Pucetti Kawasaki's Lucas Mahias will join Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes in the factory Suzuka Eight-Hours squad for 2021.

Cancelled in 2020 due to the worldwide pandemic, Suzuka 8 is one of the world’s most prestigious motorcycle races and figures prominently on the agendas of Japanese motorcycle manufacturers as a must win.

“I’m happy that I will be part of the KRT Kawasaki factory team taking part in the 2021 Suzuka Eight-Hours race," said Mahais.

"Racing in Japan is always very special, and Suzuka is a world-famous race. It is so good to return to Suzuka after the 2020 pandemic.

"For all the Kawasaki fans, I promise that we will make the best preparations and I will do my best to be part of the winning team.”

Fielding the new 2021 Ninja ZX-10RR, the Kawasaki entry for this year’s Suzuka event will be guided by Provec, the company that manages Kawasaki’s WorldSBK team, KRT.

The three-man squad is populated with previous Suzuka winners in the form of Rea and Lowes plus rising star Mahias who, having won the 2020 WSS600 Championship, has moved to the WorldSBK stage riding for Puccetti.