One of the closest races in the history of the Suzuka 8 Hour Race saw the FCC TSR Honda team take victory, beating the Yoshimura Suzuki Racing team by just over 30 seconds!
The FCC TSR Honda team of Kousuke Akiyoshi, Shinichi Ito and reigning British Superbike Champion Ryuichi Kiyonari, held on to victory, despite Kiyo’s crash at the beginning of the race. Yoshimura Suzuki Racing rider, Yukio Kagayama was unable to close down the BSB Champ, as the race went down to the wire.
Third place went to Musashi RT HARC-PRO, who were also well in touch with the leaders, finishing only a minute behind the pace.
The BMW Motorrad France 99 team took a 6 point lead in the World Championship by finishing the race in fourth, ahead of the previous leaders, Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, who came in 9th.
The weekend wasn’t quite as successful for British-based Honda TT Legends, who were forced to retire in the third hour of the race, due to a rear wheel axel issue.