De Alessio Piana / Corsedimoto.com
The selection criteria for the 8 Suzuka 2020 Hours have been revised: 6 teams have their place guaranteed (among them, Kawasaki), the others will have to race at Sepang.
The inclusion of the 8 Hours of Sepang on the calendar is not only a new extension of the FIM EWC World Endurance Championship in Asia. As explained several times, the Malaysian motorcycle endurance stage will be a sort of “Suzuka 8 Hours bis”. The best teams (including official ones) from the All Japan universe will be there, with one main objective: to obtain a pass for the “race of races” scheduled for July 19, 2020. The reason is simple. Under an agreement between the Sepang International Circuit and Mobilityland (the company that manages the Suzuka and Motegi circuits), the 8 hours on December 14 will in fact be a qualifying race for the Rising Sun marathon.
SUZUKA TRY OUT
In the previous three editions, teams had to meet certain requirements to get the green light to compete at the Suzuka 8 Hours. 20 permanent teams entered in the FIM EWC World Endurance Championship, as well as the teams appearing in the first 10 in qualifying or in the first 20 in the race of the previous edition, were entitled to a place in the race. To determine which other teams would be allowed to start, the "Suzuka Try Out", a series of qualifying races, was used: the Motegi and Suzuka rounds of the All Japan Superbike Championship and the first round of the Suzuka Sunday Road Races in June. Once the list of admitted teams has been defined, the selection committee reserves the right to allocate 5 additional places to teams not meeting these criteria.
REVISED TRY OUT
With the 8 Hours of Sepang serving as a qualifying race for Suzuka, the famous Try Outs have been revised, with criteria that are difficult to understand. For the 2020 edition, based on the results of 2019, only 6 teams can now count on a guaranteed place.
Kawasaki Racing Team (EWC)
Honda Suzuka Racing Team (EWC)
Honda Dream RT Sakurai Honda (EWC)
Team Frontier (EWC)
TONE RT SYNCEDGE 4413 (Superstock)
Zaif NCXX Racing & Zenkoukai (Superstock)
Besides Kawasaki (overall winner) and TONE RT SYNCEDGE 4413 BMW (Superstock winner), the other teams obtained the guaranteed place not for the results obtained, but thanks to parameters introduced only this year. The organizers define the “ seeding status“, result of a complicated calculation (in the regulations, in Japanese, specified in two pages…) based on the drivers aligned in 2019 with their assigned score. An example ? The objective is to achieve 8 exact points. Not one more, not one less. For example, if a team has a rider who is usually involved in MotoGP, they get 5 points, 3 if they compete in the Moto2 category. Depending on the position in the race, those who achieved such a score get the green light for the 8 Suzuka 2020 Hours.
QUALIFYING RACES
A complex calculation, and somewhat inexplicable, as evidenced by the fact that teams like Yamaha Factory, Red Bull Honda HRC or Yoshimura Suzuki are currently not admitted to the next edition of the Suzuka 8 Hours. A choice that specifically wants to invite these teams to compete in the 8 Hours of Sepang 2019. In this case, up to 26 places will be allocated, distributed as follows: 20 for the first 20 teams on the finish line, without distinction of category , 3 for each of the best “Southeast Asian” teams ranked in the EWC and Superstock rankings.
With a maximum of 20 places for permanent FIM EWC teams, there will only be a few places remaining between the first All Japan Superbike race at Suzuka and the Sunday road races in June 2020.
This is why, at Sepang, we will see a large number of teams at the start, with a view to participating in the Suzuka 8 Hours…
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