VAN DER MARK JOINS YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM FOR SUZUKA 8 HOURS
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. is excited to announce that two Yamaha factory teams will enter this year’s 40th ‘Coca-Cola’ Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Road Race. The Yamaha Factory Racing Team, including Michael van der Mark, will return to challenge for their third consecutive Suzuka victory alongside full-time Endurance World Championship (EWC) challengers, the factory-supported YART Yamaha Official EWC Team.
The legendary event is the final round of the EWC this season and is set to take place between July 27th and 30th at Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture, Japan. The two teams will be aiming to make Yamaha history by taking a third consecutive victory and the brand’s seventh overall at the event.
Lining up with Van der Mark will be his Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team mate Alex Lowes and Katsuyuki Nakasuga, who in 2016 took his second consecutive Suzuka 8 Hours win. Also Michael and Lowes have grasped the victory trophy at the 8 Hours before, so they will undoubtedly be keen to do so again.
Michael van der Mark: “I’m really looking forward to racing at the Suzuka 8 Hours again. I’ve been racing there for four years now and won two times, so it will be a really special event for me to come back and do it with Yamaha. It’s also the 40th anniversary of the race and Yamaha has won there for the last two years so it’s going to be really good and I hope we can take the victory with Nakasuga-san and Alex. We have a really strong team so I’m going to give everything I’ve got to try and win again and make it really special for Yamaha and for all the fans. It’s one of the most important races of the year for Yamaha and all the Japanese manufacturers so I’m really looking forward to it and hoping we can make a good race with the best possible result.”