“Our works team will not participate this year...”

The official HRC Honda factory team will not race at the Suzuka 8 Hour round of the Endurance FIM World Championship this year, according to reports on Yahoo Australia and the Sydney Morning Herald.

A Honda Motor spokesman is quoted as saying "Our works team will not participate this year. It may come back next year. We are continuing to supply machines to other teams."

Reading between the lines, this probably means continuing if not increased support for the semi-factory satellite teams such as Sakurai Honda and Harc-Pro Honda, but it is a massive blow for the credibility of the event as a whole.

Honda announced in December that it was pulling out of Formula One racing, but has since confirmed that it will continue its MotoGP activities. It looks as through the massive effort the company puts into winning the Suzuka 8 Hour race every year is a casualty of these decisions.

So. No SERT Suzuki at most of the rounds this year. No factory Hondas at Suzuka. No Kawasaki France at any rounds. No BMW Boxers in the open class.

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