Yamaha Factory Racing Team have become only the second team in history to win the Suzuka 8 Hour endurance for a third successive year.
The 40th anniversary of the famous race was certainly action packed, and the circuit was packed out with an enthusiastic crowd as always.
Kawasaki Team Green got off the line quickest courtesy of Leon Haslam, but soon the Yamaha squad were out front battling with Mushashi RT Harc-Pro Honda for supremacy. Honda were keen to restore their place at the top of the order after a 2 year drought at Suzuka, but that effort was halted when a Takaaki Nakagami crash dropped the Harc-Pro squad back to 4th place, easing the pressure on their factory rivals who held the lead unchallenged all the way to the finish.
The last team to win three in a row at Suzuka were Team Cabin Honda from 2000 to 2002.
Behind the Yamaha squad, FCC TSR Honda held on to second place for much of the latter part of the race before Team Green surged past when the Honda’s engine caught fire in the final few minutes forcing a lightening quick pit stop.
In fifth place Yamaha Austria were the highest placed of this year’s serious championship challengers, although this result didn’t actually affect their overall position as they held on to 3rd place in the FIM Endurance World Championship series.
On the way to Yamaha Factory Racing Team’s hat-trick Alex Lowes also set a stunning new race lap record of 2’06.932. The previous record, Ryuichi Kiyonari’s 2’07.943 lap, dates to 2012. Lowes had teamed up with Michael van der Mark and Suzuka veteran Katsuyuki Nakasuga.
The top six finishers were all running on Bridgestone race tyres, as the Japanese manufacturer claimed a 12th successive win at the legendary 8Tai.
Next year they’ll be bidding for a 13th win in a row – unlucky for some.
Check out Bridgestone’s race range here.
