The Road to Suzuka Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Aprilia Teams Head for Japan Aprilia’s De Nardi First Women Competitor at Suzuka 8H The Suzuka 8 Hour round of the FIM World Endurance Championship takes place at the end of this month, and for the permanent world championship teams making the long trip out to Japan preparations are already well under way. Eight teams will be travelling out from Europe to join the 72 Japanese entries in what is widely regarded as the most prestigious motorcycle race in the world. Suzuki Castrol’s Vincent Phillipe and Keiichi Kitagawa have already taken part in last month’s Suzuka 300km warm-up race. This is the 20th anniversary year for the GSX-R model range and the Suzuki factory is putting all its resources behind securing a Suzuka 8 Hour victory and the World Endurance Championship title in 2005. Yamaha Phase One have recruited Suzuka veteran Paul Young to ride alongside Warwick Nowland and Damien Cudlin, while Yamaha Austria will take their regular team of Igor Jerman, Gwen Giabbani and Horst Saiger to Japan. Both teams have taken part in additional testing sessions ahead of the eight hour race. The full Yamaha Shell Endurance Academy line up of Marko Rohtlaan, Ben Wylie and Calvin Hogan are also entered this year, after Rohtlaan’s success in 2004. Five permanent teams will be making their first trip to Japan this year. The Aprilia Motociclismo Test Team riders will be Federico Alverti, Daniele Veghini and Samuela de Nardi, the first European women to compete at Suzuka. Kawasaki Bolliger Team are currently holding second place in the championship standings, and will run David Morillon, Roman Stamm and Fred Moreira. Their sister team Kawasaki Diablo’s James Hutchins and Steve Mizera will be joined by BSB rider Gary Mason, and Suzuki No Limits & RT have entered Roberto Ruozi, Andrea Giachino and Moreno Codeluppi. Factory supported entries from all of the major Japanese manufacturers and tuning companies will be the main challenge to the European competitors, but weird and wonderful wildcard entries are always a feature of Suzuka. Twin cylinder bikes from Ducati, BMW and Over will line up alongside the factory HRC Hondas, Yoshimura Suzukis and endurance specialist permanent teams, in front of the biggest World Endurance Championship crowd of the year. The Suzuka 8 Hour race takes place on the 31st of July.