Josh Waters back on a Yoshi Suzuki

Australia’s Josh Waters will attempt to go one better when he again saddles up on a Yoshimura Suzuki in the Suzuka 8 Hour world endurance round, to be held from July 27-29

Waters will be partnered with experienced Japanese star Nobuatsu Aoki and Crescent Suzuki World Superbike regular Leon Camier.

Waters made his Suzuka 8 Hour debut with Yoshimura Suzuki in 2011 and finished an exceptional second position, which was enough for the team to invite the 25-year-old back for 2012.

“I was very surprised and honoured when Yoshimura Suzuki asked me to race at Suzuka again,” Waters explained. “There are so many great Suzuki riders worldwide who want to do the 8 Hours, so to be chosen was a really good feeling.

“I’ll definitely be trying my best and I learnt a lot last year, so hopefully this year we can go even better. I’ll spend two weeks testing in July, staying with Nobu as I’ve become good friends with him.”

Waters will travel to Japan in July to commence initial testing, reacclimatising himself with the GSX-R1000 and factory Bridgestone tyres the team will use during the historic race.

“It’s the bike that I raced in World Superbike last year with Yoshimura Suzuki,” Waters added. “The engine will be very good this year as Yoshimura supplies the World Superbike team now, so it will be a great experience. To race on the Bridgestone tyres is also a positive and they’re MotoGP-spec, which is awesome.”

“It is Suzuka’s 50th anniversary this year, therefore the result will be important to all media and fans around the world and I know ‘Challenging Josh’ will help make history at Suzuka this year,” said Yoshimura president Fujio Yoshimura.

The final entry list for the 2012 race is yet to be announced, with Waters’ great Honda rivals in Australia, Jamie Stauffer and Wayne Maxwell, still hoping to compete on a Honda CBR1000RR.