Yamaha pull out of Suzuka 8 Hours

YAMAHA has pulled out from the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race which is still scheduled to take place in July this year.

The move will come as a shock to many will mean only privately run Yamahas will take to the grid if the event still goes ahead as planned on July 19^th. The withdrawal from the event will be the first time since 2014 that a full factory-backed Yamaha team has not competed at the event.

The 2019 running of the 8 Hours saw controversy after the flag, with rival teams lodging complaints against Yamaha for not returning to Parc Ferme after a race-ending red flag brought a close to proceedings. The complaint was upheld, and Yamaha were disqualified, gifting Kawasaki and Jonathan Rea the victory.

The result would have been a bitter pill to swallow for the team, as the 8 Hours endurance race is the jewel in the crown of the Japanese racing calendar, drawing huge crowds at the event and a TV audience of millions around the globe.

Why has the Yamaha team pulled out of the Suzuka 8 Hours?

The reasons behind the withdrawal are not yet fully known, with only a short statement being issued on Wednesday that stated: “We have decided to suspend that activity from this season”. One train of thought is that Yamaha is pre-empting the event being cancelled further down the line, it could simply be that the factory doesn’t want to pour resources into a race that still might not go ahead.

With Yamaha pulling out their official team, that just leaves Yamaha Austria Racing Team (YART) as the prime contender for the 2020 Suzuka 8 Hours race – if the event takes place that is…