Suzuki is geared-up for Japan’s most prestigious motorcycle race, the 38th “Coca-Cola Zero” Suzuka 8 Hours World Endurance Championship second round at Suzuka Circuit this weekend as the company celebrates the 30th anniversary of its iconic GSX-R range of motorcycles.

A total of five Suzuki factory and satellite-supported teams have entered including World Championship leaders Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT), Suzuka lap record holders Yoshimura Suzuki, Team Kagayama Suzuki, Hamamatsu Team Titan and Moto Map Supply, along with a further 13 Suzuki GSX-R-mounted teams.

Le Mans, France opening round winners, SERT – Vincent Philippe, Anthony Delhalle and Etienne Masson – race with the #30 plate in recognition of the GSX-R. Alongside them on the #17 GSX-R1000 is Team Kagayama’s Noriyuki Haga, Ryuichi Kiyonari and Yukio Kagayama and the #12 Yoshimura Suzuki piloted by Takuya Tsuda, Alex Lowes and Josh Waters. Also on the grid are two further strong Japanese teams; #31 Hamamatsu Team Titan – Tsubasa Inuki, Hikaru Ohshiro and Yohei Iganami, plus the #32 MotoMap Supply Suzuki comprising Yoshihiro Konna, Nobuatsu Aoki and Hideyuki Ogata.

SERT currently holds an 18-point lead in the series over Bolliger Switzerland with SRC Kawasaki a further point adrift, but some of the strongest opposition on the 5.821km circuit will from the Japanese factory teams, in particular 2013 and 2014 Suzuka 8 Hours winners Team Musashi RT Harc-Pro, who have drafted-in former MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner from retirement.

Suzuki Motor Corporation will have a big presence at the circuit with various promotions taking part to celebrate the GSX-R Anniversary. In recognition of the GSX-R, SERT Team Manager Dominique Meliand commented: “The Suzuki GSX-R 750 was a real innovation in the world of motorcycling. It was a revolution, thanks to its aluminum frame that provided an unexpected lightness. With the arrival of this bike in racing it was necessary to make it different, to learn, to develop and to organise our methodology in order to adapt the motorcycle better.

“What is amazing is how Suzuki has succeeded in developing a motorcycle both able to win in races, while allowing Suzuki’s customers to ride on road every day. As I have often said ‘a racing machine is never accomplished, there is always still work to do to make things better’ and the motorcycle has evolved over the years. Today I am very happy with our current motorcycle, the Suzuki GSX-R1000, and its performance, but I will always have good memories of the GSX-R750 and its beginnings.”

The opening free practice sessions begin today (Thursday) with qualifying getting underway on Friday, with the 84 entered teams vying for a total of 70 places on the grid. Saturday sees the final qualifying sessions and the all-important Top-10 Shootout that will determine the starting grid for Sunday’s race that kicks-off at 11.30am local time.

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:

Prestigious Suzuka 8hour beckons for Kawasaki teams

The Suzuka circuit in Japan is one of the most iconic motorsport venues in the world, and the prestigious 8hours race, running this weekend, is the highlight of the calendar. The 38th ‘Coca Cola Zero’ Suzuka 8hours FIM Endurance World Championship round is set to be a hotly contested race, with stars from MotoGP and World Superbikes lining up against the regular Endurance competitors and factory ‘wildcards’.

Kawasaki will enjoy a strong presence at the event, with regular Endurance World Championship competitors Team SRC Kawasaki leading the way. Following a podium at the Le Mans 24 hour race, SRC riders Gregory Leblanc, Matthieu Lagrive and Fabien Foret head to Japan eager to repeat that feat. Fellow Kawasaki EWC competitors, Team Bolliger Switzerland will be lining up on the grid with Roman Stamm, Daniel Sutter and Nicolas Salchaud (in place of the injured Horst Saiger).

After making their return last year, the domestic Kawasaki squad called Team Green are also competing again in 2015, with a three rider team consisting of Japanese stars Akira Yanagawa and Kazuki Watanabe plus talented Indonesian rider Haji Ahmed Yudhistira.

For the big four Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, the Suzuka 8hours race is one of the biggest events of the year. Although nowadays the rules restrict how much development can go into the machines, there was a time when ‘full factory’ machines were built specifically for the event. With money no object, the bikes of old were full of magnesium, titanium and carbon fibre parts and would weigh in at an incredible 150kg. The 8Hours is undergoing a resurgence and the 2014 event saw 110,000 fans visit across the four day festival.

In 1993, the same year he won the World Superbike title for Kawasaki, Scott Russell and team mate Aaron Slight took a dominant victory aboard the ZX-7R to secure Kawasaki’s only 8Hours win to date.

Endurance Racing is an important part of Kawasaki’s racing heritage winning the World Championship with riders such as Raymond Roche, Carl Fogarty, Terry Rymer and Alex Viera.

In 1993, the same year he won the World Superbike title for Kawasaki, Scott Russell and team mate Aaron Slight took a dominant victory aboard the ZX-7R to secure Kawasaki’s only 8Hours win to date. More recently the SRC Kawasaki team have won the Le Mans 24HR and Bol D’Or a total of seven times since 2010.

Steve Guttridge, Racing Manager for Kawasaki Motors Europe said, “The Suzuka 8Hours event is one of the biggest racing highlights of the year. This massive event always produces some fantastic racing and we are particularly excited to see how our regular endurance competitors such as our officially supported team SRC and Team Bolliger will fare around the Suzuka circuit, as well as Team Green, who now have a full year of experience under their belt.”