Thanks to its victory in the 24 Heures Motos of Le Mans (France) and its fourth place in the 24 Hours of Spa EWC Motos (Belgium), the Yoshimura SERT Motul team leads the provisional world championship standings by 15 points.

The Japanese event marks the halfway point of the season. It is also the home round for Yoshimura and Suzuki who will be keen to show their colours.

For this special race in the championship, Yoshimura SERT Motul decided to rely on the experience of Japanese rider Kazuki Watanabe, a great specialist of the Suzuka 8 Hours.

Watanbe is accompanied by two Frenchmen, Sylvain Guintoli and Gregg Black, as Belgian Xavier Simeon had to withdraw from the race after a positive test for Covid-19.

The three Suzuki riders were already very competitive in the free practice sessions, regularly finishing in the top 5 on the time sheets, despite the strong competition from the national riders.

The practice sessions ended with a time of 2.07.624 for the squad, the third fastest time.

“For us, the objective is twofold in Suzuka,” said Team Manager Damien Saulnier.

“Of course, if a good place is within our reach, we will go and get it. But we are fighting for the world title and it is crucial to score points before the final race at the Bol d’Or.

“We remain focused and confident. During the tests, we needed some time to find our bearings and not everyone was fully satisfied with the first results. But the team did a great job and we finished with good times.”