At the final checkpoint, the Suzuka 8 Hours race was placed under safety car conditions. As the race neared its end, the gaps were reduced to nothing, and the battle for victory between Yamaha and Honda was closer than ever.
The seventh hour of racing began in a tense atmosphere with the first safety car deployed following Johan Nigon's crash (Honda No. 55) at the hairpin. This safety car wiped out the No. 23 Honda's comfortable 30-second lead, refocusing the battle at the front. Despite this incident, Takumi Takahashi held onto the lead at the restart, ahead of Katsuyuki Nakasuga on the factory Yamaha.
However, the restart proved tricky: Takahashi had to deal with several late riders, which complicated his progress somewhat, but the same was true for the factory Yamaha, led by Nakasuga. Despite the traffic, the Honda rider set the fastest lap of the race in 2'06.670, thus opening up a new gap of nine seconds over his closest pursuer. Conversely, Nakasuga struggled in the traffic, slowing down the Yamaha in his attempt to catch up with the leader.
After 6 hours of racing, Yamaha returned to the pits, Nakasuga handing over the reins to Andrea Locatelli. Yamaha will therefore have two more stints to complete, with Jack Miller expected to take the reins to reach the finish.
For his part, Takumi Takahashi is extending his stint; it will now be necessary to carefully monitor how many more laps he can complete. This will partly determine the pace Johann Zarco can adopt to reach the finish line. The current situation, however, ensures they can complete a month-long stint.
Behind, the #1 Suzuki took advantage of the safety car to get back into the fight for the podium. During this 7th hour of racing, Greg Black maintained an impressive pace. Quickly returning to the exhausts of the #73 Honda, the Sert driver then adopted a more aggressive driving style, going all out to secure a place on the provisional podium.
However, we shouldn't risk everything. Thanks to YART's withdrawal, Sert could have a great run in the championship. Securing the points for fourth place is therefore just as interesting. There's no point in taking all the risks for a hypothetical podium spot.
With one hour to go, there's no room for error at the front of the race. Honda's lead remains fragile, while Yamaha is showing great resilience, but time is running out. Join us in one hour to follow the conclusion of the 8 Suzuka 2025 Hours and discover the winner of this 46th edition.
8H Suzuka 2025 – The ranking after 7 hours of racing:
Ranking : FIM EWC