The historic Suzuka 8 Hour endurance race is holding its 2025 edition this weekend in Japan, with a whole host of grand prix talent, past and present, on the entry list.
An event first run in 1978, it has only ever been won by Japanese manufacturers - with circuit owner Honda accounting for 30 of 45 wins - though European brands have been mounting increasingly credible challenges as of late.
Honda is the reigning winner, after last year's success with two-time MotoGP grand prix winner Johann Zarco and the event's most successful rider of all time, Takumi Takahashi.
Teppei Nagoe was their team-mate last year, but is part of another Honda entry this year - as a complicated build-up to the event has left Honda's flagship entry with just two riders instead of three.
The MotoGP participants (and absentee)
There's never been any doubt that Zarco would once again form the centrepiece of Honda's team, given how well he took to the event in 2024. It also likely played a role in extending his MotoGP contract with satellite team LCR, something that's set to be formally announced in the coming weeks.
However, plans to pair up Zarco and Takahashi with fellow MotoGP racer Luca Marini didn’t work out for Honda, following a big crash for the Italian while testing the endurance-spec Fireblade machine at Suzuka.
Sustaining a dislocated hip, fractures to the sternum, a right collapsed lung and knee ligament damage, Marini initially looked set for an extensive MotoGP absence - but was able to make a fast return to action at the German Grand Prix, where he admitted that Suzuka is perhaps too dangerous for him.
"It's a super nice track," he explained. "Old school, with banking in the corners, uphill and downhill, grass on the sides. This is something nice to have.
"But for sure it's too dangerous for us at the moment [in MotoGP]. We're reaching a good standard at the moment in all the circuits, and sometimes you forget about this, that it can be super dangerous when you ride a bike on a track.
"I was there and never thought that it could be so dangerous - but then when you crash you realise that when you do crash, you can hit the wall in every corner. It's not so nice. Maybe you're lucky and have no problems, but maybe with bad luck you can have even worse injuries than mine."
The spot Marini was angling for was taken by Iker Lecuona, but Lecuona was then forced to withdraw from the event following injuries sustained last weekend at Balaton Park.
And with Lecuona's Honda World Superbike team-mate and previous Suzuka winner Xavi Vierge unable to sort "procedural issues" (believed to be related to securing a visa) in time, it means that Zarco and Takahashi will instead take on the race as a duo rather than a trio.
That's good news for one of Zarco's MotoGP opponents, with Honda's biggest threat likely to be the factory Yamaha squad headed up by Jack Miller. Joined by World Superbike frontrunner Andrea Locatelli and Suzuka stalwart Katsuyuki Nakasuga, they're a threat to Honda's recent dominance of the event.
A totally different task to what Miller (who last raced the event back in 2019) is used to, the Australian said the biggest challenge is not just consistency but awareness of the size of the grid and the need for constantly overtaking slower riders.
"The biggest thing is just trying not to get caught up in anything," said Miller, who's already had a fast crash during the event's build-up, "and not let the extremely fast laps be too fast and not let the extremely slow laps be too slow.
"It's all about averaging it out and trying to be as consistent as possible, considering, like I said, there's a lot of traffic.
"You're dealing with up to 15 riders a lap sometimes, some laps more, some laps less. You're slicing and dicing through the whole race. You're just kind of trying to keep that average laptime to a reasonable number."
The others in the mix
Outside of the MotoGP stars, the biggest threat is likely to come from the established Endurance World Championship teams, with the reigning champion Yamaha team YART fielding its usual line-up of Karel Hanika, Marvin Fritz and Jason O'Halloran, while French team SERT Suzuki has Gregg Black, Dan Linfoot and Cocoro Atsumi onboard.
BMW's factory effort has recruited World Superbike star and multiple 8 Hour winner Michael van der Mark to join Markus Reiterberger and ex-Moto2 racer Steven Odendaal.
Among the Suzuka specialist teams, former British Superbike star Yuki Kagayama has drafted in Leon Haslam and former Moto2 rider Marcel Schrotter to join Ryo Mizuno. Other grand prix-familiar names on the entry list include Khairul Idham Pawi, Kohta Nozane, Kaito Toba, Albert Arenas, Ryusei Yamanaka, Jordi Torres, Randy de Puniet and Loris Baz.
From outside grand prix racing, British Superbike champion Josh Brookes and Isle of Man TT superbike race winner Davey Todd will start the race, while there will also be a surprise return to racing for Jonas Folger.
How it's looked so far
Ahead of the pole shootout on Saturday, Zarco and BMW rider Naomichi Uramoto have been the two riders lapping below 2m05s in initial qualifying.
Uramoto set the fastest lap, but Zarco and Takahashi head up the order on the strength of their best combined average.
Fastest individual riders in Friday qualifying
Naomichi Uramoto (#76 BMW) - 2m04.796s
Johann Zarco (#30 Honda) - 2m04.820s
Andrea Locatelli (#21 Yamaha) - 2m05.262s
Dan Linfoot (#1 Yamaha) - 2m05.520s
Takumi Takahashi (#30 Honda) - 2m05.554s
Jack Miller (#21 Yamaha) - 2m05.816s
Cocoro Atsumi (#1 Yamaha) - 2m05.828s
Katsuyuki Nakasuga (#21 Yamaha) - 2m05.893s
Loris Baz (#76 BMW) - 2m05.895s
Ryusei Yamanaka (#17 Honda) - 2m05.910s
Schedule
Top-10 pole shootout: Saturday 3.30pm-5pm local time (7.30am-9am BST)
Suzuka 8 Hours: Sunday 11.30am-7.30pm local time (2.30am-10.30am BST)
