First the Generator: Preparing for the Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race

The FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race, commonly known as the Suzuka 8 Hours, is a world-renowned event, known even to people who are not motorcycle enthusiasts.

Held at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture in midsummer, the Suzuka 8 Hours literally runs for eight hours. This year marks the 45th event since it was first held in 1978. It is a world-class race held in Japan.

In 1990, the Suzuka 8 Hours drew 160,000 spectators on the Sunday (race day) alone, and although the 2024 race drew 58,000, partly due to the extremely hot weather, it remains one of the largest motorcycle races in Japan.

The eight-hour-long Suzuka 8 Hours is held under the blazing midsummer sun, and is a test of not only the riders and bikes. The race starts at 11:30 am, and about once an hour, the bikes return to the pits to refuel and change tires, and sometimes the riders. The mechanics, busily working on and sending off the bikes, are also an important part of the race.

“Sakurai Honda is a motorcycle dealer, so the staff involved in the race are also involved in sales, repair, and maintenance work,” says Tamotsu Kawano, chief mechanic at Honda Dream RT Sakurai Honda. Sakurai Honda has five outlets mainly in Tokyo, and its employees serve as team staff and participate in the Suzuka 8 Hours and the All Japan Road Race Championship series.

Sakurai Honda began competing in the Suzuka 8 Hours in 1990, and has participated every year with the exception of 2016, the year of the Kumamoto earthquake. “The race is run by employees who wish to participate or have a high aptitude for racing. This year, about 15 employees took part. It is probably unusual in the racing industry that all the staff members except for the riders are employees,” said Kawano.

Sakurai Honda's purpose in participating in races is for its employees to improve their maintenance and repair skills through racing with Honda’s top-of-the-line sport bikes. This activity also educates employees and develops newly hired staff.

In addition, Sakurai Honda has a track record that rivals that of professional racing teams, winning the Suzuka 8 Hours in 2003 and the All Japan Road Race Championship series in 2004.

Sakurai Honda also organizes spectator tours to the race tracks on race days with its customers to cheer them on. At this year’s Suzuka 8 Hours, nearly 200 customers participated in the tour.

Chief mechanic Kawano joined Sakurai Honda in 1993. Compared to when he began his involvement in racing, the environment at race tracks has changed dramatically. Staff duties have been divided, and the environment around the pit area has been improved. The number of new tools that are now indispensable for racing has also increased significantly.

“The biggest change is the increase in electronic and electrical equipment used during races. We now have more computers to manage data, as well as more electric tools. The biggest change is the tire warmers that control the temperature of the tires. In modern racing, tire warmers are probably the most important tool.” (Kawano)

Race tires are made to perform well if they are strictly temperature-controlled, and the temperature at which they are used at any given time is 60°C or higher. The tire warmers are set at 80°C, and are wrapped around the tires two hours before they are used.

“With modern racing, it is common sense to use tires to their fullest potential to go faster and achieve better results. If the tires are not sufficiently warmed up, we [the riders] can tell immediately, and we can't ride as fast as we want. This makes it impossible to aim for good results,” said Daijiro Hiura, who has raced in the Suzuka 8 Hours since 2022 as Sakurai Honda rider for three consecutive years.

“Electricity is supplied to the pits, but with so many teams competing for the limited electricity available, circuit breakers are sometimes tripped due to going over capacity. For the tire warmers, which absolutely cannot be turned off, we use a Honda generator [EU55i], so we don’t have to worry even if the pits lose power.” (Kawano)

“When we arrive, the first thing we do is set up the generator. That’s how important tire warmers are.” (Kawano)

Hiura’s co-rider is Kazuki Ito, who competes in the All Japan Road Race Championship with Sakurai Honda. Since Ito is one of the team riders in this year’s Suzuka 8 Hours, the bike was set up based on Ito’s usual All Japan bike.

“I practice at the circuit even on non-race days, and I always carry a generator in my car because I sometimes use a tire warmer during practice. And since April of this year, I have been working as a demo staff member at the power products booth at Enjoy Honda, an event organized by Honda, and I have learned a lot about generators, so my perspective has changed a little.” (Ito)

While many teams race in the Suzuka 8 Hours with three riders, Sakurai Honda entered the 2024 edition with two riders, Hiura and Ito.

In the race, Hiura rode three stints and Ito five without any major problems, and Sakurai Honda finished in a respectable 6th place. The team was the highest-finisher within the Honda teams (except for Team HRC with Japan Post, which won the race) and regular EWC teams. For a team whose parent company is a motorcycle dealership, this was a great accomplishment.

“We are satisfied with 6th. From the beginning of the race week until the end, the race went really well with no major mistakes. The heat was so intense that both riders shortened their stints and pitted without warning, but the staff took care of them. The staff, not only the riders, worked really hard without making any mistakes. The top five teams were big, world-class teams, so it was a good Suzuka 8 Hours that went really well for us.” (Kawano)

With the Suzuka 8 Hours, results are not everything. At Sakurai Honda, Kawano passed on to his staff what he inherited from his predecessors when he was young, and this tradition is still being carried on today.

30-year-old Hiura also passed on his skills and mindset to Ito, who had stopped racing during his senior high-school years and returned to racing when he was 23.

That is the Suzuka 8 Hours, and Honda’s power products support the Suzuka 8 Hours from Behind the Scenes.