Vol. 03 [Road to 8HOURS 2026] Hachitai has already begun!

In 2026, the Hachi-Tai will be held 20 days earlier than usual. As the lineups of the competing teams are gradually becoming clear, Suzuka Circuit hosted the "Suzuka Test Session," an open pre-test and special sports driving session, on May 12-13, while the teams were conducting their tests. Although it was not an ideal time to see all the riders from overseas, regular World Endurance teams such as Yoshimura SERT MOTUL, F.C.C. TSR Honda France, and Dafy-kaedear-Rac41 Honda also came to Japan, and about 40 cars were seen running vigorously and repeatedly. The first day of the event was blessed with fine weather. The first day was blessed with fine weather. All participating teams were divided into A and B groups for three sessions and a joint AB night session. The temperature was over 20 degrees Celsius, which is a good sign of early summer, but the temperature, humidity, and track surface temperatures were still very different from those in Hachi-Tai in the middle of summer.

Honda HRC set the top time on the first day

In the first run of Group A, the top 5 teams were: 1) NCXX Racing with Riders Club (SST: 2:08.400), 2) Honda Tochigi Racing & Koyokai Dream Racing (EXP), 3) TONE Team4413BMW (SST), 5) KRP Sanyo Industry & RS ITOH (EWC), 6) KRP Sanyo Industry & RS ITOH (EWC). The reason why there are two rankings in one team is because two cars are allowed to run together. The team with the top time, NCXX Racing, is led by Tetsuya Harada, who competes in the SST class, and is a powerful trio consisting of Tetsuta Nagashima, Yudai Kamei, and Yuta Date. In the first run of Group B, the top teams in the EWC class were all in the top 5 : ①②HONDA HRC (EWC: 2:05.186) ③SDG Team Hulkpro Honda (EWC) ④F.C.C. TSR Honda France (EWC) ⑤Team ATJ with NTT docomo Business (EWC) Honda HRC, which marked the top time including T-cars, was led by Takumi Takahashi and Jonathan Rey. However, another rider, Johann Zarco, was injured in a crash at the Catalunya GP of MotoGP on May 17. The damage was so severe that he will probably not be able to participate in Hachi-Tai, although no official announcement has been made yet. Honda HRC will have to make a choice whether to run with two riders as last year or call up another rider. 3rd placed Hulk Pro will be a trio of Yuki Kunii, Teppei Nagoshi, and Keito Abe, as we reported in our last column.

In the second run of the first day, DUNLOP Racing Team with YAHAGI marks the top time in Group A. However, this is a test car that does not assume Hachi-Tai participation, and the top time for the Hachi-Tai entry team is Team Baby The top time of the Hachi-Tai entries was Team Baby Titanium Power (EWC: 2:07.955), followed by MARUMAE Team KODAMA in 2nd place and Honda Suzuka Racing in 3rd place. In Group B, Honda HRC marked the top time of 2:05.258 for the second session in a row, with F.C.C. TSR Honda France in 2nd, Honda HRC's Car 2 in 3rd, and Yamaha Factory Racing in 4th. Katsuyuki Nakasuga and 00 were running for Yamaha Factory Racing, while Jack Miller and Roberto Locatelli, whom we reported in our previous column, were not in Japan. In the third session of the first day, DUNLOP Racing was again the top time in Group A, followed by Team Baby Face Titanium Power, KRP Sanyo Industry & RS ITOH, and MARUMAE Team KODAMA. In Group B, Astemo Pro Honda SI Racing (EWC: 2:05.189) marked the top time, followed by Honda HRC and Yamaha Factory Racing. This was probably a "out of gas test" unique to Hachi-Tai, i.e., a long-run test at the same pace as the race, to gather data on how many laps the car would run out of gasoline. It was impressive to see that from this third session, each team started practicing pit work every time they made a pit stop, just as they would in a real race. The night session started at 18:30, which corresponded to the last stint of the Hachi-Tai race, and lasted for 60 minutes. The temperatures were cooler and chilly, and the heat and humidity of the Hachi-Tai were not felt here. In this session, the World Endurance Teams that had just finished the 24 Hours of Le Mans were running at a high pace, with F.C.C. TSR Honda France and Yoshimura SERT MOTUL running at the top from the beginning of the session, and with 30 minutes remaining, which seemed darker than the real race, the order changed dramatically. Yoshimura (2:06.346) retained the top position, followed by Yamaha Factory Racing, TSR Honda, Honda HRC, and Team Suzuki CN Challenge.

The second day was also a beautiful day, just like the Hachi-Tai race!

The second day of the test was blessed with fine weather, feeling hotter than the first day and reminiscent of the actual Hachi-Tai race. The sessions were set for 80 minutes in the morning and 90 minutes in the afternoon, with many teams running long runs with fewer pit stops and fewer rider changes in preparation for the actual Hachi-Tai event. In the first session of the second day, where the B group ran first, Honda HRC again took the top time with a 2:04.773. Yoshimura SERT MOTUL and F.C.C. TSR Honda France followed. In this session, Espulse Dream Racing SUZUKI ranked 6th including spare machines and 4th in real terms. This team participated in the test with two members, Nori Nishimura and Kenryu Murase, who compete in the All Japan Road Race with Suzuki GSX-R. In Group A, MARUMAE Team KODAMA, Team Baby Face Titanium Power, and Honda Suzuka Racing followed the two DUNLOP Racing cars in the Top 3, and interestingly, Honda Hamamatsu Escargot with DREAM in 4th place, Honda Tochigi in 5th place Racing & Koyokai Dream Racing will be entering in the EXP (=Experimental: Experimental) class, which is neither EWC nor SS. The machine building outside the EWC/SST class regulations seems to be using carbon-free fuel. Even in the second session of the second day, which was the longest of the two-day test with a 90-minute schedule, the B group ran first, and as it was the last session, Honda HRC and Yoshimura SERT MOTUL were in a fierce battle for the top position, perhaps incorporating attack elements as well. These two teams occupied the top four positions with Honda, Yoshimura, Yoshimura, and Honda in two places each, followed by Team Suzuki CN Challenge in 5th and F.C.C. TSR HONDA FRANCE in 6th.

In the last run of Group A, TONE Team4413BMW was in 5th position, behind DUNLOP Racing, Team Baby Face Titanium Power, Honda Suzuka Racing, and Baby Face Car #2. In the 6-session test held over 2 days, Honda HRC consistently set fast lap times, but the main problem was the absence of Zarco. In this case, Luca Marini, a MotoGP rider who was scheduled to participate in last year's event but was injured in a crash at the Suzuka test and was unable to participate, could be called in. Shall we take the liberty of predicting ......? <つづく> Go to  (5) ="_blank"]