Haslam wins Suzuka 8-Hour

Honda’s world superbike and supersport riders -- Leon Haslam and Michael van der Mark -- have won an incident-packed 2013 Suzuka 8-Hour world endurance race in Japan alongside local rider Takumi Takahashi on a CBR1000RR. It was Honda’s 26th victory in the event and its fifth in the last six years.

Haslam, 30, whose father Ron was runner-up in the 1979 running of the event, now becomes the second British rider to win the race in as many years after Jonathan Rea’s victory last season, while 20-year-old Van der Mark is the first Dutch rider to win the race -- on his first attempt and in his first competitive ride on a superbike!

In front of 61,000 spectators, the Musashi RT Harc-Pro-backed trio completed 214 laps of the 5.815km circuit, ahead of Australian Josh Brookes, who was sharing a Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 with Nobuatsu Aoki and Takuya Tsuda. Brookes crashed during the race, but managed to keep the bike running. Third was another Suzuki piloted by Yukio Kagayama, Noriyuki Haga and – fresh out of retirement – 48-year-old 1993 world 500 GP champion Kevin Schwantz.

“This means so much after the tough season I’ve had,” said Haslam. “The leg held up pretty well during my stints but I just want to say thanks to the whole Musashi HARC-Pro team. They did a great job and also Mickey and Takahashi-san rode really well. I feel sorry for Jonathan and Kiyo (Ryuichi Kiyonari) but it’s a long tough race and anything can happen. I’m just glad that we managed to hold on to the lead until the end. It’s a really magical feeling.”

Brookes said: "It's a great feeling, but I'm a little disappointing for my mistake in the race, because I know the Suzuka 8-Hour is great race and very important in all aspects for the manufacturers, sponsors and fans.

"When I crashed, I didn't let-go of the handlebars; I was dragged by the bike. It was like a trophy you don't want to let go of! I tried so hard, it is a great honour to be here as part of the team; and I'd like to come back again. Thank you to everyone at Yoshimura for this. The bike was perfect and I know we could have won had it not been for a mistake."

The 2012 winners, Rea and Ryuichi Kiyonari, were well in front before Kiyonari crashed in the third hour, handing the lead to the Musashi team.

Australians Josh Waters and Broc Parkes were seventh on a Yamaha YZF-R1 they shared with Katsuyuki Nakasuga; Jamie Stauffer and Josh Hook (CBR1000RR) were 48th; while Levi Day (Aprilia RSV4 Factory) failed to finish. Another Australian, Damian Cudlin (BMW S 1000 RR), crashed in practice and broke his tibia.