The 2018-2019 FIM EWC champions Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar are revving up to go after the 2022 title, thanks to now running the same Magneti Marelli electronics as some of the top teams.
Gilles Stafler has also rejigged the riders in the saddle of the 2022 factory ZX-10RR.
Randy de Puniet is making a comeback. The former MotoGP rider has already previously taken Kawasaki to the podium of the 2016 Bol d’Or and the 2017 24 Heures Motos. He was also on the second step of the 2021 Bol d’Or podium with Moto Ain.
Randy de Puniet
“I choose to join the SRC Team because I know the team very well since Gilles recruited me in 2016 and then made two seasons in 2017 and 2018 with excellent results but unfortunately without victory. The team is very competitive, the bike is performing well and should be even better this season. My teammates are fast with a lot of experience in endurance racing. The objective is of course to fight for the victory and the championship. In a way, I’m going back home to finish writing this story!”
Randy de Puniet
Florian Marino has contributed over the past three seasons to the progress of the privateer team VRD Igol Experiences. Formerly a rider in the FIM Supersport championship, he will be riding with Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar for the first time.
Florian Marino
“First of all, Kawasaki reminds me of great memories. I already have a history with this brand with which I participated in the World Supersport Championship in 2013, to finish 3rd the following season. I also think there is a link because of my role (test rider) with Alex Lowes in the KRT (Kawasaki Racing Team) in World Superbike, but also because my manager, Fabien Foret, has ridden for this team in the past, with whom he has maintained a close relationship. So, I would say that this choice was rather coherent and matches a period of my career where I feel ready to join a team of this level.”
Etienne Masson is the most seasoned endurance racer of the three. He has ridden for Suzuki since 2013 and has already won three FIM world championship titles in 2015, 2016 and 2019-2020 with Suzuki Endurance Racing Team.
Etienne Masson
“This is one of the most successful teams in the paddock, not so long ago we were fighting for the world crown and it was Gilles’ team that had the last word. With a good bike and such an experienced team, I think we can start with a lot of peace of mind.”
Gilles Stafler – Team Manager
“We will have to work fast and well. It’s a new bike with new electronics but I’ve been asking for this equipment for years, so it’s up to me to make sure it works. I’m really satisfied that Kawasaki are giving us a helping hand this year. It’s a very interesting new challenge with new riders. We should start riding after mid-January and I’m quite optimistic. The competition is making progress too and anything can happen in an endurance race, but we’ll do our best to get concrete results in 2022.”
This weekend will see the Suzuka 8 Hours take place in Japan as the 2019 FIM Endurance World Championship grand finale, with seven Australians taking part between the 8 Hours and 4 Hours events.
2018 Suzuka 8 Hour
The Suzuka 8 Hours has run since 1978, with many Aussie racers making their mark over the years, including Tony Hatton, Michael Cole, Kevin Magee, Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner and Daryl Beattie.
The three time Australian Superbike Champion Josh Waters lines up with the MotoMap S.W.A.T team again for the fourth year in a row, with 2019 marking Waters’ ninth year racing at the Suzuka 8 Hours event.
Josh Hook – F.C.C. TSR Honda – Image by PSP/Mateus Mjagielski
The Mildura based rider will team up with former World 250cc/500cc/MotoGP racer, Nobuatsu Aoki for the sixth time, as well as former BSB rider Dan Linfoot, former. For 2019, Waters, Aoki and Linfoot are competing in the Superstock class.
Former World Supersport and Superbike racer Mark Aitchison takes to the grid with the Will-Raise RS-Itoh Kawasaki Racing Team, with the 35-year-old having been competing in the MFJ Superbike All Japan Road Race Championship for the satellite Kawasaki squad.
Mark Aitchison and the Will-Raise RS-Itoh Kawasaki Racing Team
Aitchison tested with the Kawasaki team for the 8 Hours Suzuka Program and his lap times were good enough to get the nod for a start this weekend. Aitchison, who hails from the Gold Coast, and his team have had two tests at Suzuka, which saw most of the European and Japanese teams present, as well as one private test.
Aitchison’s teammates for the Suzuka 8 Hours will be Akira Yanagawa, and Ryosuke Iwato, who currently rides for Kawasaki Japan as part of their factory effort.
Mark Aitchison
“The last official test was a great experience, as basically the whole EWC championship was on hand to the 8 Hours race weekend. Testing went well enough to this point, though in Japan the weather conditions are always challenging. So, it’s a matter of compromise between you and your teammates on setup. It’s Ryosuke first year as factory rider and I understand why they gave him the opportunity. He’s an extremely talented rider and his lap times at the recent test turned some heads from the top Kawasaki bosses. I think he’s got a great future ahead of him. I really love the fans energy and enthusiasm that they bring. On top of that, the event itself brings its own unique platform, which combined with spectator involvement provides such an exciting and enjoyable weekend.”
27-year-old Aaron Morris reunites with the Paris based R2CL team, in what was a last-minute call up by the team on Saturday. Morris, who is competing in the Australian Superbike Championship with the Maxima BMW team, competed with the R2CL outfit throughout the 2016 EWC championship. 2016 saw Morris and his team finishing fourth at their Le Mans debut, twelfth at Suzuka and ninth in the teams FIM EWC Championship standing.
Aaron Morris – Image by TBG
Morris will certainly be up against it this weekend, with no testing and riding for the first time with his teammates, Yoshihiro Konno and Josh Elliott, while coming to terms with the Suzuki GSX-R1000R on a track which he’s admitted to be his favourite.
Aaron Morris
“I’d love to improve on my best placed finish of twelfth we scored in 2016. We didn’t have a base set up, so we starting again and with three riders it’s hard to have a direction which everyone is happy with.”
2019 marks the first time in Paul Byrne’s career that he will race at Suzuka, joining TEAM SUGAI Racing Japan for the 4 Hours event. Kazu Kuroda from K1 Racing contacted the Irishman and now Australian citizen, a few weeks ago to see if he interested in racing on the team’s Honda CBR600RR. Byrne, 34, previously worked with Kuroda back in 2016, when he was his mechanic racing the International Island Classic and the International Festival of Speed on the DMR Harris XR69.
Paul Byrne joins TEAM SUGAI Racing Japan
Byrne has had to learn the 18-corner circuit, as well as get his head around riding the Aprilia RSV4 machine, a bike he hadn’t ridden before, taking part in the official three-day test.
Paul Byrne
“I mentioned to Kazu that I had an interest in doing some endurance racing in Japan and finally its all come together for the first time, which I’m really grateful for. The first day was about just learning and trying to get as many laps done as possible plus. I really enjoyed the challenge. The second day I was a lot more relaxed and I started to push a bit harder and my lap times came down. But the main objective of the test was for me to help my teammate, Sugai Yoshiyuki with feedback. On top of that I just wanted to get some laps on track to learn it ahead of this weekend.”
Other Aussies to keep an eye out for over the weekend are full-season FIM Endurance World Championship competitors Broc Parkes (YART – Yamaha) and reigning Champ, Josh Hook (F.C.C. TSR Honda France). Also contesting is current Australian Superbike Champion Troy Herfoss (KYB Moriwaki Racing Team).
Broc Parkes (YART – Yamaha) – Image by PSP/Mateus Mjagielski
Hook and the F.C.C. TSR Honda France team are currently sitting third in the Championship; with a strong fourth-fastest finish at the Official Test and topping the times at yesterday’s practice as the quickest of the full-season FIM EWC Team.
YART’s lucky number seems to be five. Currently sitting fifth in the standings and posting the fifth-fastest time at yesterday’s practice, Parkes and his teammates all were quick and consistent.
The Suzuka 8 Hours is just over a month away and the 2019 race is shaping up to be a memorable one, with the Japanese factory teams entering the race with one clear objective: taking the win to dash Yamaha Factory Racing Team’s (YART’s) hopes of a fifth consecutive victory.
Suzuka 8 Hour 2018
The 42nd edition of the Suzuka 8 Hours is also the FIM EWC season finale. Team SRC Kawasaki France, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team and reigning champions F.C.C. TSR Honda France are the contenders for the title.
Unbeaten at the Suzuka 8 Hours since 2015, Yamaha Factory Racing Team are once again fielding their 2017 and 2018 winning line-up. Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark will be riding a Yamaha Tech 21 Shiseido in the historic colours of the first-ever factory machine to be entered by Yamaha in 1985 as they target a fifth straight win. The other Japanese manufacturers are hoping to scupper Yamaha Factory’s plans.
YART Yamaha
Kawasaki are returning to Suzuka with a KRT factory team. After finishing on the podium for the last three years as Kawasaki Team Green, this year Kawasaki Racing Team are targeting the win with riders Jonathan Rea, Leon Haslam and Toprak Razgatlioglu. The three riders are among the FIM Superbike World Championship’s Top 7. Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam finished 3rd at Suzuka last year with Kawasaki Team Green.
As to Suzuki, Yoshimura have announced a line-up of seasoned riders. Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli, Suzuki’s MotoGP test rider, will be in the saddle partnering two Japanese riders, Kasuki Watanabe and veteran Yukio Kagayama, who is making a comeback in the Yoshimura colours. He finished second at Suzuka in 2011 before entering his own Team Kagayama, who monopolised the third step of the podium from 2013 to 2015.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France
The Honda colours will predominate at Suzuka. Having returned to the Suzuka race last year, Honda HRC have lined up Takumi Takahashi, the current leader in the JSB1000 Japanese Superbike and three-time winner of the Suzuka 8 Hours, alongside Ryuichi Kiyonari, the FIM Superbike World Championship rider with four Suzuka wins to his credit, and HRC’s MotoGP test rider Stefan Bradl all partnering to ride the Red Bull Honda #33.
The Honda fleet also includes Musashi RT Harc-Pro Honda, au Teluru RT, KYB Moriwaki Racing, Honda Asia Dream and Honda Dream RT Sakurai, not to mention F.C.C. TSR Honda France, who are still in with a chance of winning the 2018-2019 FIM EWC title, and Honda Endurance Racing, who will be seeking retaliation after being forced to withdraw at Oschersleben.
Team SRC Kawasaki France
In the run-up to the Grand Finale, Team SRC Kawasaki France lead the standings with 132 points ahead of Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, with 127 points, and F.C.C. TSR Honda France, with 109.
Their goal is to take on the top Japanese teams on their home ground and seize the opportunity offered by the season finale to score 150% of the regular points in order to claim the world title with 45 points are awarded to the winner of the Suzuka 8 Hours.
The 42nd edition of the Suzuka 8 Hours will be held in Japan on Sunday 28 July.
Josh Hook, Freddy Foray and Mike Di Meglio have claimed the 8 Hours of Oschersleben win in the Endurance World Championship for F.C.C. TSR Honda France, from Team SRC Kawasaki France (who now lead the FIM Endurance World Championship) and VRD Igol Pierret Expériences. With a 4th-place finish, Moto Ain claimed both the Superstock win and the FIM Endurance World Cup.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France topped the podium – 8 Hours of Oschersleben
The podium was starting to look like a done deal, with four of the favourites battling it out in the lead from the race start, when big drama shook things up an hour and a half before the finish at Oschersleben. YART Yamaha’s engine failure while they were locked in battle with F.C.C. TSR Honda France for the win caused Honda Endurance Racing, then in 4th place, to crash, throwing the end of the race wide open.
Broc Parkes – YART
“The Oschersleben 8 Hour ended for us about 1.5hrs from the end, Marvin was on the bike when it caught fire on track and they had to bring it back on the trailer. We were leading the race and had a good chance of the win. There’s nothing else we could have done today, we all rode great, no mistakes and consistent pace so its a shame it had to end early.”
F.C.C. TSR Honda France, the 2018 race winner, triumphed ahead of Team SRC Kawasaki France. The Kawasaki riders Jérémy Guarnoni, David Checa and Erwan Nigon made it to the second step of the podium. Most importantly, they lifted the factory Kawasaki to the top of the provisional standings in the run-up to the grand finale at Suzuka.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France – 8 Hours of Oschersleben
For VRD Igol Pierret Expériences (Florian Alt, Florian Marino and Xavier Siméon), their third-place podium finish was as good as a win. The Yamaha-supported team secured their first podium in their first Formula EWC season.
Fourth-place finishers Moto Ain also savoured victory. Roberto Rolfo, Robin Mulhauser and Stefan Hill led the Superstock class for 204 of the total 303 laps run. They secured the Superstock win at Oschersleben ahead of Wójcik Racing Team 2 and BMRT 3D Maccio Racing. Above all, they won Moto Ain’s first-ever FIM Endurance World Cup.
Their battle with GERT56 by GS Yuasa for the Cup was closely fought. The BMW-mounted German team, who were leading the world standings before Oschersleben, finished the race in 13th place after running out of fuel and experiencing electrical issues.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France – 8 Hours of Oschersleben
The Superstock teams were particularly competitive in Germany. Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers ran a solid race in 9th place to win the Anthony Delhalle EWC Spirit Trophy singling out the fighting spirit of an entire team. No Limits Motor Team and Team 33 Coyote Louit Moto, 11th and 12th at the finish, also delivered a noteworthy performance. Junior Team LMS Suzuki were a contender for the FIM World Cup early on in the race, but a crash relegated them to 17th at the finish line.
Like Junior Team LMS Suzuki, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team had a tough race with two crashes and finished 10th. The standings leader before the race in Germany, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team will get to Suzuka with a five-point lag behind Team SRC Kawasaki France.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France – 8 Hours of Oschersleben
Another of the favourites who got unlucky were ERC-BMW Motorrad Endurance. They got off to a good start, but finished 19th after colliding with another bike.
These upsets should not overshadow two excellent performances at Oschersleben. Fany Gastro BMW Motorrad by Mercury Racing (Karel Hanika, Ondrej Jezek and Ladislav Chmelik) secured their finest result this season with a 5th-place finish. Likewise, Webike Tati Team Trick Star were 7th at the finish. Julien Enjolras and Kevin Denis had clearly got the measure of their new EWC Kawasaki with the help of Bastien Mackels at Oschersleben.
