Suzuka 8 Hours

This article is about the annual motorcycle endurance race. For the video game, see Suzuka 8 Hours (arcade game).

The Coca-Cola Zero Suzuka 8 hours (鈴鹿8時間耐久ロードレース Suzuka hachi-jikan taikyū rōdo rēsu, Suzuka 8 hours Endurance Road Race) is a motorcycle endurance race held at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan each year. The race runs for eight hours consecutively and entrants are composed of two or more riders who alternate during pitstops.

History

The race began in 1978 as a race for prototype Tourist Trophy Formula One (TT-F1) motorcycles which meant the big four Japanese companies (Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha), who had unlimited engineering resources, could use them on the track.[1]

Throughout the years, the race had gone through several rule changes in accordance to the FIM, including the restriction to 750cc for F1 bikes.

One major change for the race came in 1993. Due to the high popularity of Superbike racing, which had been a support class in previous 8 Hours races, the race now centered on superbikes. The Formula One class, which at the time was the pinnacle of the race, would be removed altogether. Another category included in the race is the Naked class (for motorcycles without fairings - similar to the streetfighter bikes).

At the event's peak during the 1980s, the race attracted in excess of 130,000 spectators while presently it attracts a crowd around 85,000. The record attendance figure is 160,000 in 1990.[2] The race is part of the FIM Endurance World Championship for motorcycles and with the exception of 2005, due to the high importance the big four Japanese manufacturers place on the race, the governing bodies set a race date that avoids conflict with any of the other major championship races.

Star riders

A main attraction of the Suzuka 8 hours race is that it normally features star riders from MotoGP and Superbike racing factions from around the world.[1] It is not uncommon for a rider to have the 8 Hours race written into their contracts when they acquire a factory ride in MotoGP or Superbike. If the rider has notable success in their respective class during the season, they will usually negotiate to have the requirement of racing future 8 Hours races removed from their contract. Most high-level riders don't like racing it because it breaks up their mid-season momentum and because it is physically draining.[1] Michael Doohan is an example of one such rider who raced the 8 Hours early in his career but had his contractual obligations to the race removed following his significant success in 500cc (now MotoGP).

On the other hand, high-level Japanese riders return for the race annually as it is regarded by the Japanese as one of the biggest motorsport events on the calendar. As the Coke Zero Suzuka 8 hours is part of the FIM World Endurance Racing Championship, its priority on the international calendar, along with the off-weeks in the FIM calendar, makes this race one of the most crucial on the schedule.

Until the removal of the Laguna Seca round in MotoGP, from 2003 unil 2014, race winners had almost been exclusively Japanese, with only an occasional international-level star in the race, primarily since the Laguna Seca round either conflicted with the Coke Zero 8 Hours or was days after the event. From 2002-2014, only World Superbike stars have participated in the event, and four European riders have won, with the 2013 three-rider team consisting mostly of European riders. In recent years, World Superbike riders have begun dominating the Coke Zero Suzuka 8 Hours. Since Laguna Seca was removed, MotoGP stars have once again participated in the race, as Yamaha has won with Bradley Smith in 2015, along with Katsuyuki Nakasuga, who was a MotoGP rider at the time, and MotoGP rider Pol Espargaró, the 2013 Moto2 champion. Espargaró and Nakasuga (now just a Yamaha test driver in addition to domestic racing in Japan) repeated the feat in 2016 with Alex Lowes as the third rider.

Winners

Year Number Team Riders Manufacturer Motorcycle Laps Time Source
2016 21 Japan Yamaha Factory Racing Team Japan Katsuyuki Nakasuga
United Kingdom Alex Lowes
Spain Pol Espargaro
Yamaha Yamaha YZF-R1 [3]
2015 21 Japan Yamaha Factory Racing Team Japan Katsuyuki Nakasuga
United Kingdom Bradley Smith
Spain Pol Espargaro
Yamaha Yamaha YZF-R1
2014 634 Japan MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO. Japan Takumi Takahashi
Netherlands Michael Van Der Mark
United Kingdom Leon Haslam
Honda CBR1000RRW
2013 634 Japan MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO. Japan Takumi Takahashi
Netherlands Michael Van Der Mark
United Kingdom Leon Haslam
Honda CBR1000RRW
2012 11 Japan F.C.C.-TSR Honda Japan Kousuke Akiyoshi
Japan Tadayuki Okada
United Kingdom Jonathan Rea
Honda CBR1000RRW
2011 11 Japan F.C.C.-TSR Honda Japan Kousuke Akiyoshi
Japan Ryuichi Kiyonari
Japan Shinichi Itoh
Honda CBR1000RRW
2010 634 Japan MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO. Japan Takumi Takahashi
Japan Ryuichi Kiyonari
Japan Takaaki Nakagami
Honda CBR1000RRW
2009 12 Japan Yoshimura Suzuki with JOMO Japan Daisaku Sakai
Japan Kazuki Tokudome
Japan Nobuatsu Aoki
Suzuki S-GSX-R1000
2008 11 Japan Dream Honda Racing Japan Ryuichi Kiyonari
Spain Carlos Checa
Honda CBR1000RRW
2007 34 Japan Yoshimura Suzuki with JOMO Japan Yukio Kagayama
Japan Kousuke Akiyoshi
Suzuki S-GSX-R1000
2006 778 Japan F.C.C.-TSR ZIP-FM Racing Japan Takeshi Tsujimura
Japan Shinichi Itoh
Honda CBR1000RRW
2005 7 Japan Seven Stars Racing Japan Tohru Ukawa
Japan Ryuichi Kiyonari
Honda CBR1000RRW
2004 7 Japan Seven Stars Racing Japan Tohru Ukawa
Japan Hitoyasu Izutsu
Honda CBR1000RRW
2003 71 Japan Team Sakurai Honda Japan Yukio Nukumi
Japan Manabu Kamada
Honda VTR1000SPW
2002 11 Japan Team Cabin Honda Japan Daijiro Kato
United States Colin Edwards
Honda VTR1000SPW
2001 11 Japan Team Cabin Honda Italy Valentino Rossi
United States Colin Edwards
Honda VTR1000SPW
2000 4 Japan Team Cabin Honda Japan Tohru Ukawa
Japan Daijiro Kato
Honda VTR1000SPW
1999 4 Japan Lucky Strike Honda Japan Tadayuki Okada
Brazil Alex Barros
Honda RC45
1998 33 Japan Lucky Strike Honda & Iwaki Japan Shinichi Itoh
Japan Tohru Ukawa
Honda RC45
1997 33 Japan Hori-Pro Honda with HARC Japan Shinichi Itoh
Japan Tohru Ukawa
Honda RC45
1996 45 Japan Yamaha Racing Team United States Colin Edwards
Japan Noriyuki Haga
Yamaha YZF750
1995 11 Japan Team HRC New Zealand Aaron Slight
Japan Tadayuki Okada
Honda RC45
1994 11 Japan Team HRC United States Doug Polen
New Zealand Aaron Slight
Honda RC45
1993 1 Japan Itoham Racing Kawasaki United States Scott Russell
New Zealand Aaron Slight
Kawasaki ZXR-7
1992 11 Japan Oki Honda Racing Team Australia Wayne Gardner
Australia Daryl Beattie
Honda RVF750
1991 11 Japan Oki Honda Racing Team Australia Wayne Gardner
Australia Mick Doohan
Honda RVF750
1990 21 Japan Shiseido Tech 21 Racing Team Japan Tadahiko Taira
United States Eddie Lawson
Yamaha YZF750
1989 2 Japan Beams Honda with Ikuzawa France Dominique Sarron
France Alex Vieira
Honda RVF750
1988 3 United States Team Lucky Strike Roberts Australia Kevin Magee
United States Wayne Rainey
Yamaha YZF750
1987 21 Japan Shiseido Tech 21 Racing Team Germany Martin Wimmer
Australia Kevin Magee
Yamaha YZF750
1986 4 Japan Team HRC Australia Wayne Gardner
France Dominique Sarron
Honda RVF750
1985 3 Japan Team HRC Australia Wayne Gardner
Japan Masaki Tokuno
Honda RVF750
1984 1 United States Honda America United States Mike Baldwin
United States Fred Merkel
Honda RS750R
1983 6 France HB Suzuki France France Hervé Moineau
Belgium Richard Hubin
Suzuki GS1000R
1982 27 Japan Blue Helmet MSC Japan Shigeo Iijima
Japan Shinji Hagiwara
Honda CB900F
1981 1 France Honda France United States Mike Baldwin
United States David Aldana
Honda RS1000
1980 12 Japan Yoshimura R&D United States Wes Cooley
New Zealand Graeme Crosby
Suzuki GS1000
1979 6 New Zealand Honda Australia Australia Tony Hatton
Australia Michael Cole
Honda CB900
1978 2 Japan Yoshimura Racing United States Wes Cooley
United States Mike Baldwin
Suzuki GS1000

By manufacturer

Wins Manufacturer
27 Japan Honda
5 Japan Suzuki
Japan Yamaha
1 Japan Kawasaki

References

  1. 1 2 3 West, Phil. "10 reasons to watch the Suzuka 8-hour this weekend". Bennetts UK. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  2. "Suzuka Circuit: Race Information". SuzukaCircuit.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2005. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
  3. https://www.fimewc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/SUZ16_OfficialRaceResults.pdf
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