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Rea, Lowes and Mahias to spearhead Kawasaki Suzuka 8H assault

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Kawasaki shooting for third Suzuka 8 Hours victory

While the 5.821km Suzuka circuit itself was opened in the September of 1962, the Suzuka 8 Hour first came about in 1978 and it quickly became the most important race for production based bikes in the world.

American duo Wes Cooley and Mike Baldwin won that inaugural duel on July 30, 1978, on a Yoshimura backed GS1000 Suzuki.

Australia planted its flag at Suzuka in 1979 when a Team Honda Australia squad consisting of Tony Hatton and Mick Cole rode a CB900 to victory.

New Zealand took their first top step on the rostrum the following year when Kiwi Graeme Crosby partnered with American Wes Cooley to win the race on a Yoshimura GS1000 Suzuki.

Honda are by far the most successful manufacturers in the history of the race with 27 wins. While Yamaha have been the most successful brand at Suzuka in recent years their overall tally still only numbers eight victories while Suzuki have five wins.

Itoh Ham Racing Kawasaki ZXR Scott Russell Aaron Slight
Kawasaki ZXR – Scott Russell – Aaron Slight – 1993

Until 2019, Kawasaki had only ever won the prestigious event once and that was some 26 years before when Aaron Slight and Scott Russell piloted a ZXR750R to victory. In 2019 Kawasaki were on the top step again after Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam piloted the KRT ZX-10RR to victory. The third member of the team, Toprak Razgatlioglu, did not ride at the event but was still part of the winning team.

FIM EWC Suzuka Hour Rea Haslam GB
Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam celebrate the win in 2019

The 2020 edition of the race was cancelled due to the pandemic but Kawasaki are out to back up their success in 2021 with a three-man team featuring both KRT WorldSBK riders and a former WSS600 championship winner. Running under the banner of “Kawasaki Racing Team Suzuka 8H”, the official factory entry will seek success in the 2021 FIM Endurance World Championship “Coca-Cola” Suzuka 8 Hours event.

Fielding the new 2021 Ninja ZX-10RR, the Kawasaki entry for this year’s Suzuka event will be guided by Provec, the company that manages Kawasaki’s World SBK team, KRT. The three-man squad is entirely populated with previous Suzuka winners in the form of Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes plus rising star Lucas Mahias who, having previously won the WSS600 Championship, has moved to the WorldSBK stage riding for Puccetti Kawasaki.

Jonathan Rea

“I am so excited that I will be part of KRT and Kawasaki factory taking part in the 2021 Suzuka 8 Hour race. I’ve been on the podium four times now at Suzuka, and my fondest memory was winning the race for Kawasaki in 2019. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do the race in 2020 due to the global pandemic going on, but we’ll be back in 2021 and I promise I will be making my best efforts to do the best for Kawasaki and all our fans.”

FIM EWC Suzuka Hour Kawasaki Racing Team
Kawasaki Racing Team – 2019 Suzuka 8 Hour
Alex Lowes

“I’m delighted that I’ll be part of the KRT Kawasaki factory racing team for the 2021 Suzuka 8 Hours. Already I’ve been on the winning team three times at Suzuka. It’s a fantastic event and a really great circuit – one of my favourites. Now I’ll have the chance to push for a Kawasaki win on the latest Ninja ZX-10RR. I’m really looking forward to being part of this famous race again. We have a great team, and the Ninja is an amazing machine.”

FIM EWC Suzuka Hour Kawasaki Racing Team Rea GB
Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki Racing Team – Suzuka 8H 2019
Lucas Mahias

“I’m happy that I will be part of the KRT Kawasaki factory team taking part in the 2021 Suzuka 8 Hour race. Racing in Japan is always very special, and Suzuka 8 Hours is a world-famous race. It is so good to return to Suzuka after the 2020 pandemic. For all the Kawasaki fans, I promise that we will make the best preparations and I will do my best to be part of the winning team at Suzuka.”

Guim Roda of Provec and KRT

“The Suzuka 8 Hours is a global event, and it profiles not just the endurance of riders across these many hours but also the durability of the motorcycle. I’m sure Johnny, Alex and Lucas are the perfect weapons for this exciting challenge. Our job at Provec on behalf of KRT and the Kawasaki factory is to manage not just rider performance but also to work alongside the factory race staff to produce a Ninja ZX-10RR that is both fast and durable plus easy to maintain during pit stops and scheduled rider changes. I know this year’s 8 hour race is a big effort and commitment from many people to try come back to normality after a hard 2020 Covid year and not such an easy recovery back to “normal” in 2021. So will fully support this event to make sure the show goes on and we’ll work together with KHI to make the best result, for all fans and for all the world!”.

FIM EWC Suzuka Hour Atmos Crowds
2019 Suzuka 8 Hours

Suzuka 8 Hour Results

Source: MCNews.com.au

Motorcycle News, Motorcycle Racing, News

Honda look strong in Suzuka 8 Hours Testing

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Red Bull Honda consistently quickest during testing

HRC’s Japanese squad of Takumi Takahashi, Ryuichi Kiyonari and Stefan Bradl dominated testing at Suzuka this week. Red Bull Honda, as the team is referred to, topped all three days of testing. The fastest overall time of the test was set on day one by Red Bull Honda at 2m05.939, which they then backed up on day two with 2m06.139s before then topping the very wet final day of testing also.

Suzuka Test RedBullHonda
Takumi Takahashi – Red Bull Honda

Takumi Takahashi is in hot form after just scoring four consecutive wins in the All Japan Road Race Championship (JRR) JSB1000 class and was the quickest rider during this week’s test.

The Yamaha Factory Racing Team of Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Alex Lowes and Michael Van der Mark were consistently the second quickest team ahead of two more Honda teams.

Katsuyuki Nakasuga

“Our setup is solid for the dry, but I wanted to have a chance to ride in the wet as well, so today was very important for us. Of course I’d rather the entire race be dry, though. This test has been productive and has given us a lot in preparation for the race. Next up is the race weekend, so I’m looking forward to getting together both of my teammates, and I want us to work together to get the best result we can.”

Suzuka Test YamFactory Nakasuga
Katsuyuki Nakasuga – Yamaha Factory Racing Team

The reining World Endurance Championship trio of young Aussie Josh Hook and his French team-mates Freddy Foray and Mike Di Meglio were third quickest on day one but were pipped out of that third spot on day two by MuSashi RT Harc-Pro.

Suzuka Test FCC TSR Josh Hook
Josh Hook – F.C.C. TSR Honda

Yoshimura Suzuki were fifth quickest ahead of the YART Yamaha World Endurance squad of Broc Parkes, Marvin Fritz and Niccolo Canepa.

Broc Parkes

“Today we only rode in the morning session. Both for me and my teammates, we all had lap times that were plenty fast. I’ve ridden on Bridgestones in the wet at Suzuka several times before and I know how well they work here, so our fast times were to be expected. For this test, we were consistently quick, and all things considered it was a great three days. But for us, going up against teams with factory bikes, including F.C.C. TSR Honda, with our EWC-spec R1, I know it will be a big challenge. But you never know what can happen in endurance racing. That’s why we have to give it our all and never give up.”

Suzuka Test YART Parkes
Broc Parkes – Y.A.R.T.

Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli, Suzuki’s MotoGP test rider, partners two Japanese riders, Kasuki Watanabe and veteran Yukio Kagayama in the Yoshimura Suzuki squad.

Suzuka Test YoshimuraGuintoli
Sylvain Guintoli – Yoshimura Suzuki

Troy Herfoss had a late call-up to join KYB Moriwaki Racing for Suzuka and the Australian Superbike Champion tested with the squad this week where the team recorded a best of 2m09.275s.

Suzuka Test Moriwaki Herfoss
Troy Herfoss testing at Suzuka this week

Josh Waters will contest Suzuka as part of the MotoMap SWAT Suzuki squad alongside his good friend Nobuatsu Aoki and British rider Dan Linfoot. They recorded a best of 2m09.940s during this week’s test.

Suzuka Test FCC TSR DiMeglio
Mike Di Meglio – F.C.C. TSR Honda

Testing form bodes well for Honda to extend their record as the most successful manufacturer at the Suzuka 8 Hour. In fact, Honda have 27 wins to their name, well ahead of next best Yamaha on eight victories. Suzuki have five wins while Kawasaki has only ever won the prestigious event once, and that was more than 25 years ago when Aaron Slight and Scott Russell piloted a ZXR750R to victory.

Suzuka Test Musashi Aegerter
Dominique Aegerter – MuSashi RT Harc Pro Honda

Kawasaki have shown form in recent years though with Jonathan Rea setting a 2m05.168s lap record during qualifying for the event last year. The primary strike force for the Kawasaki Racing Team for Suzuka 2019 sees Rea joined by Leon Haslam and young Turk Toprak Razgatlioglu. That trio were otherwise engaged preparing for the Laguna Seca round of the World Superbike Championship this weekend. They are certainly race fit though and there is no question that they have the speed to challenge for Suzuka 8H glory.

Suzuka Test Sakurai Hamahara
Sodo Hamahara – Honda Dream RT Sakurai

The next time we will get to see the true form guide shake out ahead of the July 28th event is on Thursday, July 24th.

Suzuka Test SERT Masson
Etienne Masson – SERT

The 42nd edition of the Suzuka 8 Hours is also the FIM EWC season finale. Heading to Suzuka SRC Kawasaki currently lead the championship by five-points over SERT while F.C.C. TSR Honda is third a further 18-points adrift. SRC Kawasaki France did not take part in this week’s testing. The FIM EWC season finale sees participants score 150 per cent of the regular points, with 45-points awarded to the winner of the Suzuka 8 Hours.

Suzuka Test FCC TSR Foray.jpg
Freddy Foray – F.C.C. TSR Honda

Suzuka Testing – July 9-10-11, 2019

Pos Team Times
1 Red Bull Honda 2m05.939
2 YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM 2m06.213
3 MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO.Honda 2m06.276
4 F.C.C. TSR Honda France 2m06.789
5 YOSHIMURA SUZUKI MOTUL RACING 2m07.495
6 YART-YAMAHA 2m07.709
7 KRP SANYOKOGYO&wiIl raiseRS-ITOH 2m07.872
8 YOSHIMURA SUZUKI MOTUL RACING 2m07.906
9 au•Teluru MotoUP RT 2m07.917
10 S-PULSE DREAM RAC1NG•IAI 2m07.966

Suzuka 8 Hour Timetable

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Source: MCNews.com.au