YART Yamaha Ready to Fight for Dream Podium at Suzuka 8 Hours
The Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team of Niccolò Canepa, Karel Hanika, and Marvin Fritz, reigning FIM Endurance World Champions, are aiming to secure a dream podium at the 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race, the third round of the 2024 season, on the 19th-21st of July in Japan.
YART, who are just one point behind their title rivals in the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) standings after the first two rounds of the season, will once again be Yamaha’s leading team at the legendary endurance race.
The Austrian-based squad will be looking to build on their spectacular victory last time out at the 8 Hours of Spa Motos, which saw them produce a perfect performance to secure maximum points in Belgium. This, when added to their third place at the opening round of the EWC season in Le Mans, sees the team in a strong position heading into the third round.
It has long been the aim of the team to secure a podium at Suzuka, and they have come close before, including a fourth-place finish in 2009, the year they went on to win their first EWC crown, and in 2022, they were third with an hour to go in the race before a late crash saw them miss out.
Last year, YART qualified in second and were looking good during the early stages of the race before a minor technical issue saw Hanika forced to stop on track before heroically pushing the bike back to the pits from the Spoon curve. After carrying out repairs, they restarted in 43rd but mounted an incredible comeback to finish 19th out of the EWC teams, although they felt like it was an opportunity missed.
This year, after securing the title in 2023, the team are running the #1 plate on the YART Yamaha Bridgestone-shod R1, that is running a special Yamalube livery for the Suzuka 8 Hours, and head into the race weekend full of confidence after a strong showing at the official two-day Pre-Event Test that took place in June. Not only did they finish second overall on the combined timesheets, but all three riders set laps under the 2m06s barrier, highlighting the team’s pace.
Preparation for the Suzuka 8 Hours has been almost perfect, but the team is taking nothing for granted and will just be trying to focus on their own race, as they did in Spa. This is not only because anything can happen in endurance racing but also because the iconic 5.821km Suzuka Circuit presents a unique challenge in itself.
It is one of the most physically demanding tracks in the world, featuring a figure-of-eight layout, 17 corners, and a mixture of fast, flowing sections that, when combined with its highly technical nature, means there is no respite for riders during a lap.
Add to this the extreme heat and humidity, with temperatures expected to reach over 35 degrees Celsius, plus the ever-present prospect of rain, and you understand why the race is often billed as the ultimate endurance test.
YART currently sit second in the EWC Standings with 87 points, and due to the unique way that points are scored in the EWC, there are 35 points up for grabs over the weekend, five for qualifying, and 30 during the race. Plus, the Suzuka 8 Hours utilises a unique qualifying system, where, after the usual two qualifying sessions for each rider, the fastest ten teams participate in the Top 10 Trial, where each squad sends out two riders for one lap on their own, to decide the final grid positions.
The YART team will be joined in Japan by the KM99 squad of Jérémy Guarnoni, Florian Marino, and Randy de Puniet, who are currently ninth in the EWC standings after showing good pace throughout the 2024 season. They were on course for strong top-six finishes at Le Mans and Spa before crashes in both races saw them finish in 13th and 16th overall, respectively.
The action gets underway in Japan on Wednesday with the official Test sessions before the weekend kicks off in earnest on Friday with a two-hour Free Practice at 8:30 am local time (UTC+9) ahead of qualifying for all three riders in the afternoon and a one-hour Night Practice at 6:30 pm. Following a 45-minute Free Practice session on Saturday, the Top Ten Trial starts at 3:30 pm, with the 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race beginning with the traditional “Le Mans” running start at 11:30 am on Sunday.
Niccolò Canepa
Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team
“We are excited for the Suzuka 8 Hours! We have been so close to the podium in the last couple of years, and we really want to go one step further and make it happen. The Pre-Event Test went really well, plus we are coming straight from our victory in Spa, so we are in a strong position and ready to fight. The challenge here is different, as there is a factory team, but we will try our best to be on the podium, and we are even hoping we can fight for victory.”
Karel Hanika
Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team
“I am really looking forward to the race. The test here was really good, and we can’t wait to start. After the last two years, when we had the pace for the podium but experienced some bad luck, we hope to have a better race than before. I think we have everything we need to do it, so we are excited for the weekend!”
Marvin Fritz
Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team
“We had a really good Pre-Event Test. We showed that we have a really good pace, not just over one lap but also over longer runs. Of course, it was cooler then than it is now, so the race will be a bit more difficult. But we have a good package. My teammates are super fast, and I think we can definitely be on the podium. We will try and continue from where we left off at Spa, just focusing on ourselves, and try to have a good race to ensure we get the maximum points for the championship.”
Mandy Kainz
Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team – Team Manager
“Honestly, we arrived here in Japan in the best shape possible. I think our performance at Spa was the most perfect race we’ve ever done in the 25 years of our team’s history. We had a strategy of pushing aggressively and continuously, and we made no mistakes with that and won the race. It was like we ran a Superbike race for eight hours, and this was the perfect preparation for Suzuka. As a team, I think we’re consistently fast, and we never give up. We showed excellent pace in the Pre-Event Test, with all three riders setting quick lap times but also looking good during the longer runs. Suzuka is always special, and it has always been a dream of mine to be on the podium here, so our aim is to secure the best result possible.”
