Rea wins Suzuka 8 Hour

World Superbike star Jonathan Rea has become the first Briton to win the prestigious Suzuka 8 hour endurance race in Japan, teaming with Kosuke Akiyoshi to bring home Honda’s 25th victory in the iconic event.

The pair won the race by nearly four laps from a second Honda team (Tatsuya Yamaguchi and Yuki Takahashi), while Yamaha Motor France (David Checa and Kenny Foray) finished third.

Australian duo Wayne Maxwell and Jamie Stauffer finished in a solid sixth place, while more Aussies in the shape of Cameron Donald and Jason O’Halloran teamed with John McGuinness to conclude the race in 10th. Both teams were also Honda mounted.

Rea and Akiyoshi, who finished third together in the 2010 8 hour, were joined on the Suzuka podium by former Honda World Superbike rider, Tadayuki Okada, who was the team’s reserve rider.

“I’m so happy to get a win in such a huge race as the Suzuka 8 hour,” said Rea. “I really appreciate the efforts of Kosuke Akiyoshi, Tady Okada, Honda and all the F.C.C. TSR team staff. Kosuke was riding very, very fast, and Tady gave me a lot of really useful advice. I want to thank them both so much.”

Meanwhile, Australia’s Josh Waters – teamed with Leon Camier and Nobuatsu Aoki -- was an early leader on his Yoshimura Suzuki but an engine ailment eventually saw him retire after seven hours.

In a drama-packed event, many of the pre-race challengers were also sidelined including Yamaha's pole-setter Katsuyuki Nakusuga - teamed with British Superbike riders Tommy Hill and Noriyuki Haga - who crashed just 30 minutes into the race. Another crash by Ryuichi Kiyonari after five hours also ended his Honda team’s bid for the podium.

"After qualifying, to be on provisional Pole and then third in Superpole with a great lap time was an achievement,” said Waters. “The race started off great and we did some really quick lap times and settled-in behind 'Kiyo,' then we got caught-up with some lapped traffic but we were still only around three seconds behind.

“Unfortunately in Leon's stint he passed a rider under a yellow flag and got penalised, but we were still there and going strong until around four hours when we had the engine issue and then spent a lot of time in the pits.

"Although we dropped way down, we got back up into the top 10 from around 18th with some really fast lap times, until we had the problem. But despite the obvious disappointment for all of us, it's been great to be part of the team again and we've got a lot of positives to take from it."