From Misano to Japan: Which Superbike riders are competing in the Suzuka 8h

With twelve rounds taking place between late February and mid-October, longer breaks between two World Superbike Championship race weekends are unavoidable. The World Championship for production-based motorbikes takes a break of almost two months between Donington Park (12 July) and Magny-Cours (6 September), but the bikes also stand still for three weeks ahead of the traditional event in England.

Whilst some riders have extended their stay in Misano to enjoy some time off with their families, others have begun preparations for a special challenge: the eight-hour race at Suzuka from 3 to 5 July.

For the Japanese manufacturers, the race is extremely important, and a victory boosts any rider’s reputation enormously. Honda and Yamaha, in particular, regularly field their best riders in dedicated factory teams for the race.

The most high-profile Superbike rider is Andrea Locatelli from the Pata Maxus Yamaha works team, who is aiming to secure his first Suzuka victory alongside MotoGP rider Jack Miller and top Japanese rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga.

In the Honda Racing Corporation works team, Superbike rookie Somkiat Chantra is replacing the injured MotoGP rider Johann Zarco. With test rider Jonathan Rea and Suzuka’s record winner Takumi Takahashi, the Honda team is strongly line-up.

The Honda Harc-Pro team will field Japanese rider Yuki Kunii, who previously stood in for the injured Jake Dixon at the Balaton Circuit and Most.

We have also seen Michael van der Mark, who is a regular in BMW’s factory endurance team, step in as a replacement at three rounds of the 2026 Superbike World Championship.

Also: Corentin Perolari joins the Honda FCC TSR team from the Supersport World Championship. The Frenchman regularly competes in the Endurance World Championship, provided there are no scheduling conflicts. The 3ART Superstock team has signed 2017 Supersport World Champion Lucas Mahias from GMT94. We’ll also see Swiss Kawasaki team Bolliger’s sportbike ace Xavi Artigas in action.

Of particular interest to German-speaking fans: Marcel Schrötter (Supersport World Championship between 2022 and 2025) will be competing for ERC Endurance at Suzuka, as will Markus Reiterberger for BMW Endurance and Jonas Folger for the Suzuki team S-Pulse.