Published August 11, 2025

2025 FIM EWC Round 3 — Suzuka 8 Hours | Race Report (3 August) · SST Class Victory

Pole position in qualifying, victory in the race, and a full 35 points. Through a data-driven strategy, flawless preparation and a final battle decided by stamina, Team Étoile claimed a long-awaited SST class win after finishing second last year.

Heading into Round 3 at Suzuka second in the standings, Team Étoile trailed series leader #55 National Motos by 30 points. Under the system that counts the best three of four rounds, they were effectively third. To stay in the title fight, scoring the full 35 points on offer — up to 5 in qualifying and up to 30 in the race — was an absolute must. The team faced this home-circuit showdown with extraordinary resolve.

The team's strengths stood out from the preparation phase. They had built a bespoke system that pulled official ITS-LIVE timing data via an API and analysed the valid lap times of more than ten rival teams in real time, excluding in/out and trouble laps for precise competitor analysis — a decisive strategic edge. By the June tests the bike was already 90% dialled in, but the race-spec elf Moto2 fuel was unavailable, so its exact fuel-consumption figures had to wait until the race itself.

During race week the home-circuit advantage shone. While the European teams opened in the 13s, Suzuka-savvy Team Étoile started in the 12s and steadily trimmed their times into the 11s and 10s session by session. Then, on Friday, they logged a perfect day: zero crashes, zero trouble. After the bitter June Spa weekend — where an engine fire and a crash cost them two of their three bikes — that reliability carried real weight.

Qualifying was dramatic. Okubo set a course record of 2:07.413 in the morning session, the hottest part of the day — a record under the toughest conditions that proved his focus and skill. Then in Q2, Watanabe snatched pole by a mere six thousandths of a second. Team Étoile (2:07.942) edged #41 Kaedear-Dafy-Rac41-Honda (2:07.948) in an extreme fight, banking 5 points before the race.

At 11:30 Okubo launched from pole. The first stint already brought a major discovery: against a pre-race estimate of 26–27 laps, the bike completed 28. That confirmed an eight-stint strategy and a roughly one-minute advantage. From there the team prioritised conserving the riders, settling on a uniform 28 laps per stint.

But endurance racing is a string of trials. A slow tyre change at the first stop cost about a minute, and in the third stint a delayed pit operation cost a critical two minutes. Two minutes lost in an eight-hour race would normally end any hope of victory, but the team never gave up on those 30 points — and endurance unpredictability rewarded that determination. Trouble for #777 Wójcik, a fuel-out for #44 Honda No Limits, and the stoppage of the well-placed #64 Kawasaki Plaza Racing Team at Spoon Curve: as the front-runners fell away, Team Étoile climbed back into the fight for the win.

In the closing hours the race narrowed to a duel with #93 TONE Team 4413 EVA 02 BMW. With three stints to go, victory was effectively down to these two, and a true test of strength began. The battle intensified from the sixth stint, but an overtake under the first safety car earned Team Étoile a 20-second stop-and-go penalty. The advantage they had built was wiped out, and after serving it, the two teams rejoined almost side by side at Turn 1 — last year's first and second clashing once more for the win, as if by fate.

In the end, stamina decided it. The final stint pitted Watanabe against Mercado. For Mercado — racing in Japan's brutal heat for the first time and shouldering four stints in a two-rider line-up — the load was immense. By contrast, Watanabe, on his third stint, held a steady pace to the flag and sealed the result. Team Étoile took the full 35 points — 5 from qualifying, 30 from the win — for a long-awaited SST class victory after finishing second a year earlier. Okubo's course record, Watanabe's outstanding endurance, Ito's composed riding, and the devotion of every pit crew member and staffer came together in this triumph, sending a clear message into the title fight at the season finale, the Bol d'Or.