After securing its fourth consecutive victory in the Suzuka 8 Hours last year—Honda’s 31st overall— the Honda HRC team continued its preparations for the 47th edition of the “race of all races” by taking to the track today—with Takumi Takahashi, Jonathan Rea, and Somkiat Chantra—for the second and final day of testing at the famous Japanese circuit.
Wednesday was marked by several red flags and rain that fell around lunchtime, effectively splitting the day in two and leaving the track wet for the afternoon sessions, after two morning practice sessions held on dry asphalt at temperatures around 25 °C.
Third at the end of Tuesday, about 6-tenths behind the Yamaha Factory Racing team at the top, the Honda HRC team finished the test in fourth place in the day’s standings with a time of 2’05”598, about 9-tenths behind the benchmark set by the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team.
All three riders took part in the first session: Chantra was the first to take to the track, before handing the #30 Honda over to Takahashi and Rea.Takahashi set the team’s fastest time—and the fourth-fastest of the session—with a lap of 2’05”600 on a dry track.
Chantra then completed the entire second session, continuing to gain experience with the bike and improve his pace. The Thai rider set his personal best with a lap time of 2’05”598, the third-fastest of the session.
Rain set in, completely soaking Suzuka’s “roller coaster” track for the day’s third session, during which Takahashi and Rea took turns leading the timesheets. It was the Northern Irishman who set the fastest time of the session at 2’18”898, while the team gathered valuable data on the bike in wet conditions.
Although the rain gradually let up, the track remained wet for the next session as well. Chantra was the first to take to the track, then gave way to Takahashi, who dominated the session with a time of 2’18”678.
Although the rain had stopped, Wednesday’s fifth and final session was also held on a wet track. On this occasion, Chantra was the only rider from the Honda HRC team to return to action to complete the test program. Somkiat posted the fifth-fastest time of the final session with a lap of 2’19”377.
Summary standings for today’s and Tuesday’s sessions
Riders Satisfied with Their Work on the Track
Chantra racked up plenty of kilometers as he continues to familiarize himself with the Japanese track.
“I’m satisfied with how things went today. This morning, in dry conditions, I improved my best lap time by about half a second. We also did a long run, and my pace was pretty good,” he said at the end of the day. “On Friday and Saturday, I’ll still have track time to keep pushing and improving. In the afternoon, the rain came, and it was my first time riding in the wet at Suzuka. I struggled a bit at first, so I did a lot of laps trying to learn and understand the feel of the bike and the tyres. Honestly, when I first arrived here, I felt a bit of pressure. But Jonathan and Takumi really helped me stay calm and take things one step at a time. Takumi has a lot of experience here, and Jonathan knows Suzuka very well too, so I’m really happy to be sharing the pit with them. The team was fantastic as well. The bike was already well set up, and I felt comfortable right away. I didn’t have to change much—I just had to get on the bike and ride, and that made my job easier. The Suzuka 8 Hours is a very important race, and I’ve followed it every year in the past. I’ve always thought that one day I’d like to race here, and now I have the opportunity to do so. My goal for this weekend is to give it my all and keep improving my pace. I want to enjoy the weekend because when you’re having fun on the bike and working together with the team, everything becomes easier.”
Rea also had a positive test: “I’m satisfied with the work we’ve done over these two days. It’s Chantra’s first Suzuka 8 Hours, but we took turns riding the bike, and all three of us riders showed good pace. The weather conditions were different today, but I’m happy because I was able to understand how the tyres and the bike behave in the wet. Whatever the weather is like on Sunday, we’ll at least be prepared for both conditions. From the team’s perspective, I’m very happy to share the pit with Somkiat and Takumi. Chantra is doing a really great job. Step by step, he’s gotten faster and faster, and this morning he was truly impressive. Obviously, whenever I can, I try to help him because I have a lot of experience and this is his first time at the Suzuka 8 Hours. He has all the talent to be fast, but sometimes I can give him some advice on the bike, the conditions, or the track. Takumi is the most successful rider in Suzuka’s history. He’s a fantastic guy and very fast in both wet and dry conditions. Day after day, I try to help him come out of his shell a bit because he’s very reserved, so maybe by Sunday we’ll have a little more energy in the pit. Here, we’re a team. We work like a family because we all share the same goal. As for the rest of the field, I don’t think too much about the other teams because we already have enough to focus on within our own pit. Of course, there are many strong teams in both conditions, but during testing it’s hard to tell exactly who’s the fastest because everyone has different strategies. I’m satisfied with our work, and if we keep this up, we can do a great job.”
Takahashi added: “Both the team and the riders felt it was important for Chantra to get as much track time as possible. The most important thing was for him to get comfortable with the bike and the circuit. Over the course of these two days of testing, his lap times improved fairly steadily, and all three riders maintained a good pace, so I think it went well. As for the conditions, they’re completely different this year compared to last year. To be honest, I’d prefer warmer weather because I think higher temperatures can be one of Honda’s strengths. Personally, I’d like the temperatures to be at least ten degrees higher. Last year the conditions were very difficult because we only had two riders. This year is different, with three riders. Johnny has a lot of experience in endurance races, and Chantra comes from a hot country, so in that respect I would have preferred it to be warmer. But this year the race is taking place a month earlier and the rainy season isn’t over yet, so that’s just how it is. Even in the wet, everyone was fast, and I think we can be optimistic. To be honest, I was probably the one most worried about the rain. I haven’t ridden properly in the rain for several years, though the same goes for many riders. But once I was on the bike, the lap times came fairly easily, and I felt better than I expected.”