Team HRC with Japan Post hit back from its Top 10 Trial defeat on Saturday to complete the 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race on Sunday with a third consecutive victory – the 30th for Honda – in Japan’s round of the FIM Endurance World Championship.

Starting in third position on the packed grid, lead rider Takumi Takahashi began to inch ahead halfway through his first stint before team-mates Teppei Nagoe and MotoGP star Johann Zarco combined to secure first place ahead of Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team and Suzuki-powered Yoshimura SERT Motul.

However, Team HRC’s winning margin was a slender 7.860s after a 40-second penalty was applied due to a pitstop infringement in what proved to be an anxious finish for the squad as darkness fell.

“I feel totally relieved and honestly very exhausted,” Takahashi said. “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.”

For 34-year-old Japanese rider Takahashi, the result marked a record sixth victory in the Suzuka 8 Hours, the first coming back in 2010. Another record was set with both Team HRC and YART covering 220 laps to beat the previous benchmark of 219 set by Team Cabin Honda in 2002.

“Now I’ve done six wins the only way is up and I wish to continue,” Takahashi said. “I hope I get an offer next season and in which case I will be here. But I wasn’t focused on my sixth win, I just wanted to get a gap and keep a good average pace. In my last stint I was a bit too relaxed maybe, it was hard to focus towards the end in the dark and I was getting cramps. In the last lap, at the 130R corner, I rode over a yellow armband, which a rider must have dropped, I almost slipped and that was a bit scary.”

Following his EWC debut win on his first Suzuka appearance, Zarco said: “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.”

Having arrived in Japan one point behind Yoshimura SERT Motul in the 2024 championship standings, YART will return to its Austria base with an advantage of six points after it bagged five points for winning Saturday’s Top 10 Trial, plus 24 points for its first Suzuka podium courtesy of riders Niccolò Canepa, Marvin Fritz and Karel Hanika.

Canepa had led after overtaking early pacesetter Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team) just before the completion of the opening lap but reckoned his “gamble” to fit a soft-compound front tyre counted against him as the opening stint unfolded amid track temperatures just short of 60 degrees centigrade.

“I realised we chose the wrong front tyre and I realised immediately I didn’t have a good feeling with the bike.” Canepa said. “I tried to stay in front as much as I can because I knew if they passed me, they would go away and I tried to pass back every time they passed me until Takahashi-san was too fast to pass him back. He did an amazing first stint and I regret that it was partly my mistake to choose this front tyre because I would like to have fought with him longer. I think we had the package to do it.”

Ducati Team Kagayama’s Ryo Mizuno also held top spot during a frenetic opening hour with first place switching between the #2 machine, Takahashi’s #30 entry and Canepa’s #1 bike.

In its first Suzuka 8 Hours with Ducati power, Team Kagayama lost vital ground when Hafizh Syahrin was delayed restarting the Panigale V4R at the first round of pitstops. Having slipped out of contention for second place, Ducati Team Kagayama then became embroiled in a thrilling battle for third with Yoshimura SERT Motul, which wasn’t decided until the final 30 minutes of racing.

Despite the latter losing ground after serving a ride-through penalty – handed out when it emerged the fuel tank cover cap hadn’t been replaced following a pitstop – Japan’s Cocoro Atsumi, who learned to ride at Suzuka Circuit in his youth, produced a spectacular final stint to take third place