Suzuka 8 Hours Wednesday Practice Report/Results

2024 Suzuka 8 Hours

Wednesday Practice

The first practice sessions for the 2024 Suzuka 8 Hours took place in mainly fine conditions on Wednesday, save for some rain during the fourth session, which conveniently allowed teams to test wet set-up options.

The Team HRC with Japan Post triumvirate of Takumi Takahashi, Johann Zarco and Teppei Nagoe came out on top with a best across the five sessions of 2m06.119s.

Teruaki Matsubara – HRC with Japan Post Team Manager

“We made efficient use of the two race bikes. We prioritized Zarco having enough time to get a feel for the CBR1000RR-R FIREBLADE SP in his switch from MotoGP bikes. Likewise, we asked Nagoe to ride so he could regain the good feel he had during the previous tests. Takahashi was able to make progress with the setup, although he had to pit more often than usual, because he had to adjust the bike to clear the issues that came up in the previous tests. It rained in Session 4, but we were able to ride in the dry in Session 5 and get solid results.”

Takumi Takahashi was quickest on Wednesday

Takahashi set the fastest time of 2 min 6.119s. Nagoe and Zarco set best laps of 2 min 7.630s and 2 min 7.096s respectively.

Johann Zarco

“I’m glad to be back in Suzuka again, I have been training and preparing for Suzuka 8 Hours in between MotoGP races, and I think I can ride naturally, overcoming the change from MotoGP. I am matching the style of my teammates and riding faster. I could confirm the bike’s setup today, and it was a good test. Tomorrow I will rest well, and then I will work had again from Friday.”

The Ducati Team Kagayama entry of Ryo Mizuno, Hafizh Syahrin, and Josh Waters was second quickest on Wednesday. They clocked 2m06.724 on Wednesday but topped last month’s official two-day test with a very impressive 2m05.162s. 37-year-old Waters has finished second twice at Suzuka and aims to go one better this year.

For comparison purposes, the qualifying record was set last year by Tetsuta Nagashima on the Team HRC Fireblade at 2m04.942s. The race lap record was set by Jonathan Rea in 2019 at 2m06.805s on his way to victory with Kawasaki Racing Team, alongside Leon Haslam and Toprak Razgatlioglu.

2024 marks the first serious attempt by Ducati to win the iconic event for more than quarter of a century. The best finish for the Italian manufacturer at the event came in 2011 when Tatsuya Yamaguchi, Hiromichi Kunikawa and Ken Eguchi finished tenth on a TOHO Racing 1098 R. The last time Ducati contested Suzuka with serious factory backing was in 1991, when current Ducati Lenovo MotoGP Team Manager Davide Tardozzi teamed with Belgian Stéphane Mertens on an 888 RS that expired after 26 laps.

Adrian Monti
Ducati Team Kagayama Electronic and Performance Engineer

“After a very good first two tests where we showed consistent speed and ended fastest, yesterday we were exploring some different options and finished overall in second place. With a best team time of 2:06.7, all of our riders were competitive on times and we are happy with the days results.
We made use of the wet session to develop a better feeling for all riders should it rain during the race.”

Current FIM Endurance World Championship points leaders Yoshimura SERT were third quickest ahead of defending world champions YART. Only a singe points separates those two teams in the championship chase.

F.C.C. TSR Honda were fifth quickest ahead of Team Suzuki CN Challenge. While Josh Hook has won two World Endurance Championships with F.C.C. TSR he has yet to win a Suzuka 8 Hours with the France based squad.

Josh Hook – F.C.C. TSR Honda France

“There’s not one easy part of the track. Suzuka is the most physical track and demanding track you will ever go to. It’s just lefts and rights and you don’t really get a break around that place and that makes it so hard on top of the heat factor. It’s just a tough weekend for everyone. We all know how hot and humid that place gets, riding in it is not fun. But the Suzuka 8 Hours is the race I most look forward to every year. Last year I was unfortunate as I couldn’t compete due to injury so I’m very happy to be back. The Suzuka 8 Hours is the home race for the team and Honda, and we have a great bike so I believe we can do a good job.”

Anthony West is racing Suzuka with the AutoRace Ube Racing Team alongside Takuya Tsuda and Barry Baltus and the team finished inside the top ten on Wednesday.

Max Stauffer is the fourth Australian racing at the even this year. The 20-year-old turned a wheel at Suzuka for the first time a few weeks ago with the Team Kodama squad alongside team-mates Yuta Kodama and Riki Sugawara. Stauffer is still pretty beaten up from his off at Morgan Park Raceway last weekend so didn’t cut too many laps on Wednesday. The team finished Wednesday 13th on the time-sheets. Max’s dad Jamie has raced at Suzuka seven times with a best finish of fifth.

Today, Thursday, is for a track walks, technical checks and a variety of other procedures and promotional activities before qualifying gets underway on Friday. It hit a high of 30-degrees yesterday at Suzuka. A top of 33-degrees is forecast for Friday followed by 33-degrees on Saturday and a high of 35-degrees on Sunday with only a 20 per cent chance of rain.

Following Second Qualifying on Friday afternoon, the leading 10 teams go forward into the Top 10 Trial on Saturday afternoon following a final practice session.

Two riders per team take part with each rider getting one flying lap to set their time following a warm-up lap. The team that was 10th quickest after Second Qualifying goes first with the fastest team from qualifying the last to run in the Top 10 Trial.

The lap times of each team’s two riders are then combined to complete the final starting grid for Sunday’s 8 Hours. The 5-4-3-2-1 qualifying points are awarded after the Top 10 trial rather than after the completion of Second Qualifying, which is the case at other EWC events.

The 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race is round three of FIM Endurance World Championship.

Honda have 29 Suzuka 8 Hours wins. Next best is Yamaha with eight victories while Suzuki have five wins and Kawasaki two. No European manufacturer has ever won the Suzuka 8 Hours.

Click here for a list of previous winners and short history of the Suzuka 8 Hours.