We’ve done plenty of coverage on it so far and for me, the 2015 Suzuka 8 Hours marked a resurgence of sorts in the great Japanese race. Live television coverage on Eurosport and a strong Aussie inclusion made this year’s race the most accessible ever for local fans.

I remember back in 1995, my brother Anthony made his debut in the Suzuka 8 Hours with Lucky Strike Kawasaki during its heyday and it was near impossible to get information apart from costly phone calls direct to people at the circuit. He got pole position that year before encountering troubles in the race, but bounced back for second alongside Simon Crafar a year later.

So how times change in the 20 years since, as we finally get to view all eight hours live from the comforts on our living rooms. It’s a spectacle I’d like to see first-hand, especially with the strong Aussie contingent that we’re now beginning to see consistently again on competitive equipment.

Source: TSR.

The runner-up result for Josh Hook will do wonders for his career and we were lucky enough to speak to him afterwards in this Race Recap interview. Where it will lead for the Aussie, we’re not sure, but there continues to be links between him and a seat in Moto2 courtesy of his TSR Honda connection. Watch this space.

Casey Stoner’s scary exit meant his return to racing was short-lived, with Honda later confirming that his throttle stuck on the defending champion HARC-PRO entry. I was particularly excited to see if they could take it to the factory Yamaha over race distance, but it wasn’t to be unfortunately.

Hopefully we will see Stoner come back for more in 2016, but you can’t blame him if he doesn’t – it was a heavy hit that ultimately could have been far worse. He’s now recovering from fractures in his shoulder and leg, but displayed his amazing skills once again while he was on track during race week.

It would have been good to see Josh Waters complete more laps during the race as part of Yoshimura Suzuki, however he was a reserve for this year, and it was a pretty frustrating race for a team within reach of the podium in the early stages. That’s the way endurance racing goes though!

Source: Suzuki Racing.

Following an early exit from Suzuka Broc Parkes has now been sidelined at this weekend’s British Superbike round at Thruxton, suffering from more arm-pump woes that we’re really hoping he can bounce back from. It’s been a hard season for Parkesy in BSB and this latest mishap is a tough one to swallow after undergoing recent surgery in a bid to rectify his issues.

It will also be an important few weeks coming up for Troy Herfoss, who overcame rib injuries and the effects of a recent bicycle crash to finish the Suzuka 8 Hours last weekend, and will now set his sights on the Queensland Raceway Australasian Superbike round. He still leads the title, but will need to be at 100 percent to ensure the best possible results at round four.

Yamaha Racing Team with Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance (YRT with YMI) recently spent time at the ‘paperclip’ with Wayne Maxwell, Cru Halliday and Glenn Allerton, including a surprise entry in the FX Race Series round last Sunday. After sitting out much of the day they did get some dryer races in, but the victory went to Yamaha’s ASBK hope Daniel Falzon in a confidence-inspiring result.

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