Hanika bids for Suzuka 8 Hours glory
Karel Hanika might have claimed the FIM Endurance World Championship’s biggest prize when he formed part of the Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team that won the EWC title in 2023, but success at Suzuka has so far eluded the Czech rider.
Ahead of the 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race, which he’ll contest alongside team-mates Niccolò Canepa and Marvin Fritz, this is what the 28-year-old has had to say…..
How important is the Suzuka 8 Hours and how determined are you to win?
It’s the biggest race of the season for us. None of the team has been on the podium in Suzuka so we would like to achieve this goal and gain a few points over the opposition. We showed at the test the speed is really good so hopefully we can push and fight for the win. We never know what’s going to happen, but this would be a dream because it’s simply legendary this race. We’re the number one team for Yamaha but we’re also the number one throughout the championship so we want to prove, that even in a race like Suzuka, we can have a good result and fight with the best in the world. We want to add it to our career bios and I believe we can do it this year.
It’s a legendary race but it’s also a very tough race. Just how hard is the Suzuka 8 Hours?
We actually say it’s sometimes more difficult than a 24-hour race because the temperatures are so high and you have to adapt. The track itself is so physical and you have no time to rest for about one and a half minutes, so it’s pretty tough. But it’s the same for everybody although we’ll try to be as much ready as possible. We’ve done some nice training in the heat, which will help a little bit.
You experienced a very tough situation last year when you had to push your bike for more than half a lap following an electrical issue. What was that like?
It was probably one of the toughest things I’ve done in my life. I’d already done 40 minutes of riding and in a few laps I was getting my time in the box to cool down a bit. Then this issue unfortunately happened and it was an extra half hour of suffering in the heat. But I was doing it for the team because I knew this problem wasn’t anything major, a small problem that unfortunately took us out of the game for the podium. But this is endurance and in endurance you always have to bring the bike back, that is the number one rule and I was happy we could at least score three points, which in the end were important for the championship.
How much confidence did winning the 8 Hours of Spa Motos give you and your team-mates?
For sure we are in a great mood after we had a very, very good race in Spa. To finish number one was great but for the teamwork it was one of the best races ever we did with us three together with the team, the crew chief and everybody. This performance we want to carry on to Suzuka and keep pushing like hell because this is the way to fight for the championship again.
The Top 10 trial to decide the first positions on the grid is unique to the Suzuka 8 Hours. What kind of challenge does this present?
It was my first time last year and it’s not easy at all because usually you are used to do qualifying and most of the time you can be a bit faster in the second flying lap. With the Top 10 Trial it’s all in one lap and you have to make a lot of the out lap to warm up the tyres properly and everything else. But it was a great experience, you try to basically put out the pressure and just focus on the lap and do your best and simply enjoy because always riding this bike with the qualifying tyres is something special. There are points for the championship we want to grab and this is our goal, no matter if I do the time or it’s my team-mates.
Words and images courtesy FIM EWC