Yamaha will return to the Suzuka 8 Hours with a factory team as part of its 70th anniversary celebrations.
For the first time since 2019, the Japanese manufacturer will enter a factory-backed team into the Suzuka 8 Hours. The iconic event will take place between the 1st and 3rd of August and will be the 46th time the event has occurred.
The team has only announced a rider so far as quadruple Suzuka 8 Hour winner, Katsuyuki Nakasuga, will lead the team. The Japanese rider will be joined by a Yamaha MotoGP and World Superbike rider, but they are still to be announced.
Wataru Yoshikawa, who raced a Yamaha YZF-R7 for the factory outfit in the 1999 Suzuka 8 Hours, has been appointed Team Manager.
According to the Japanese manufacturer, its "goal for entering a factory team in the 8 Hours is delivering Kando - a Japanese word for the simultaneous feelings of deep satisfaction and intense excitement that we experience when we encounter something of exceptional value – to the world by mounting a challenge to lift the first-place trophy at this storied event as fans across the globe look on."
The last time the Yamaha Factory Team claimed victory at the historic event was in 2018. During the 2018 Suzuka 8 Hour Nakagasuga was also part of the team, alongside World Superbike riders, Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark.
Since Yamaha's last win at Suzuka, the event has been dominated by its Japanese rivals. Kawasaki won the event in 2019 before Honda began its domination and won the 2022, 2023 and 2024 Suzuka 8 Hours.
