The Suzuka 8-Hour race may have lost a bit of its prestige in recent years, and the number of GP stars on the grid has dwindled, but to the Japanese manufacturers this is still one of the most important races on the calendar and winning means a lot - especially to Honda...
Honda owns the track; Yamaha owned the race
However sadly for the circuit owners, despite using the new Fireblade and enlisting MotoGP star Jack Miller to ride it in the factory-backed MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO team, it was Yamaha's Factory Racing team that took the honours for the third year running. With WSB stars Alex Lowes and Michael Van Der Mark teamed up with 8-Hour specialist Kat Nakasuga, the YZF-R1 took the lead in the opening hour and never looked in danger of relinquishing it despite tricky conditions. And to top off a fantastic weekend for Yamaha, their official World Endurance team GMT94 also took the world title from the Suzuki Endurance Racing team.
Finally, you have to hand it to Leon Haslam; despite still suffering from injuries sustained in BSB helped the Kawasaki Team Green finish a very creditable second place on the Ninja ZX-10R. Third place was taken by the F.C.C TSR Honda team.