VOLUME 56 ISSUE 30 JULY 30, 2019 P49
and causing leader Rea to crash.
The race was red-flagged, and
the Yamaha Factory Racing
Team was declared the winners
for a fifth straight year ahead of
Red Bull Honda, and 2018 EWC
Champions F.C.C. TSR Honda
France—Josh Hook, Freddy
Foray and Mike Di Meglio)—after
Rea failed to get his machine
back to parc ferme within the
required five-minute window.
However, Kawasaki appealed
to the race stewards, their argu-
ment being the race should have
been taken back to the last lap
completed, and the five-minute
rule disregarded. Kawasaki won
the appeal.
The race result was subse-
quently taken back to the lap
before Rea's crash, meaning Ka-
wasaki had taken their first win in
the Suzuka 8 Hours since 1993
when Scott Russell and Aaron
Slight took the victory.
The Yamaha Factory Racing
Team was demoted to second,
marking its first defeat in the
Suzuka 8 Hours in five years,
and Red Bull Honda dropped to
third. F.C.C. TSR Honda France
finished fourth, with the Yoshimu-
ra Suzuki Motul Racing team of
Sylvain Guintoli, Yukio Kagayama
and Kazuki Watanabe finishing
fifth.
"I cannot believe what is
happening, really," said a dumb-
founded Jonathan Rea. "From
being dejected and feeling that
everything was out of our hands,
I had already gone back to the
hotel, said goodbye to all the
guys, with lots of tears. I was in
the restaurant already, ordering
dinner, when my mechanic Uri
called me and said, 'Hey, are you
sitting down?' I thought he was
going to ask me to go to another
restaurant—but he then told me
we had won the 8 Hours. I think
common sense prevailed in that
one. I have no words because I
am really emotional and happy."
Suzuki Endurance Racing
Team was lapping in ninth place
and looking sure to win its 16th
world title when engine failure
erased the eight hours of hard
slog by Vincent Philippe, Etienne
Masson and Gregg Black.
Team SRC Kawasaki France's
11th-place finish with riders
(Above) Takumi
Takahashi gets
ready to take over
the number 33 Red
Bull Honda. (Left)
Alex Lowes sported
a sweet Kenny
Roberts replica
helmet for the 2019
Suzuka 8 Hours.
