The 8 Hours of Suzuka live on TV and via live stream: where to watch the endurance classic

Sunday’s 8 Hours of Suzuka is set to be one of the absolute highlights of the Endurance World Championship (EWC). This long-standing classic is the third round of the current season and promises to be a nail-biter once again this year.

Following the weather-related cancellation of the Top 10 Trial, the Honda works team will start the race from pole position, though the BMW works team was only just behind after a strong qualifying session and is hoping for the first Suzuka victory by a European manufacturer. Behind them are the surprise package Marc VDS on Yamaha, as well as defending champions and championship leaders YART. The star-studded Yamaha works team, backed by the MotoGP and Superbike World Championship squads, qualified only for fifth on the grid.

The weather is adding further excitement. After Saturday’s Top 10 Trial had to be cancelled due to rain, the teams are expecting changeable conditions for the race as well. Consequently, strategy, tyre choice and error-free pit stops are likely to be at least as important as sheer speed.

Fans can follow the Suzuka 8 Hours live in several ways. ServusTV On is streaming the entire race live for free. The broadcast will be commentated in English.

Eurosport will also be showing the endurance classic live. The race will be broadcast on Eurosport 2 from 4.00 am to 1.00 pm. At the same time, Eurosport 1 will be broadcasting the race from 10.15 am to 1.00 pm, meaning that the decisive final stages can even be watched on free-to-air TV. Lenz Leberkern and Luca Grünwald will provide commentary for the first four hours of the race. Toni Börner and Harry Weber will then take over the commentary for the second half of the race.

The 8 Hours of Suzuka gets underway on Sunday at 4.30 am CEST, with the chequered flag due to fall at 12.30 pm CEST. There is a wide field of favourites, as the gaps were narrow in qualifying and the changeable weather could add to the excitement.

Starting grid for the Suzuka 8 Hours:

1. Honda HRC (Rea, Takahashi, Chantra)

2. BMW works team (Reiterberger, Odendaal, van der Mark)

3. Marc VDS Racing (De Puniet, Marino, Delbianco)

4. YART (Hanika, Fritz, Mercado)

5. Yamaha Factory Racing (Nakasuga, Miller, Locatelli)

6. F.C.C. TSR Honda France (Techer, Perolari, McPhee)

7. Astemo Pro Honda SI Racing (Nozane, Hada, Arakawa)

8. SERT (Black, Linfoot, Atsumi)

9. AutoRace Ube Racing (Uramoto, Guintoli, Ponsson)

10. SDG Team HARC-PRO Honda (Kunii, Nagoe, Abe)