, but we were right up there at the front all week. We were fast from the first day of testing and were the only team to have all three riders in the 2:05s during qualifying. During the race, the guys rode superbly, they were so consistent, and it looked like we would achieve our dream of recording our first ever podium at Suzuka. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be, but this is endurance racing. I want to thank the whole team for their efforts this week; they have been incredible. We will be back again next year, but first, we are determined to finish the season as strongly as possible at the Bol d’Or.”

Next across the line of the full season contenders, the #5 FCC TSR CBR1000RR-R Fireblade with Josh Hook and Mike Di Meglio in action had fought back up the order after its earlier brake master cylinder change to finish tenth overall.

The #88 Honda Asia-Dream Racing with Showa was the next of the permanent entries, with Zaqhwan Zaidi, Garry Slim and Helmi Azuman bringing their CBR1000RR-R home eleventh overall.

In fifteenth overall, the full-time #11 Webike SRC Kawasaki France entry was further down the order than they’d have liked, with an early visit to the pits after a drop at Degner 2 from Randy de Puniet and a later lack of fuel in the tank the primary culprits delaying their charge.

Finally, of the permanent entries, for the #37 BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team it was heartbreak at halftime as the M 1000 RR ridden by Markus Reiterberger, Illya Mykhalchyk and Jérémy Guarnoni was pushed back to the pits by Mykhalchyk for terminal diagnosis by the squad with the bike unable to retain its engine coolant.

Werner Daemen – Team Manager BMW

“It is difficult to express just how disappointed I am. The entire team, especially the riders, did a very good job. It has not been easy for us here because we had never been here and had never tested here before. We made it into the top ten qualifying and performed very well in difficult conditions over all these days. In the race, we had a very good start. Ilya moved up into fifth straight away and he, Markus and Jérémy were running well over the first hours. But then we encountered this technical failure and I hope that we can find the cause very soon together with BMW so that this will not happen again.”

2022 Suzuka 8 Hours Results

FIM EWC Teams Standings

1. Yoshimura SERT Motul – 127
2. F.C.C. TSR Honda – 104
3. YART Yamaha – 93
4. Tati Beringer – 75
5. BMW Motorrad – 64
6. Team Bolliger – 56
7. LRP Poland – 42
8. Vilaitis Racing Igol – 38
9. Team HRC – 35
10. Wojcik Racing – 33

FIM EWC Manufacturers Points

1. Kawasaki – 124
2. Yamaha – 112
3. Suzuki – 104
4. Honda – 103
5. BMW – 80
6. Ducati – 17

2022 FIM Endurance World Championship Calendar

1. 24 Heures Motos: 16-17 April 2022
2. 24H Spa EWC Motos: 4-5 June 2022
3. Suzuka 8 Hours: 7 August 2022
4. Bol d’Or: 17-18 September 2022