Van der Mark joins Stoner for Suzuka 8 Hours
Pata Honda World Superbike Team rider joins former MotoGP title winner.
Michael van der Mark, Pata Honda World Superbike Team rider and reigning World Supersport Champion, is to join forces with Casey Stoner for this year’s Suzuka 8 Hour race. The MotoGP World Champion of 2007 and 2011, along with van der Mark and Takumi Takahashi, will be part of the MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO team.
The 8 Hour event will be staged at the legendary Japanese race track, owned by Honda, on Sunday 26 July – the weekend which follows the Laguna Seca WorldSBK round. Van der Mark has been part of the winning Suzuka team for the past two years.
“The Suzuka 8 Hour race is such a special event for all the fans and the Japanese people and not many riders get the chance to take part, even though many would like to,” says Dutchman van der Mark, who is aiming for a third consecutive victory. “I also know what an important event it is for Honda so it’s a great honour for me to be asked to race the CBR1000RR once more, and this time with Casey as our team-mate!
“The testing and race schedule is quite tough to combine with the World Superbike Championship, but I really enjoy riding at Suzuka so I’m very happy to make time for it. The bike is very different to my World Superbike CBR but it’s easy to ride so it’s not big problem to change. I’ve had two fantastic years with a great team and it would be really nice and something quite special to get a hat-trick of wins.”
Stoner also looks forward to the race. The Australian has good memories from Japan, having wrapped up his maiden MotoGP world title at Motegi back in 2007.
“After riding the bike in Sepang a few months ago, I’ve been speaking closely with Honda about the possibility to take part in Suzuka,” Stoner begins. “It’s always been an event I wanted to do and something I was never able to consider when I was racing in MotoGP, due to our busy schedules, so I’m really looking forward to taking part!
“The bike is very different to a MotoGP machine, but it will be a new challenge and a chance for me to try something new and unlike what I’ve been used to in my racing to this point. I’ve been impressed with Michael van der Mark this season and Takumi Takahashi has a lot of experience on this machine, so I’m looking forward to hearing their comments and working together with them in preparation for the July race. Now I need to concentrate on my training to be ready for the race!”
Over the course of the 8 Hours, the riders will interchange with pit-stops.
