The official team of the Tokyo house returns to win the most iconic event on the EWC scene. Jonathan Rea’s usual determination is not enough to help Kawasaki repeat the 2019 triumph. Suzuki on the podium, bad Yamaha
Federico Mariani
The Suzuka 8 Hours smiles back to Honda. The Tokyo house had not imposed itself in the most iconic Fim Ewc event for eight years. The team of Tetsuta Nagashima, Takumi Takahashi and Iker Lecuona took the Cbr-RR of the official HRC team in Japan to victory. Second was Kawasaki, winner of the last edition held in 2019. This time the team made up of Superbike protagonists Jonathan Rea, Leon Haslam and Alex Lowes failed to repeat the success. Third place for the Suzuki of the Yoshimura SERT Motul team, with the French Gregg Black and the Japanese Kazuki Watanabe.
the race
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After tests often held in wet track conditions, the race takes place on dry asphalt. Despite the entry of the Safety Car on two occasions, the official Honda line-up led the race at an unsustainable pace for anyone, with a Nagashima in great shape. Kawasaki tried to resist, despite a gap that widened more and more with each stint. The green team’s remaining hopes for a comeback were extinguished with Rea’s crash: the six-time Superbike champion crashed at the last chicane of the track. Damaged bike, but still repairable and usable to finish in second position. It went worse for the Yamaha team, which, despite the excellent recovery of Niccolò Canepa, saw third place fade due to an accident by Marvin Fritz.
revelation
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The Suzuka 8 Hours relaunches Iker Lecuona’s talent. Among the members of the winning trio, the 22-year-old Spaniard was making his absolute debut in this type of competition and did not look disfigured. After the excellent performances in Superbike, the Honda rider gets another confirmation of his great potential. A nice revenge after the disappointing experience in MotoGP riding Ktm from 2020 to 2021.
fear
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Motorsport, however, is awaiting further updates from Japan. Yesterday, in fact, during the second free practice, the British driver Gino Rea ran into a terrible accident in the last chicane of the track. His conditions immediately appeared very serious. He was flown to the nearest hospital by helicopter, undergoing an operation to repair the damage to his head and chest. Rea would currently be in a coma.
rankings
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This is the top 5 of the Suzuka 8 Hours:
2. Kawasaki Racing Team, 1 lap away
3. Yoshimura SERT Motul, 2 laps away
4. S-Pulse Dream Racing, 4 laps
5. Toho Racing, 4 laps away
Below is the general classification of the EWC World Championship after three races:
1. Yoshimura SERT Motul 137.5
2. FCC TSR Honda France 104
3. YART – Yamaha Official Team CAE 93
4. TATI Team Beringer Racing 75
5. BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team 64
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