Image: Supplied.

A technical issue brought an unfortunate end to the Yamalube YART Yamaha team’s Suzuka 8 Hours hopes, with Australia’s Jason O’Halloran left to rue what was an eventful outing for the world championship-leading team at the third EWC round of 2025.

An entry into Saturday’s Top 10 Trial qualifying session resulted in a sixth-place position on the Suzuka grid thanks to team member Martin Fritz’s lap-time, with the trio looking to maintain their 18-point series advantage in the series’ penultimate round.

During the opening stages of Sunday’s race, the team held a top 10 position once both Fritz and Karel Hanika completed their stints in the 217-lap encounter, before O’Halloran endured an untimely fall, which led the team to quickly execute repairs to their YZF-R1.

A charge from 29th to 15th followed, before a technical issue resulted in Hanika hitting the ground, which drew a premature end to the team’s Suzuka 8 Hour campaign for 2025, but still maintaining the EWC points lead.

“It’s obviously a shame not to finish the race,” commented O’Halloran. “My first stint was going quite well until I had a crash in the last chicane. I went in a little bit slower, and there were some bikes ahead of me – maybe it unloaded the front tyre a little bit too much. I lost the front, so that was a shame, as we were in a good position on the track.

“The lap-time was strong, and I felt quite good. I got the bike back and went out again, but I had an issue that I needed to pit for. It’s unfortunate for Karel to have the technical issue and the crash at the end of his second run. It is what it is – you have good luck and bad luck in racing, and you move on to the next one. We still have a 24-hour race and it’s still all to play for.”

Their Suzuka DNF brought an end to an impressive six-race podium streak, with the team now holding a one-point advantage as a single round remains in the 2025 season, as racing is set to recommence in France on September 20 for the Bol d’Or event at Circuit Paul Ricard.