At the end of July 2018, Yamaha will aim to gain yet
another win at the famous Suzuka 8 Hour race in Japan. For the occasion, Team
Blue will celebrate an important anniversary with a nostalgic paint scheme.
The Yamaha YZF-R1 is celebrating 20 years on the
market. The model has been the company’s preferred weapon to fight off
competitors in different motorsports events, including the Suzuka 8 Hour. The
R1 cousin, the M1, has been a famed competitor of the MotoGP series, serving
the likes of Rossi and Lorenzo. No wonder Yamaha is so proud of its champion.
Yamaha will celebrate the R1’s two-decade-long
legacy with a 20th-anniversary edition of the model bound to compete in Suzuka,
sporting a paint scheme inspired by the model’s 1998 red-and-white colors and
graphics, back when the R1 introduced the stacked gearbox layout. The design
was revolutionary and allowed for a shorter engine profile which allowed a
shorter wheelbase.
The Suzuka 8 Hour, as its name suggests, is a
grueling, eight-hour endurance road race at the Suzuka Circuit in Ino, Suzuka
City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Teams of two or more riders take turns hitting the
track, trying to maintain the momentum and gain on the opponents, tag-teaming
throughout the race.
Yamaha will be seeking a fourth victory at the
Suzuka 8 Hour from July 27 to July 29, 2018. The team has secured the services
of last year’s winning team composed of Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Alex Lowes, and
Michael van der Mark.
