A total of 46 teams lined up on the grid for round 3 of the 2024 FIM Endurance World Championship, ready to compete on one of motorsport’s most iconic circuits. Among them, nineteen teams are Honda-powered with five teams finishing in the top ten.
Team HRC with Japan Post took the victory at the 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance with Takumi Takahashi, Teppei Nagoe, and French MotoGP rider Johann Zarco. With this win, Team HRC secured its third consecutive win at Suzuka 8 Hours and it marks Honda’s 30th win in the Japanese round.
During the warm-up session held in the morning, Team HRC with Japan Post topped the time sheets with a lap time of 2:06.336.
SDG Team HARC-PRO. Honda set the third-best lap time with 2:08.648, followed closely by F.C.C. TSR Honda France in fourth place with 2:08.652.
The race got underway at 11.30am (local time) under particularly hot and very humid conditions, with a temperature of 37ºC.
Team HRC with Japan Post started in 3rd place on the grid with Takumi Takahashi. The experienced Japanese rider made an excellent start, and after a close battle at the front, Takahashi, who was in third place, moved to second on lap 10 and managed to take the lead of the race at the 130R corner with his best lap time of 2:07.378.
Back in the pits at the end of his stint, Takahashi handed over the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP to the MotoGP French rider, Johann Zarco who joined the track still in first place.
Zarco improved his time to 2:07 and, with a comfortable riding position, opened a 20.808-second gap. Thanks to the Frenchman’s strong pace, when Tappei Nagoe took over for his stint, Team HRC with Japan Post was still leading by one lap after two hours of racing.
At the halfway point of the race, Team HRC with Japan Post continued to control the race with a gap of 1:21.322 ahead of the second team.
Entering the last quarter of the 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours race, Team HRC with Japan Post continued on top, and with very consistent lap times and fastest pit stops, the Honda #30 still kept a 36.813 leading gap.
Although a 40-second penalty was applied to Team HRC with Japan Post due to a pitstop infringement, the Japanese team had enough margin to cross the checkered flag in first place and take the win.
For F.C.C. TSR Honda France, it was not an easy weekend as the team spent the race adapting to their 2024-specification bike, which they were using in competition for the first time, and finished the Suzuka 8 Hours race in 34th place.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France started the 8-hour race from eighth place on the grid with Josh Hook. When the Australian entered the pits to hand over the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP to Mike Di Meglio, the Frenchman rejoined the race in tenth place.
When Hook was in ninth place after three and a half hours, he had a crash in turn nine but luckily, the Aussie managed to rejoin the race in 14th place, finishing his stint as the team focus on the remaining four hours.
However, entering the last quarter of the race, Techer, while running in 15th place, was forced to stop in the pits due to a damage in the bike from the previous crash. After more than 10 minutes of team work at the pits, the Honda #5 rejoined the race in 25th place.
Unfortunately, with 1h30 to go, another crash, this time from Di Meglio, made the Honda #5 enter again into pits to fix the bike.
After this result, F.C.C. TSR Honda France team is now looking ahead to the Bol d’Or, the 2024 FIM EWC championship final, which will take place on September 13-15 on the Paul Ricard circuit and do everything to fight for a victory.
Honda Dream RT SAKURAI HONDA with a strong performance finished in sixth place followed by TOHO Racing. Another Honda-powered team, SDG Team HARC-PRO. Honda finished in the top ten of the Suzuka 8 hours endurance race.
The other Honda-powered permanent FIM EWC team, Tati Team Beringer Racing, with Hugo Clere, Randy Krummenacher and Coren Perolari, started the race in 31st place on the grid and finished in a remarkable 15th place, securing valuable points for the championship standings.
In Superstock, National Motos Honda FMA finished in fifth place in his category. It was the first appearance for the French team at the Japanese round with the Suchet brothers and Guillaume Raymond.
The French team was battling in fourth place, contending for podium positions, but with 2 hours and 30 minutes remaining in the race, the Honda #55 was forced to enter the pits due to overheating issues.
Thanks to great teamwork and the faultless reliability of the Fireblade, National Motos Honda FMA rejoined the race and finished in fifth place. This result extends their lead in the FIM Endurance World Cup with 108 points in the standings.
Team HRC with Japan Post
I feel totally relieved and honestly very exhausted. I’m very happy to have won my sixth Suzuka 8 Hours and for Honda their 30th win. I really need to thank my team-mates who are two fantastic riders, all of us together were able to accomplish our goal.
Team HRC with Japan Post
I feel good because when you fix this target and you have the victory it’s a big relief. I feel happy, proud and it gives big satisfaction. I’ve been very impressed by the pace of Takumi and his control of the race. I’m so happy with the progress Teppei made form the test to the race. The three riders were necessary for this victory because with the heat we all needed to control the energy.
Team HRC with Japan Post
Last year, I finished second and I wanted to win one day, but I didn’t think it would happen just a year later. Then, I got the opportunity to race for HRC, which I’ve always dreamed of, and with my teammates, we achieved Honda’s third consecutive win and 30th overall victory. The view from the podium was the most beautiful I have ever seen. As a rider, I know I still have skills to improve. I will work hard, using this victory as motivation, so that I can stand on the podium on my own more times.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France
It was a very tough weekend. Having missed out on private testing, we had a lot of things to try out and not enough time ahead of us. I’m sorry for the team who worked so hard. Everyone did their maximum and unfortunately the result isn’t there. Now we have to analyse how we can come back stronger for the Bol d’Or.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France
It was a very difficult race for us. We knew it was going to be very hot and that had a big impact on engine performance. The tyres were working well but we didn’t have any acceleration or power. I didn’t want to take any risks and I’m sorry I made a mistake when I wasn’t pushing hard. It cost us some time but we were already far behind. It was the first race with this bike and we have a lot of points to improve. We are going to work hard to prepare for the Bol d’Or.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France
A difficult race and a difficult season. We changed the bike just before the race. So we had a lot of new things to deal with, and there’s a lot of work ahead of us. The aim will be to fight for victory at the Bol d’Or to finish the season on a positive note.
