Fourth Race of FIM 2002 World Endurance Grand Prix Series Coca Cola 8-hour Endurance Road Race in Suzuka Honda Works Team Ready to Compete

On August 4, Honda will compete at the Coca Cola 8-hour Endurance Road Race in Suzuka (located at Suzuka Circuit in Japan's Mie Prefecture), the fourth and final race of the FIM 2002 World Endurance Grand Prix Series. Honda will be going for the race's first-ever 6th straight win, with the riders listed below. Honda will send two Honda Works teams from Team Cabin Honda, as well as dealership team Team Sakurai Honda. The riders will be using the Honda VTR1000SPW, which brought Honda the victory in 2000 and 2001. #11 TEAM CABIN HONDA VTR1000SPW The team will be formed by Daijiro Kato and Toru Ukawa, currently competing in the MotoGP class of the FIM Road Race World Grand Prix (WGP), which is the highest-level race of this season. In 2000, this team won the Suzuka 8-hour, setting a new record for number of laps (215) in the process. Last year they just missed a spot on the victory podium, with a 4th-place finish, but this year is the 3rd time that the two have competed together in the race, and they are aiming to win with #11 Team Cabin Honda, the same team that set the new record of 217 laps last year, winning them the victory. Additionally the third rider, Colin Edwards (US), has twice won the Suzuka 8-hour, and the team is pumped for victory. #33 TEAM CABIN HONDA VTR1000SPW The team will be formed by Makoto Tamada, currently competing in the superbike class of the MFJ All Japan Road Race (JRR), and Tadayuki Okada (coach), who announced his effective retirement from active competition last year. The team will be known as the "All-Japan pair." Although Tamada currently the best rider of the VTR1000SPW, having one the Superbike World Grand Prix Sportsland Sugo two straight times, he has never won a Suzuka 8-hour. In contrast, his teammate coach Okada has won the race twice in the past. The team is aiming for its first victory with the experience of coach Okada and the speed of Tamada. Additionally the third rider, Shin-ichi Ito (US), was part of the winning team at last year's Suzuka 8-hour, and the team is pumped for victory. #71 Team Sakurai Honda VTR1000SPW The team will be formed by Alex Barros (Brazil), currently competing in this season's World Grand Prix MotoGP class, and Yuichi Takeda, currently competing in JRR with a VTR1000SPW. Barros won the Suzuka 8-hour in 2000 for Team Sakurai Honda, together with Makoto Tamada. He knows the capabilities and difficulty of the dealership team inside and out. Although Takeda is a master rider of the VTR1000SPW, he has never won a Suzuka 8-hour. The team is aiming for its first victory with the experience of Barros and the speed of Takeda. #95 Team Sakurai Honda VTR1000SPW The team will be formed by Yukio Nukumi, competing in his 8th straight Suzuka 8-hour since 1994, and Shinichi Nakatomi, the 2000 JRR champion in the 250cc class, and currently competing in this season's JRR 250cc class. This is Nakatomi's third time competing in the Suzuka 8-hour for Team Sakurai Honda, having also raced for them in 2000 and 2001. Although neither rider has yet won a Suzuka 8-hour, the team is aiming for victory with the experience Nukumi of and the speed of Nakatomi, riding a VTR1000SPW Works machine. In addition, the following 25 teams, and many riders and teams riding Honda machines, will be competing in this, the 25th year of the race. Honda Teams #10 TEAM IWAKI (Competing class: Superbike) (Riders) Satoshi Tsujimoto and Yuki Takahashi (Machine) VTR1000SP-2 #11 TEAM CABIN Honda (Competing class: Superbike) (Riders) Daijiro Kato and Toru Ukawa, with Collin Edwards (Machine) VTR1000SPW (Coach) Koji Koyano #18 ARATA-EX & TSUKIGI RACING (Competing class: Super Naked) (Riders) Doug Polen and Michael Alan Smith (Machine) CBR954RR #19 Moriwaki MOTUL Racing (Competing class: Super Naked) (Riders) Masao Okuno and Shogo Moriwaki (Machine) CBR954RR #32 Honda BLUE HELMET MSC (Competing class: Superbike) (Riders) Kenichiro Nakamura & Noriyoshi Sasaki (Machine) VTR1000SP-2 #33 TEAM CABIN Honda (Competing class: Superbike) (Riders) Makoto Tamada & Tadayuki Okada,with Shin-ichi Ito (Machine) VTR1000SPW (Coach) Kazuhiko Yamano #34 HONDA KUMAMOTO RACING (Competing class: Superbike) (Riders) Takaomi Ryu and Yasunari Kawamura (Machine) VTR1000SP-2 #35 SOFUKAI Suzuka Racing Team (Competing class: Superbike) (Riders) Tomoki Arakawa and Kazuhiro Matsushita (Machine) VTR1000SP-2 #38 Team Little Wing + Matsu (Competing class: Stock Sports) (Riders) Fumihisa Asano and Takeshi Kimura (Machine) CBR900RR #40 Team Sarugaku + Black Panther (Competing class: Super Naked) (Riders) Akihiro Sarugaku and Kaname Yagi (Machine) VTR1000SP-1 #44 WEIDER HONDA AUTOMOTIVE TECHNICAL SCHOOL DDBOYS(Competing class: Superbike) (Riders) Osamu Deguchi and Hiroki Noda (Machine) VTR1000SP-2 #45 Honda Dream MINOO DDBOYS (Competing class: Super Production) (Riders) Takanori Shirakami and Mitsuru Hashimoto (Machine) CBR954RR #46 C.NEXT.CRUISE.BIG.BOX (Competing class: Super Production) (Riders) Katsuya Watanabe and Atsushi Yoshihiro (Machine) CBR954RR #55 F.C.C.TSR (Competing class: JSB1000) (Riders) Michio Izumi and Ken Eguchi (Machine) CBR954RR #60 MEISTER 60 & T. YOSHIHARU (Competing class: JSB1000) (Riders) Yoshiyuki Sugai and Tomohiko Kawakami (Machine) CBR954RR #64 F.C.C.TSR&RDK (Competing class: Super Naked) (Riders) Tsuyoshi Mori and Yoshihiro Yamakawa (Machine) AC91M #67 ATS & BLUE EYES (Competing class: JSB1000) (Riders) Hirotaka Sato and Ryoichi Kuyama(Machine) CBR954RR #71 Team SAKURAI Honda (Competing class: Superbike) (Riders) Alex Barros & Yuichi Takeda (Machine) VTR1000SPW #74 Honda Hamamatsu Escargot & Sayama (Competing class: Super Naked) (Riders) Norikazu Odagiri and Shinji Noyori (Machine) VTR1000SP-2 #75 Honda Hamamatsu Escargot & VTR (Competing class: Superbike) (Riders) Kaichi Nagura and Satoshi Ishikawa (Machine) VTR1000SP-2 #88 TAMALA 2010 Honda (Competing class: JSB1000) (Riders) Shinsuke Mizobuchi and Syozo Uchikawa (Machine) CBR954RR #95 Team SAKURAI Honda (Competing class: Superbike) (Riders) Yukio Nukumi and Shinichi Nakatomi (Machine) VTR1000SPW #97 TEAM Kyoto Design Academy (Competing class: Stock Sports) (Riders) Sadanori Hikita and Hideyuki Nakajo (Machine) CBR954RR #778 F.C.C.TSR ZIP - FM RT (Competing class: Super Naked) (Riders) Yoshiteru Konishi and Gaku Kamata (Machine) CBR954RR #900 Honda KOUYOUKAI Dream Racing (Competing class: Stock Sports) (Riders) Takashi Ebinuma and Hideo Senmyo (Machine) CBR954RR