Suzuka 8 Hours: KTM releases Jonas Folger to Suzuki once again

For Jonas Folger, the Suzuka 8 Hours has now become a fixture in his season’s schedule. Having already impressed with a strong debut for the Japanese team S-Pulse Dream Racing Suzuki back in 2025, the Bavarian returned to the legendary circuit this year. On Sunday, the 32-year-old will line up for the second time at the prestigious endurance classic.

Following his last-minute appearance at the Euro Moto weekend in Most, Folger had barely any time to catch his breath. Immediately afterwards, the KTM test rider travelled to Japan, where the race week began as early as Tuesday with the first official test sessions.

Suzuka start for Folger “something very special”

“I’m really looking forward to being back at Suzuka. It’s not just any old race weekend, but something very special,” enthused Folger. “It’s also hard to believe how quickly a year goes by. It feels as though my debut at the start of August last year wasn’t that long ago at all.”

Given his strong debut last year, it was merely a formality that Folger would once again be racing for S-Pulse Dream Racing Suzuki. This time, the German will be sharing the Suzuki GSX-R1000R with the experienced Frenchman Jeremy Guarnoni and the Japanese rider Sho Nishimura.

“I’m really looking forward to being back and riding for the same team. I’m truly grateful for that,” said Folger. At the same time, he expressly thanked his employer, KTM, for granting him permission to compete. “The fact that I’m working with the S-Pulse team again this week naturally makes the transition a bit easier. We know each other well, and the mechanics know what matters to me and how I work.”

Good prospects: a strong package with Bridgestone tyres

Folger also has high hopes for the overall package. As well as a top-class line-up of riders, Suzuki has an update for the GSX-R1000R and Bridgestone tyres, which are traditionally regarded as the benchmark at Suzuka. “So I think that if everything goes smoothly, we can have a good weekend. In theory, we actually have everything we need to really enjoy Suzuka.”

From the Upper Bavarian’s perspective, the first two days of testing went well. As he was already familiar with the circuit from last year, Folger quickly found his rhythm. “During the first test sessions on Tuesday, everything came a bit more easily to me. That meant we got into a good rhythm quite quickly and were able to start setting up the bike straight away.”

With the new line-up of riders, however, the development work started almost from scratch. “I have two new team-mates: Sho Nishimura and Jeremy Guarnoni. So the set-up is heading in a slightly different direction.” Guarnoni, in particular, brings valuable experience as a long-standing EWC rider, whilst Nishimura knows every detail of the Suzuka Circuit.

Can Folger capitalise on his strength in wet conditions?

At the end of the second day of testing, the Suzuki team was in twelfth place, but Folger sees no cause for concern. Significant progress was made, particularly on the rainy Wednesday. “So far, we’ve been able to try out a lot of things and spent plenty of time on a wet track from midday onwards. Towards the end, we discovered something that helped us improve significantly.”

The German is convinced that the team’s potential is far from being fully realised. “We’re currently in twelfth place, but we still have plenty of potential to tap into. Should it turn out to be a wet race, we’ve already found a good set-up.”

His interim assessment ahead of the decisive days of the race week is correspondingly positive. “Everything has gone well so far, and we can be satisfied, especially with the big step forward we made this afternoon. I’m really happy and absolutely delighted to be back here at this truly unique race.” Folger once again highlighted his team’s hospitality in particular: “Many thanks to the S-Pulse team management for selecting me once again. The warm welcome they’ve given me once more has been incredibly heartfelt.”