Performance, strategy, readiness to face the unexpected, and teamwork. By putting all this into play, Honda HRC team today secured its fourth consecutive victory, and Honda’s 31st, in extreme conditions.
On Sunday, 3 August, a field of 55 teams lined up on the grid for Round 3 of the 2025 FIM Endurance World Championship, set to battle in the iconic 46th Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Road Race (Suzuka 8 Hours) at the legendary 5.821 km Suzuka Circuit.
The race got underway at 11:30 am (local time) under extremely hot conditions, with a temperature which rise up to 37ºC.
Honda HRC started from Pole Position with Takumi Takahashi. The Japanese rider made a strong start, taking the lead, but lost it during the first lap when he was passed by #73 Yuki Kunii (SDG Team HARC-PRO. Honda). Takumi closely followed fellow Honda rider maintaining the gap between two to six tenths of a second. On lap 14 Takahashi overtook Kunii and regained the race lead.
Back in the pits at the end of his stint on lap 27, Takahashi handed over the Honda CBR1000RR-R SP to teammate Johann Zarco, who rejoined the track in first place with an advantage of around 13 seconds over #21 Andrea Locatelli (YAMAHA RACING TEAM) in second, and about 18 seconds over #73 Keito Abe in third.
Zarco controlled the advantage before handing the bike back to Takahashi on lap 55, one hour and 59 minutes into the race. Takahashi also pushed on with a strong pace, continuing to keep a gap of around 12 seconds over second place. The Honda HRC team’s third pit stop, perfectly executed on lap 83, saw Takumi come in as the last of the front runners — a strategy that would ultimately prove decisive. Zarco then took over right at the start of the fourth hour, holding a 29‑second advantage over #21 Katsuyuki Nakasuga.
Zarco steadily increased his advantage at the front, so that when he swapped places again with his teammate on lap 111 at the halfway point of the race and almost exactly at the four‑hour mark, the Honda HRC team continued to control the lead with a gap of over 40 seconds over their closest rival, always team #21.
Managing the physical effort of the long time on track and short breaks, Takahashi and Zarco completed their fifth and sixth stints respectively, with an advantage that fluctuated between 20 and 30 seconds. But some more thrill for the Honda HRC team was just around the corner.
After most of the race ran without safety cars, the seventh stint brought two interruptions. The first came shortly after Takahashi returned to the track on lap 139, still leading ahead of Nakasuga. However, this had no impact on the running order. Then, just before Takumi entered the pit lane for the team’s seventh and final stop, another safety car was deployed. Following a lightning-fast tyre change and refuelling — with the Honda HRC crew once again excelling, performing the fastest pit stops in this edition as well — Zarco had to wait for the safety car to complete its lap before rejoining the track, slotting in behind Locatelli with a gap of around 15 seconds. About half an hour from the end of the race, however, Zarco regained the lead after Locatelli pitted for his team’s final bike swap.
By the completion of lap 217, Zarco sealed what was his second Suzuka 8 Hours victory, the seventh for Takumi Takahashi — the most successful rider in the event’s history — and the 31st for Honda HRC.
