The Team Kawasaki SRC came in Suzuka with respect for the event and knew that the Suzuka 8 Hours baptism of fire was not to be easy. After a first testing session in early July, some practice under wet conditions earlier this week and three crashes, the Gilles Stafler team confessed to lack of feedback for a dry race. Gregory Leblanc, Matthieu Lagrive and Fabien Forêt secured a start in 15th place and managed to get into the right zone to score precious championship points. That was the main team's target and the strategy paid back as, at mid-race, the Team Kawasaki SRC was settling into a solid sixth place. Unfortunately Gregory Leblanc crashed which stopped this progression during their first Japanese appearance. The rider was fine but the bike was too damaged to get back on track. However, the Kawasaki team will learn a lesson and let the disappointment away, as they are already working for the next Endurance World Championship round in Germany.

The domestic Kawasaki Team Green squad rode Suzuka as a one off event but impressed many with their speed. The team consisting of Japanese stars Akira Yanagawa and Kazuki Watanabe plus talented Indonesian rider Haji Ahmed Yudhistira were super fast during practice. They headed the leaderboard after Friday’s qualifying and were second overall on the ‘vertical’ grid after Superpole. A problem on the sighting lap along with a crash cost the team a lot of time but they eventually ended ninth in a star packed field.

Gilles Stafler, Team Kawasaki SRC team manager
"We all knew how expensive scored point here in Suzuka would be, but when we wanted to ride the full World Championship, coming here is no question. I would have said ‘yes’ with both hands if anyone told me that we were in 6th position after 4 h 30 of the race! But with four serious crashes, three during the qualification and one during the race, we destroyed a lot of components and the conclusion is still not very positive, although we've learnt a lot. Suzuka is a fast and technical track. You can't come here to race without good  set-up. We did not ride enough in the dry here and we know that we need a specific bike here at Suzuka. But for now we need to get over it and think about Oschersleben.

Fabien Foret, Team Kawasaki SRC rider
“I'm happy and thankful to Kawasaki for having lived through this first Suzuka experience. There is also disappointment. I knew we had to go through some hard times, but I was also positively surprised to see that we can have the proper pace".

Matthieu Lagrive, Team Kawasaki SRC rider
"We knew our weak points and we paid for it all week long. We started the race trying to keep a safety margin because we wanted to reach the end, but that was not enough".

Gregory Leblanc, Team Kawasaki SRC rider
“I do not understand why I crashed. That was the end of my shift, I still had five laps to ride, I was not pushing too hard and, suddenly, I lost the front. The frame and the fork were wrecked. The bike was too damaged to get back on track".

The next round for the FIM EWC Championship in Germany is on 22nd of August for the 8 Hours of Oschersleben.