From a press release issued by Honda:

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Suzuka 8 Hours – Suzuka, Japan. August 4, 2002.

Weather, hot and humid, slight rain fall in final hour; temperature, 32 degrees C; humidity, 65%; track conditions, good; crowd, 72,000.

Edwards and Kato Victorious at Suzuka 8-Hours 25th Anniversary for Cabin Honda

The American – Japanese combination of Colin Edwards and Daijiro Kato raced to a superb victory at the 25th running of the Suzuka 8 Hours, held at magnificent Japanese circuit today. Edwards and Kato brought home their VTR1000SP-W twin cylinder Honda ahead of their Cabin Honda team-mates Tadayuki Okada and Makoto Tamada. The Sakurai Honda team of Alex Barros and Yuichi Takeda completed a magical Honda 1-2-3 with a fine third place finish. All three teams completed 219 laps, a new race record.

Honda have now won the event for six successive years, 17 times in the 25-years it has been held. It was Edwards’ third victory in the Japanese classic, the second for Kato. Brazilian Barros gave Honda a clean sweep of race honours by setting the fastest lap of the race as he battled to close on the leaders.

At the end of the grueling race Kato said: “I was riding longer today than he previous 8-hour races I’ve done but I was not as tired as I expected. However, when it started to rain during the final session I was anxious, because it was my first night race and the track condition was unstable. I checked the difference with Tamada on my pit board and controlled the pace. I am really happy that we won the race.”

Teammate Edwards was a very relieved man as Kato swept across the finishing line to score their record breaking win. The Texan said: “This win is more special than my two previous 8-hour wins, because we had a drama at the last stage. When it started to rain, I said to myself ‘I will give ten years of my life, so please don’t rain harder.’ I was ready in the pit with my leather suit on, so that in case it rained harder, I could ride again. But rain stopped after few laps and Daijiro rode brilliantly. I want to thank him for the win.”

The top three Hondas to finish had also dominated the Superpole qualifying session but it was Barros who started from pole for Sakurai Honda. Edwards was second with Okada third. Akira Ryo (Suzuki) was fourth fastest, and looked more than capable of causing and upset, should the VTRs falter at any time during the 8-hours.

Team Manager Koji Koyano was full of praise for the way his riders had handled a tricky race. “When it started to rain during the final stage, I was worried because the track condition was unstable. But the advantage we had before that worked out. Both the riders were brilliant today.”

As the race got underway in scorching temperatures and high humidity it was Ryo who grabbed the lead from the Le Mans style start, heading the two Cabin Hondas, in the hands of lead-off riders Tamada and Kato. The second Suzuki, ridden by Keiichi Kitagawa, held fourth place from Yuichi Takeda, who had chosen to use different tyres than the Cabin Honda riders.

Once the race pace for the first hour was established Tamada hit the front with Ryo in his wheel tracks, Kato in close attendance. But Kato set fastest lap of the session soon afterwards to relegate Ryo to third. Kitagawa slid off the second Suzuki mid-session elevating Takeda to fourth place.

Kato handed teammate Edwards the lead at the first changeover, exiting the pit ahead of Ryo and Okada. The heat and humidity was now intense and was matched by the action out on the track. The top three teams locked in a fierce, no quarter asked or given duel.

At the three-hour mark the top three teams were still running in close attendance, Kato, leading Ryo and Tamada. The Sakurai Honda of Barros and Takeda was now almost a lap down on the top three but they were clawing their way back into contention as the race progressed. They were back in a challenging after five hours and closing the gap on the leading trio, led by the Edwards/Kato from Ryo/Kagayama and Okada/Tamada combinations.

After the changeovers around three-quarters race distance the Hondas were to have the race to themselves, Kagayama touring back to the pits to retire the stricken #7 factory Suzuki. Edwards and Kato had opened a one-minute lead over Okada/Tamada at this stage, Barros/Takeda closer to second place.

Into the final stages Edwards handed Kato a comfortable one minute lead at the final change over, Barros inheriting an almost impossible two minute deficit on the leaders from teammate Takeda. The often unpredictable Suzuka weather brought late drama to the race. As darkness fell a sudden rain shower gave Kato’s challengers increased confidence. Both Tamada and Barros began to eat into his lead but Kato, who had never raced in darkness at Suzuka, held his nerve and was rewarded when the light rain abated after 10 minutes and the track began to dry.

He ran out a clear winner by 25 seconds, Barros crossing the line an equal distance behind Tamada.

The ever-cheerful Tamada was not too disappointed with his race. The All Japan Superbike star said: “During the first session, I was racing with Daijiro (my good friend) and it was great fun. When Daijiro went into the pit one lap before me, I waved ‘bye-bye, see you soon’ to him. But after that I didn’t have a chance to race with him and I felt sad. In the later stage, there was a big difference between us and I knew something must happen to close the gap, and I was hoping for the rain. But it rained for only a brief period and I couldn’t catch up, although I tried very hard. However, this was my first full 8-hour race ride and I gained good experience. I learned a lot from Okada San and that is the greatest result for me.”

Okada was not as happy as his teammate: “My pace was good till the last session, but was a little slow during my last ride so I said sorry to Makoto during the last pit-stop. Although we couldn’t catch up the winner, Makoto was riding aggressively and I am happy with the result. Dunlop prepared us good tires and I want to thank them. This race was a good lesson for me and if I have a chance again, I would like to take part in the 8-hour race.”

Team Manager Kazuhiko Yamano had hoped for more from his team: He said of the team performance. “Although I am a little disappointed, because we wanted to win, I think Tamada and Okada tried their best and we did a good race. Before the last session, I told Tamada to keep going without coming into the pit even if it rained. He pushed hard under the unstable condition and closed the gap.”

Koji Nakajima, General Manager for the HRC factory team at the 8-hours, was delighted with the result. Nakajima said: “A 1-2 finish today was fantastic. 6-pit stop tactics worked out and the fuel consumption rate was better than we had expected. Tamada and Barros were catching up at the later stage, but the advantage of the team worked out. Kato was cool and clever, although it was his first night race. Today, the lap times were slower than we expected. But we are happy that the new record of 219 laps (previous record 217 laps, set last year) has been established.

“Above all, the riders who helped us to materialize the plan did a great job. The technologies we proved today will be adopted to other racing machines and production models. As you know, one of the main aims of Honda to do racing is to gain technologies,” the General Manager concluded.

Wataru Yoshikawa and Takeshi Tsujimura finished fourth for Team YSP Racing Yamaha, two laps behind Edwards and Kato and three laps clear of the Challenger Yamaha team of Norihiko Fujiwara and Tekkyu Kayou in fifth. The Weider Honda Automotive pairing of Osamu Deguchi and Hiroki Noda brought their VTR1000SP-2 Honda home in sixth place.

The Zongshen Suzuki World Endurance Championship regulars filled seventh and eighth places, nine laps down on the winning Hondas. Stephane Mertens and Warwick Nowland leading home teammates Igor Jerman and Bruno Bonhuil.

Results:
1. Daijiro Kato – Colin Edwards J/USA Cabin Honda 219 laps

2. Makoto Tamada – Tadayuki Okada J/J Cabin Honda 219

3. Alex Barros – Yuichi Takeda Bra/J Sakurai Honda 219

4. Wataru Yoshikawa – Takeshi Tsujimura J/J Yamaha 217

5. Norihiko Fujiwara – Tekkyu Kayou J/J Yamaha 214

6. Osamu Deguchi – Hiroki Noda J/J Weider Honda 211

7.Stephane Mertens – Warwick Nowland B/AUS 210

8.Bruno Bonhuil – Igor Jerman F/Slo Suzuki

9. Makoto Tokinaga – Yasuhiko Sato J/J Yamaha 210

10. Adam Ferguson – Jordan Szoke AUS/CAN Super Production, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 210

11. Akira Tamitsuji – Yoshihiro Konno J/J Suzuki 209

12. Yosinomi Takahashi – Naomichi Nakai J/J Kawasaki 208

13. Hiroaki Kawase – Takatoshi Onishi J/J Suzuki 208

14. Mitsuo Saito – Takahiro Fukami J/J Yamaha 207

15. Yoshiyuki Sugai – Tomohiko Kawakami J/J CBR954RR Honda 207

35. Mike Ciccotto/Kyoichi Kosaka, Super Production, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -22 laps

43. Motohiro Hisazumi/Naoki Yamaha, Stock Sport, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -29 laps

Top Prototype team, Keiichi Kitagawa/Noriyasu Numata, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -18 laps

DNF, Akira Ryo/Yukio Kagayama, Superbike, Suzuki GSX-R750, -64 laps

DNF, Doug Polen/Takahito Mori, X-Formula, Honda CBR954RR, -197 laps

Fastest lap: Barros 2:07.844s = 163.92km/h.