The Suzuka 8 Hours Japanese round of the World Endurance Championship has been won by the No.7 Seven Stars Honda of Ukawa and Izutsu.

The No.11 Seven Stars Honda led from the start, before being passed by the No.7 Honda, with the No.8 Suzuki and No. 778 FCC TSR close behind. The No.7 Honda then held the lead until the end of the race, a truly impressive feat. Two of the favourite teams went out in the opening hours of the race; the No.11 Seven Stars Honda was crashed by Kamada after only seventeen minutes, and the No.778 FCC TSR Honda was forced to retire after less than two hours on track.

The number 21 Yamaha briefly joined the top three before dropping out of contention, leaving the No.7 Seven Stars Honda, the No.12 Yoshimura Suzuki and the No.8 Kenz Motul Suzuki to stretch away at the front of the pack. This order was maintained until the Kenz Motul Suzuki engine failed in the seventh hour, forcing the team to retire and allowing the No.44 Weider Honda to move up to third place. Fourth place went to the No.4 Masked Rider Honda, and fifth to Honda Police National Tsukigi. Permanent team Endurance Moto 38's Gwen Giabbani shared the riding of the Police bike with Toru Kishida. Yamaha GMT94 had steadily worked their way through the field to eighth place, making them the first Yamaha across the line.

Yamaha Austria finished in thirteenth place overall. Yamaha Phase One Endurance finished in a solid seventeenth place and Suzuki Castrol - who had looked set for a good result, running in seventh place in the early stages - were able to work their way through back to 35th place after a crash.

The results were dominated by Honda CBR1000RR Fireblades, with fourteen filling the top twenty places. Two Suzuki GSX-R1000s and four Yamaha YZF-R1s also made the top twenty.

25th July 2004

Rider and Team Quotes

Christophe Guyot, team manager Yamaha GMT94: "We are very happy with our eighth position in the race, and third in the Superbike class. It's very good for the championship for us. We are a little disappointed not to be able to play against the top teams, but if we are in front of Suzuki Castrol, we are happy."

David Checa, Yamaha GMT94: "I think the team and the riders understood the race very well. We are so happy to finish in eighth place, and third in the Superbike class is very good for the championship. We have done our best, we are so happy, and I hope we can come back next year and win."

Mandy Kainz, team manager Yamaha Austria: "I feel great. The atmosphere here is perfect; we're very happy to finish, and to finish fourth in class gives us some good points. We had some small problems in the race but no big problems; it's great just to finish here in Japan."

Russell Benney, team manager Yamaha Phase One Endurance: "Something to smile about at last. We are pleased to get a nice steady result; fifth place in the Superbike class and thirteenth overall - I'm very happy. Moving up in the championship standings is a bonus - back in Europe we've got a job to do, and this will lift the spirits of the team and be a springboard for Oschersleben."

Shawn Giles, Suzuki Castrol: "It was a great eight hours race. Unfortunately I had a bit of a problem when someone ran into the back of me in the hairpin, and I'm really upset about it because we were in seventh position. There's not much I can do about it, but I'd like to come back and do it again with Suzuki Castrol; the team is great."

Anne-Marie Spitz, team manager Police Nationale Tsukigi Honda: "I am too emotional to say anything at the moment, I'm sorry. We have got the same result as last year, but it was much more difficult this time. I am very proud and very happy."

Suzuka 8 Hours - Provisional Top Ten Finishers