Yamaha factory team returns to Suzuka 8 Hours, a return that is part of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the Japanese manufacturer.
– MotoGP and World Superbike stars are being considered to complete the rider line-up
– A retro color scheme was revealed at the Tokyo press conference
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. will return to the Suzuka 8 Hours, the Japanese round of the FIM Endurance World Championship, with a factory team as part of its 70th anniversary celebrations.
For the first time since 2019, Yamaha Racing Team is preparing to participate in the iconic event, which takes place from August 1st to 3rd in the form of the 46th edition of the Coca-Cola 8 Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race.
The four-time winner of the Suzuka 8 Hours, Katsuyuki Nakasuga, whose record in the JSB1000 class of the All Japan Road Race Championship totals 89 victories and 12 titles, is the team's first rookie. Yamaha riders competing in MotoGP and World Superbike will complete the team.
Wataru Yoshikawa, who competed in the 8 Suzuka 1999 Hours on a Yamaha YZF-R7, has been appointed team manager. The team's YZF-R1 will be dressed in white and red.
First adopted in the 1964 FIM Road Racing World Championship, the design is inspired by the limited edition YZF-R7 released in 1999 and used in the Suzuka 8 Hours that season.
The use of the number 21 is another nod to the past and dates back to 1985 when the Yamaha team was sponsored by men's grooming brand Shideido as part of the TECH 21 range. Although Kenny roberts et Tadahiko Taira relinquished the lead in the Suzuka 8 Hours on the start-finish straight with 30 minutes to go, Shideido's sponsorship continued for several seasons, as did the wearing of the number 21.
The Yamaha Racing Team logo is an updated version of the logo used in the late 1990s. The rider and team clothing, as well as the garage, will reflect the 1999 identity.
At the Yamaha Motorsports press conference held today at the Meiji Yasuda Seimei Building in Marunouchi, Tokyo, to announce the company's racing activities for 2025, it was revealed that Yamaha's pursuit of "Kando" is central to its return to the local EWC round.
According to the Japanese manufacturer, its "The aim of entering a factory team in the 8 Hours is to deliver Kando to the world, a Japanese word denoting the simultaneous feelings of deep satisfaction and intense excitement we experience when we encounter something of exceptional value, by mounting a challenge to lift the first-place trophy at this historic event, watched by fans around the world."
From there to imagine fabio quartararo on number 21, there is a step that we unfortunately have not yet taken, even if it would excite us...
Names like Augusto Fernandez ou
Jonathan Rhea seem more likely to us.
Yamaha was founded on July 1, 1955, and participated in its first motorsport event ten days later, the 3rd Mount Fuji Hill Climb. The factory team's last victory at the Suzuka 8 Hours was in 2018, when Katsuyuki Nakasuga was part of the line-up alongside the British alex lowes and Dutch Marc van der Mark.
The 46th Coca-Cola 8 Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race is the third round of the four-race 2025 EWC season, running from August 1 to 3. Tickets go on sale on June 1.
Before the EWC's trip to Japan, the 48th edition of the 24 Heures Motos in Le Mans, France, will host the EWC season opener from April 17 to 20.
