Rd.3 - 8 Hours of Suzuka - Final

YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL ON SUZUKA PODIUM & FOURTH IN CHAMPIONSHIP

YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL finished third in the Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours, and was the leading fulltime Endurance World Championship team, after an intense race marked by extreme heat and numerous crashes.

The 55 teams competing this year on the legendary Japanese circuit set off at 11:30am (local time) in sweltering heat. From seventh position on the grid, Gregg Black once again proved that he is a master of flying starts. At the first corner, the Frenchman moved into second place on the world champion Suzuki, right behind the bike in pole position.

After this spectacular move, the YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL team rider gradually settled into a fast race pace while avoiding the many pitfalls of the early stages of the race.

At the end of the first hour of racing, the #1 Suzuki was in sixth place and continued to climb up the rankings with Dan Linfoot at the helm. Right at the start of his stint, the English rider made a small mistake that caused a crash, fortunately without any major mechanical consequences for the official Suzuki. Despite this delicate start to the race, the whole team remained united and focused on the goal of scoring as many points as possible in the championship.

Cocoro Atsumi put in a solid stint, enabling the Franco-Japanese team to climb to fourth place in the provisional rankings at the start of the third hour of racing.

Fast on the track and super-quick in the pits during refuelling stops, the team secured its position as the hours went by, without making a single mistake. These efforts paid off, as the team returned to the top three at the halfway point of the race.

When Linfoot took over for the final stint, a competitor’s crash brought out the safety car, once again reshuffling the cards. The end of the race was marked by an intense battle for third place on the podium between the YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL team and its main rival at Suzuka since the start of the race. The Suzuki team emerged victorious from this final battle on the track. As night fell on the Japanese circuit, Linfoot crossed the finish line of the Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours in third place, giving the Suzuki team its second consecutive podium finish in Japan.

Yohei Kato – Team Director
During his first stint, Dan crashed, but we were prepared for that kind of mistake because it was incredibly hot. Everyone made mistakes and many teams seemed to be struggling.
After the crash, we stayed focused and tried to catch up. Our strategy of good fuel consumption worked well. The riders made great lap times in the last three or four stints. We showed our performance here and this is the result we deserved.

Damien Saulnier – Team Manager
Our race started off pretty well, but Dan’s crash complicated things a little. After that, we had to be quick and resilient to move the bike up the rankings. The race strategy worked very well, and the cohesion of the whole team allowed us to progress and ultimately get back on the podium at Suzuka. It’s fantastic!
We are writing a new chapter in the wonderful story that brings together Yoshimura and SERT. We continue to build things up race by race, gathering our strength. These are truly exceptional moments.

Gregg Black – Rider Blue
For us, third place is almost like a victory. It was important for us to score points here. My teammates did a great job during the race and, as we all know, the conditions here are extremely hot. The team did an excellent job in the pits.
So, I’m very happy with this result and it’s an honour to be on the track with all these Superbike and MotoGP riders. It shows the level of competition in endurance today.

Dan Linfoot – Rider Yellow
It’s incredible to share the track with MotoGP and World Superbike riders. As for our race, the first part was quite eventful for me. Obviously, the conditions were pretty tough out there, but my teammates were fast, and the team did a great job. We didn’t make any mistakes after that.
During the final stint, I really gave it my all on the track to get us onto the podium. This third place at Suzuka is fantastic for the whole team because we’ve had so many problems since the start of the season. I’m really happy and I hope to come back here next year to do it all again.

Cocoro Atsumi – Rider Red
I am very happy to have had the opportunity to lead the team to the podium. I really did my best. The race was very physically demanding, and I wasn’t really able to do everything I wanted to at the end of the race.
Dan was able to do the final stint, and I’m very grateful to him. He did an excellent job, and we’re back on the podium, just like last year. It’s fantastic. We’re now preparing for the Bol d’Or, aiming both for the championship and victory.

YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL leaves Suzuka with a total of 73 points and is back in contention in the championship standings, where the team now ranks fourth.
The 2025 FIM EWC title will be decided at the final round of the season, the Bol d’Or, which will take place from the 18th to the 21st of September at the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet (France).