Jack Miller, Jason O’Halloran, Josh Brookes and Max Stauffer in top teams
Four Australians are competing at the upcoming Suzuka 8 Hours on 1-3 August, with Yamaha and Honda putting huge resources into winning this round of the FIM Endurance World Cup.
Jack Miller and Jason O’Halloran are riding for two official Yamaha teams, while Josh Brookes joins a leading Honda team and Max Stauffer is back with the Yamaha outfit he raced with last year.
O’Halloran will race for the YART team, Yamaha’s official EWC entry, which came second last year. He joins two of last year’s riders, Karel Hanika and Marvin Fritz.
Yamaha is also pinning its hopes on Miller, who is in the Yamaha Racing Team that includes 8 Hour veteran Katsuyuki Nakasuga and WorldSBK racer Andrea Locatelli. Nakasuga played an integral part in Yamaha’s four consecutive victories (2015-2018), and is also a 12-time All Japan Road Race champion.
It’s Miller’s first appearance at the Suzuka 8 Hours since 2017 with Honda, when he finished just off the podium in fourth place. So he has form.
After a recent two-day test, he said: “The long run with Loka went well. I think we did a good job together. The pace is good, the speed is okay and I think that during the race weekend we will find a bit of extra margin when we need it – which is normal.”
Honda looks quietly confident in its defence of the crown it took home at last year’s event.
MotoGP racer Johann Zarco was part of that winning Honda Team HRC and he rejoins Takumi Takahashi. The Japanese veteran achieved his third consecutive win last year, marking a record sixth victory at the event. WorldSBK and former MotoGP racer Iker Lecuona is the third rider.
Josh Brookes is racing for the Honda Dream RT Sakurai Honda team. Based at one of Tokyo’s largest Honda dealerships, it has competed at the 8 Hours since 1980.
Brookes said: “Suzuka is one of my favourite circuits and I’ve raced the 8 Hours several times before, making the podium twice. I’ve also raced Suzuka with the Sakurai team back in 2009, so I’m pleased to be joining them again.”
Max Stauffer is also confident of a strong showing. He said: “I had a really positive test with the team at Suzuka on the R1, and I can’t thank Team Kodama enough for this opportunity once again! It’s a tough race – but I learned so much from last year’s event and I can’t wait to do it all again.”
Third place last year was the Ducati Team Kagayama, which ran Josh Waters as one of its three riders. Ryo Mizuno returns this year with WorldSSP racer Marcel Schrotter and BSB veteran Leon Haslam, who has been on winning teams there three times over the past decade.
While it’s not the longest race on the EWC calendar, the Suzuka 8 Hours is one of the toughest, run in stifling humidity on a tricky figure-of-eight circuit layout.
The last time Australians were involved in a win there was in 1992, when Wayne Gardner and Daryl Beattie raced for the Oki Honda team.
Timed practice for the 8-hour kicks off this Friday, with the main race taking place on Sunday August 3rd.
