Young, Team Taro BMW finish 13th at Suzuka 8 Hours
Hamilton, ON – Three-time Canadian Superbike champion Ben Young turned in an excellent performance in his FIM World Endurance debut on Sunday, helping Team Taro Plus One BMW finish 13th overall at the famed Suzuka 8-Hours in Japan.
Young joined Japanese riders Taro Sekiguchi and Kyosuke Okuda in the Team Taro program, qualifying 23rd out of 46 entries with an average time of 2:08.944.
Initially slated to ride third in the rotation, Young’s long-run pace and consistency led the team to promote him to second on race day, taking over from Sekiguchi in 28th position and helping them climb to 19th by the end of his first stint.
After the team slipped back to 20th by the midway point, Young regained three positions in his second stint and exited in 17th. His third and final rotation would be the most crucial, climbing to 15th and stretching his stint long enough to avoid an extra stop in the final hour, something many teams ahead of them couldn’t avoid.
Sekiguchi would take over in the final hour and gain two more positions, finishing 13th overall and 12th in the feature WEC Superbike class, the best result in team history at Suzuka.
Johann Zarco, Takumi Takahashi, and Teppei Nagoe would win the Suzuka 8-Hours for Team HRC with Japan Post, Honda’s record-extending 30th victory at the circuit.
A full hour-by-hour recap, including more information on Young and Team Taro BMW’s efforts, can be found below.
Hour One (11:30 am local time)
Markus Reiterberger would grab the holeshot for the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team, but his lightning start was quickly negated by pole-sitters YART Yamaha and Niccolo Canepa.
A hard-charging Ryo Mizuno would put Ducati Team Kagayama into the lead on lap five, before Mizuno, Canepa, and Takumi Takahashi traded blows over the next handful of laps in an epic early battle. Takahashi would ultimately take the lead for good on lap 13 and began to stretch his advantage for Team HRC.
A difficult start saw Taro Sekiguchi drop from 23rd on the grid to as low as 30th for Team Taro Plus One BMW, though he was able to stabilize his pace and reclaim two positions by the time Ben Young took over roughly 50 minutes into the race.
Sekiguchi’s stop would set Young up to undercut some of the riders ahead, climbing to 22nd by the end of the first hour.
Hour Two
MotoGP star Johann Zarco would take over for Team HRC, extending their lead further to over 25 seconds through the first 90 minutes of the race. YART remained second, while SDG Team Honda climbed to third ahead of Ducati Kagayama and Yoshimura SERT Suzuki.
Young continued to charge his way up the field, climbing to 19th by the 90-minute mark and lapping better than the three riders ahead of him. He would hand things over to Kyosuke Okuda roughly an hour and 45 minutes into the race, with Okuda holding steady in 20th for the remainder of his stint.
Hour Three
With track temperatures exceeding 60ºC, Team HRC managed to extend their gap over YART to nearly 35 seconds, with Josh Waters and Ducati Kagayama moving up to third.
Sekiguchi would take over for Okuda and manage the Team Taro machine back to 18th, benefitting from a string of issues for former WEC champions F.C.C. Honda.
Young would then begin his second stint just before the halfway point, making up another position to 17th.
Hour Four (2:30 pm local time)
Yoshimura SERT Suzuki continued to charge up the leaderboards, with Dan Linfoot moving them past Ducati Kagayama for third. Moto2 star and former Moto3 champion Albert Arenas, who missed practice and qualifying with passport issues, took over for Linfoot despite his lack of track time with SERT Suzuki.
Young would end his second rotation in 17th place, putting in 24 laps across nearly a full hour, with Sekiguchi quickly making up a pair of positions to climb to 15th.
Hour Five
Team HRC continues their dominant showing, with Zarco helping lap up to fifth place on the grid. YART trails by over 40 seconds, with a pit stop ranging between 40 and 45 seconds for the top teams, nearly giving HRC a “free” stop.
Sekiguchi caps off his stellar third run in 16th, with Okuda staying in the same position throughout the rest of hour five. Eleven of the top 12 teams are running Bridgestone tires, as are Team Taro BMW.
Hour Six
YART has responded slightly, cutting their deficit to just under 40 seconds and erasing a “free stop” for Team HRC. Ducati Kagayama moves back past Yoshimure SERT Suzuki for third, while BMW Motorrad hunts down SDG Team Honda for fifth.
SERT Suzuki is given a ride-through penalty for a fuel cap infringement, which came as Arenas exited the pits for his first stint. This pushes them nearly a minute behind Ducati Kagayama in the battle for the final podium spot.
Young takes over for Okuda once again at 6:17 local time, joining in 16th and quickly chasing down Team Beringer Honda for 15th. Young claims 15th on lap 171, extending a large cushion between himself and the group behind Team Taro. Sekiguchi takes over once again just before the seven-hour mark, with the sun beginning to set.
Hour Seven
Team HRC has restored their 45-second advantage, securing a “free” stop as teams juggle their strategy over the final two hours. Ducati Kagayama makes an early stop, forcing them to make two more over the final 90 minutes.
SDG Team Honda drops down the order after late mechanical issues, slipping from fifth to tenth and promoting BMW Motorrad into the top-five.
Young take over for Sekiguchi early in the hour and puts in a long stint, completing 25 laps and crucially allowing Team Taro to require only one stop in the final hour. Other teams will not have enough fuel to do so, needing a “splash and dash” scenario in their final rotation.
Hour Eight (6:30 pm local time)
Now fully dark, Zarco extends Team HRC’s lead to over 50 seconds, with Ducati Kagayama slipping behind SERT Suzuki after they are forced to make an extra stop for fuel. Hafizh Syahrin tries to fend off Cocoro Atsumi for Ducati, but it is unsuccessful as Atsumi seizes third place.
Young pits for the final time with 45 minutes to go, allowing Sekiguchi to take over in 15th with no extra stops required. Sekiguchi quickly passes Koki Suzuki and Team ATJ for 14th, before a late crash from Anthony West promotes Team Taro to 13th.
Final Results (7:30 pm local time)
Team HRC is handed a 40-second penalty for a pit lane infringement, but Takumi Takahashi manages the gap enough to win his record sixth Suzuka 8 Hours and hold off YART Yamaha by just over seven seconds.
Despite the loss, YART Yamaha extend their lead in the WEC standings over Yoshimura SERT Suzuki with only one round remaining. SERT Suzuki holds onto the final podium spot, with Ducati Kagayama settling for fourth.
MotoGP star Zarco becomes the first premier class winner to take a victory at Suzuka since Valentino Rossi in 2001, and the first Frenchman to win the event since 1989.
Sekiguchi crosses the line 13th overall for Team Taro Plus One BMW, finishing 12th in the feature WEC Superbike class, their best result in team history. Young earns the best result for a Canadian in the modern Superbike era of the Suzuka 8 Hours, and the best finish in any classification for a CSBK rider since Jordan Szoke was 13th in 2002.
