Local flavour for this year's Suzuka 8 Hour

World endurance racing’s centrepiece, the Suzuka 8 Hour in Japan, will be held this weekend, but without the familiar injection of MotoGP and world superbike riders to bolster the grid.

In what is a rare occurrence, MotoGP and world superbike rounds have also been scheduled for this weekend, which means the 59-bike grid is made up of only world endurance regulars, the usual contingent of teams which compete in the All Japan domestic championship, and a smattering of outsiders.

The clash of dates means the event has lost some of its lustre, and the only real factory presence in 2009 is from Honda, but even then the company is only supplying three privateer teams with factory equipment rather than embarking on a full in-house operation.

Australian Josh Brookes will be on one of those supported Hondas, and he will be pleased to get out of the UK for a while after last weekend’s woes at Mallory Park (here).

Brookes will be teamed with Chojun Kameya, who is currently running second in the Japanese superbike title.

If Brookes does the job, he will become the first Australian to win the 8 Hour since Wayne Gardner and Daryl Beattie in 1992. That was the bookend to a golden era for Aussie riders, which saw them with five of the preceding seven races dating back to 1985. The other Australians to win included Mick Doohan and Kevin Magee.

In all, Gardner won four Suzuka 8 Hour races, which saw him become a cult hero in Japan. During Gardner’s period of pre-emminence, the event attracted in excess of 130,000 spectators, with a peak of 160,000 in 1990 – the year that Tadahiko Taira and Eddie Lawson prevailed on a Yamaha.

The other big Honda teams will be Kohsuke Akiyoshi/Shinichi Itoh and Tatsuya Yamguchi/Yoshiteru Konishi. Akiyoshi and Itoh won the traditional 300km warm-up event at Suzuka on June 14.

Three other Australians will compete as world endurance regulars at Suzuka:  Steve Martin and siblings Alex and Damian Cudlin.

Martin rides for the Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART), which is yet to be defeated in 2009. That perfect start will probably come to an end on Sunday, but the team will still be after big points to make its world championship lead even more resounding.

Martin will ride alongside Igor Jerman and Gwen Giabbani.

The Cudlins ride for former world endurance champion Phase One Yamaha, and will be looking for a strong top 10 finish.

Other strong teams will include Hitoyasu Isutzu and Shinya Takeishi on a Kawasaki, and Daisaku Sakai and Kazuki Tokudome on a Suzuki.

The race will again be held in the relentless heat and humidity, which adds yet another element of intrigue to one of the biggest motorcycle races in the world.

This author attended the event in 1986, and was fatigued just going to a vending machine for yet another can of Pocari Sweat, a popular Japanese soft drink. So yes, it’s a tough race.

Last year’s 8 Hour was won by Carlos Checa and Kyuichi Kiyonari, who were moonlighting from their world superbike committments.

The 1979 race was won by Australians Tony Hatton and Mick Cole on a Honda.

Honda has won 22 of the 41 races, including an unbroken stretch from 2000-2006.