In exactly one week the final of the World Endurance Championship will take place in Suzuka, Japan.
The event, which has always benefited from special regulations, is of extreme importance for all Japanese manufacturers who are throwing all their strength into the battle.
After 4 consecutive victories for Yamaha during the last 4 editions, there is no real favorite this year since the Iwata firm and its star machine (#21 YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM, JPN, Katsuyuki NAKASUGA JPN, Alex LOWES GBR , Michael van der MARK NED YAMAHA YZF-R1 2019, Bridgestone) will have to face no less than the official HRC Honda (#33 EWC Red Bull Honda, JPN, Takumi TAKAHASHI JPN, Ryuichi KIYONARI JPN, Stefan BRADL GER, Honda CBR1000RR SP2 2018, Bridgestone) supported by the reigning world champion FCC TSR (#1 FCC TSR Honda France, JPN, Josha HOOK AUS, Freddy FORAY FRA, Mike Di MEGLIO FRA, Honda CBR1000RR SP2 2018, Bridgestone).
Honda already has 27 victories in the event and intends to add one this year on home soil after last year's failure. For the title, it will be more difficult even if it remains mathematically possible.
| Rank | Manufacturer / Builder | Country | FRA | FRA | SVK | GER | JPN | Total |
| 1 | Yamaha | JPN | 61 | 43 | 49 | 40 | - | 193 |
| 2 | Kawasaki | JPN | 41 | 61 | 26 | 38 | - | 166 |
| 3 | Honda | JPN | 46 | 48 | 34 | 30 | - | 158 |
| 4 | Suzuki | JPN | 30 | 45 | 39 | 21 | - | 135 |
| 5 | BMW | GER | 30 | 10 | 15 | 25 | - | 80 |
On paper, the usual leaders of the EWC world championship (Kawasaki SRC, Suzuki SERT, Honda FCC TSR, YART Yamaha, etc.) generally cannot claim victory at the Suzuka 8 Hours, because they
do not have the latest factory engine and/or the "magic" Bridgestones, but in endurance, nothing is ever written in advance... and watch out for Honda #1, very close to the official bike and which no longer has nothing to lose !
| Pos | Team / Team | Machine | Country | IMF | FRA | FRA | SVK | GER | JPN | Total |
| 1 | TEAM SRC KAWASAKI FRANCE | Kawasaki | FRA | FFM | 40 | 62 | 1 | 29 | - | 132 |
| 2 | Suzuki Endurance Racing Team | Suzuki | FRA | FFM | 41 | 45 | 27 | 14 | - | 127 |
| 3 | FCC TSR Honda France | Honda | JPN | Mfj | 51 | 3 | 25 | 30 | - | 109 |
| 4 | WEPOL Racing | Yamaha | GER | DMSB | 43 | 37 | 19 | 2 | - | 101 |
| 5 | YART – YAMAHA | Yamaha | TUE | AMF | 41 | 11 | 35 | 1 | - | 88 |
| 6 | Honda Endurance Racing | Honda | GBR | ACU | 9 | 51 | 15 | 4 | - | 79 |
The outsiders for victory at the 8 Hours are mainly represented by Kawasaki and its official bike which still holds the lap record in 2'05.168 (#10 EWC Kawasaki Racing Team, JPN, Jonathan REA GBR, Leon HASLAM GBR, Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU TUR, Kawasaki ZX-10RR 2019, Bridgestone) and the quasi-official Yoshimura Suzuki (#12 EWC YOSHIMURA SUZUKI MOTUL RACING, JPN, Yukio KAGAYAMA JPN, Kazuki WATANABE JPN, Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA, SUZUKI GSX-R1000 2019, Bridgestone).
Official testing will begin next Thursday while the start of these 8 Hours will be given on Sunday July 28 at 11:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. French time).
During the last tests, the official Honda seemed to have a slight advantage of around 3 tenths over the official Yamaha (2'05.939 vs 2'06.213), but absolutely nothing is set in stone yet since not all the crews are were not complete, especially with the absences of Michael van der Mark on the Yamaha and Jonathan Rea on the Kawasaki.
At the end of the three days of warm-up, here are the main declarations of the favorites.
Takumi Takahashi
| Red Bull Honda (#33)
“There are no 'satisfactory' settings, but I want the bike to get as close as possible to what I would like. I'm faster than last year, but I had to find every tenth of a second. And since there are three riders, not just one, we have to be in sync. Anything can happen during the race, but if everything goes well, I'm sure we'll do well. »
Stefan bradl | Red Bull Honda (#33)
“I am happy to have the chance to participate in the Suzuka 8 Hours. It's like a dream come true. It will be an important race, so I will do my best to help the team win. The bike is completely different from a MotoGP, so I have to change my riding style. I am working hard to be completely ready for the race. »
Tohru Ukawa | Red Bull Honda (#33) Team Manager
“Today, Stefan [Bradl] had a long run, while Takumi [Takahashi] focused on fine-tuning the settings. We are quite fast compared to the other teams, but Takumi is not satisfied yet. He's a perfectionist. Testing has gone well so far. »
Katsuyuki Nakasuga | Yamaha Factory Racing Team (#21)
“First of all, today we wanted to work on fine-tuning some small areas and we tried some new settings, so it was a productive day. What we tried turned out to be very effective, so I think we will continue like this before the race. »
Wataru Yoshikawa team manager | Yamaha Factory Racing Team (#21):
“Today, Kohta Nozane joined us for the test, and we asked him to work on the fuel consumption for all our machines. Nakasuga checked and reconfirmed the direction the team had decided the day before for the chassis. Even though Alex and Michael aren't there, we still test with both in mind, and try to find the best balanced bike for all three riders. I think we're taking steps in the right direction like that. »
Masakazu Fujii Team Manager | FCC TSR Honda France (#1)
« Our goal is of course to win the title again and we will fight as usual at Suzuka on our home turf. We need to take points in qualifying (points for the first five on the grid) and our goal is to finish on the podium. At Suzuka, Bridgestone tires can give us some advantages over our competitors for the title but, on the other hand, all the top Japanese factories also use Bridgestone tires. It will definitely be a very difficult and competitive race this year.”
